Housing and Rural Environment
Year:2014 | Volume:33 | Issue:146|Papers Count:8

The main objective of this research is developing the quality of rural housing in Iran. To fulfill this objective, a participatory action plan has been proposed for construction of a rural dwelling in a specific village (as a sample).At the first step, based on the literature review, rural housing pattern has been identified. Then, different approaches of people participation in housing construction have been studied and a theoretical frame work has been developed. Accordingly, the feasibility of participation approach in rural housing in Iran has been discussed. As the architectural design is a part of rural housing construction process and providing a desirable house depends on a comprehensive planning, a rural housing pattern has been presented in two levels: 1. Presenting project management plan which defines a process including architectural design.2. Realization of the action plan 3Although for an appropriate design, all the steps defined earlier in this process need to be applied, but applying the first step was approximately impossible due to many limitations faced in a research. For the second step based on a model including strategic planning and organizing design, a field study has been carried out in a given house located in Baloqyah Village in Meshkin Shahr. Baloqyah is located in the foothill and has cold and long winters. In the sample house which has been considered for the pilot project, a family of seven members was living. Farming was the main livelihood of the family. The house composed of two residential buildings (old and new), a barn and the related equipment. The most important objectives of field studies were: - Studying vernacular architecture and residents' lifestyle - Evaluating the performance of residential and farming units - Understanding the needs and desires of residents - Climatic evaluation of buildings Finally, desirability of the house from the residents' viewpoints has been evaluated through several checklists. To examine the suggested method presented in this paper, an ideal plan for a house has been developed. This has been done with the help of local people. In this procedure a layout has been provided in interaction with the residents and then, architectural drawings have been presented. Final plans have been provided by applying residents’ opinions. Accordingly, the positive and negative points of the given plans have been discussed by both the experts and the local people.Regarding the outcomes of pilot project, some instructions for enhancing inhabitants' participation in rural housing have been given.

 Architectural programing, an applied research and a process of decision making, is an important phase of architectural design process. Thus it must be regarded as “the basic activity” in architectural schools as well as architectural consulting firms. Success in the design phase: preparing correct selection of spaces with accurate floor areas, appropriate organization of facility sources, defined relationships between the closed and open spaces, as well as suitable companion of the whole project with its texture, depends on how the programming phase had been developed. To fulfill this attitude, the architect/programmer must be aware of the knowledge of architectural programming and have adequate professional experience in this field.The architectural programming literature usually consist of many subjects which gives the information about the history of this knowledge, the basic definitions, the literature, the scholars, the process of research, the methods of data collection, the content of the product, the other types of research in architectural activity, the programming - design interaction in the design process, the way to teach programming in architecture schools or firms, etc. In this article, the author tries to define three important subjects: ” the process of programming”, “the outline of the program” and “the method of gathering and analyzing data”.4 In the first subject, the article defines eight steps which the programmer should take from the first meeting with the project’s client till providing the program’s final report and approval. At the primary steps, preparing a defined program for the whole process is important while getting the client’s approval in every step is another vise decision which insures the outcome of programming task.The second subject presents the outline of the program which is the most important subject in the programming process. To achieve this outline, the function of program in the design activity must be clarified. For this reason, the author presents his previous research about the property of the design product and indicates ten basic specifications of buildings, such as its relationships with the texture or the organization of spaces.The third subject discusses the types of questions, the types of sources, and the method of data collection in this applied research. In the way to provide this article as part of articles in architectural programming, the author has studied the universal literature of this field and has discussed this knowledge in his architectural programming / design process courses and design workshops at architectural schools, as well as in his professional architectural projects. The main scope of all these activities has been to achieve a simple and practical language in architectural programming, far from complications and misunderstandings, easy to be utilized in academy and practice.

In recent decades, the quality of life has been one of the many topics of interest to scientific researchers, planners and governments. Since the socio-cultural and environmental factors influence quality of life, there are different levels of subjective indicators for quality of life in different societies. Also, to this important debate, the lack of scientific research in the study area and ethnicity there with their special features in this region, by using descriptive and analytical studies relying on documents, the subjective indicators of quality of life in South Jafarbay (Turkmen county) have been investigated. The traditional culture of Turkmen people in the study area with their specific social, religious and livelihood characteristics was one of the reasons of selecting this issue. Unlike the results of other researchers across the country, these people believe they are living a desirable life. They also believe that achieving higher levels of well-being generally requires moving away from the beliefs and their ethnic – cultural characteristics. In this regard, eight dimensions of life quality including education, health, security, environment, infrastructure, employment and income, leisure time and social cohesion and interaction have been taken into consideration and the questionnaires for collecting field data was provided. Also, to understand the factors affecting quality of life, 11 independent variables including age, education, number of people employed in the household, facilities, household income, assets, housing built up area, attachment to the rural and regional environment, and specific ethnic-cultural features were examined. The reliability of questionnaires was assessed about 0.9 using Cronbach's alpha. Based on stratified sampling, 8 villages out of 17 in the district were selected. The villages were selected based on potential model (for development classification) and totally 228 questionnaires were distributed. The results of the questionnaires using field study and statistical tests such as one-sample T test, Pierson mean and correlation were analyzed by SPSS software. The results showed that despite the subsistence and enjoyment of the facilities in the area was relatively low, but because of some reasons such as Turkmen traditional culture and social characteristics, religion and their livelihood, attachment to their ancestral places and also properties of introversion and isolationism, these deficiencies seem relatively low. So it can be said that the more the influence of ethnic features and adherence to Turkmen culture in the people of the area, the more their satisfaction level based on subjective indices of quality of life.

The city of Meybod, such as other ancient cities of Iran has a Sassanid city planning system based on the ancient pattern of old stronghold (kohan dej), city (sharestan) and exterior (bironeh). Multi-function towers, outside the extent of the city, have taken shape in between the exteriors and from the very beginning had a correlation with the city’s life. In the meantime, agriculture and animal husbandry as the main livelihood of residents in formation of Meybod garden city played an important role. The existence of a proper environmental bed in the history of this region led to developing the Garden City of Meybod and relative independence of its surrounding oasis and consequently according to this extent, the complexity of the livelihood affairs improved. Then the necessary fields and facilities added to create the system of agriculture and horticulture region. The need for spaces that would help farmers in agriculture and horticulture system led to the emergence of numerous species of vernacular architecture with livelihood performance. One of these species is multi-function towers in the farms and gardens that are glaring.6Since in the widespread historical studies in Iran, this matter is almost neglected by the researchers, in this study ten examples of the works that are scattered on the regional area of Meybod, have been identified by the field method and interviews with local experts and in two steps have been tried to introduce and analyze this type of architecture. At first, with the introduction of spaces forming a multi-function tower, we will explore the history of the formation, its naming method and factors affecting on how to locate towers and then the relationship of architecture with this species from the perspective of physical –environmental will be checked out.At the end, it can be seen that the Keshtkhan towers are multifunctional elements by combining two physical pillar and dome that have a circular plan of two-storey and have been covered with domed ceilings. The performance of these buildings in all the seasons of the year is as daylong and matched with the multiple needs of agriculture and farmers who are in charge of water management, the protection of the product, the field watchmen and farmers' resting place and etc. In addition to the functional aspects they are beautiful. Such a comprehensive thought in terms of physical, functional, environmental and so on can only be mirrored in the architect craftsman who is concerned with this way of livelihood (agriculture) and also suffused with it. Duplicating geometric patterns in multi-function towers is the reason of the existence of the ancient roots in this land. These old patterns have been transferred chest to chest from masters to students and have evolved in each course of time.

In International law particularly in the 11th section of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the right of having adequate (affordable) housing is recognized as one of the basic needs of every individual and family to live with human dignity, and it is a key indicator in relation with the quality of life of residents. In our country, providing adequate (affordable) housing as a basic need for all segments of society, especially the poor and rural groups, is the duty of government according to the second, thirty-first and forty-third principles of The Constitution. In other words, Housing as the smallest form of physical embodiment of the settlement and as the major structural part of it, plays an essential role in the formation of spatial- physical structure and identity of rural architecture. The key issue with regard to the consequences of the earthquake in rural habitations is the unsafe physical structures. This means that more than 95 percent of all deaths from earthquakes are the result of the destruction of the houses. Therefore, difference in losses tolls from earthquake between societies is due to difference in ways of housing construction and use of constructional codes. With respect to the instability in geographical conditions in relation to earthquake natural disaster in Iran, factors such as ignoring technical standards in the construction, use of traditional and non-resistant building materials and worn out housings, have led to greater vulnerability of rural settlements to earthquake disaster. Therefore, one of the most important physical vulnerability reduction strategies in rural areas is the rural housing retrofitting through providing housing loans by government on condition that they should use technical standards and building codes and accept supervision of Housing Foundation Engineers and local agencies. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of provided housing loans in rural areas in reducing its vulnerability to earthquake disasters, and it tries to answer this question: Does using rural housing retrofitting credits lead to reducing its vulnerability as one of the segments of rural physical structure? The statistical population consisted of 11 villages located within the limits of Bezinehroud Rural District (in Khodabande County- Zanjan Province) with 2800 households, 400 households have used housing retrofitting loans in 2006- 2012. Out of which 110 households were selected by using Cochran sampling. To collect required data, Questionnaires were distributed randomly in the sample Villages. For data analysis, statistical tests such as Wilcoxon tests (to analyze differences between pre and post periods), Friedman and one-sample T tests and correlation test in SPSS software were used. The results of data analysis showed a significant difference in the period before and after using the rural housing loans in physical factors affecting the housing vulnerability reduction. Friedman ranking mean test and X2 square coefficient also showed this difference in favor of the next period, and improvement of indicators. In other words, the analysis of numerical means gained from calculation of physical factors affecting the housing vulnerability reduction after using housing loans period indicated that the means in all dimensions of this research are higher than averages in likert scale.

Identity has been at the center of architectural discourse from World War II. But its multi-dimensional nature which goes back to its relevance to many fields of humanities (sociology, psychology, urbanism etc.) made its literature vague to some extent. To make a clarification of meaning of identity due to its abstract relation to built environment is the main purpose of this research. The method of confronting the problem is analyzed by using Geddes’s thinking machine where one of the four possible ways in it selected for this study. Here the priority is placed on concept of Identity and Architectural Identity is seen as a subdivision of it. Before concentrating on absolute concept of architectural identity, a brief discussion of various kinds of identity in literature of architectural theory is considered where four main type is identified: personal or group identity via architectural form, socio-cultural identity interpreted via built environment, human identity for himself pursued via architecture and architectural absolute identity (as the one that no other thing than architecture itself is under consideration). If we define identity as a kind of recognition which arises from human experiment with built space or unity of mental expectation with perceptional content of this experiment, then it would be a natural strategy to pursue the subject via human perceptional dimensions. These dimensions upon their place in the spectrum of material-spiritual perception can be proposed in four categories: 1. Physical or bodily dimension, 2. Mental dimension, 3. Social dimension, 4. Spiritual dimension. These kinds of perceptions are in turn subdivided in two main categories due to their source of stimulation: natural environment or man-made environment. There is a third and important factor for analyzing these four types of recognition that must be taken into account: what kind of recorded content of the brain is referred to. At least four kinds of them can be seen due to the duration of the recorded humane experiment: 1. Immediate perception, 2. Life-long experiment, 3. Inherited image from previous generations (archetypical) and 4.timeless experiment of human-being, upon these three factors, a cubical model of 32 separate positions each of which is representative of a different dimension of architectural identity as it relates to human experiment. It is supposed that any characteristic of human perception which can be related to absolute identity of architecture has a certain location in this model, so the model is holistic in containing all possibilities but not in proving any claim about existence or non-existence of any kind of humane experiment. For searching the potential of the model to make this holistic view, a real example of vernacular architecture of Ilam (a south-western province of Iran) is explored from point of view of identity of built environment for vernacular people, both dwellers of such an environment and non-dwellers. This study which is presented in a table, shows the potential of model not only for having a systematic analysis of identity aspects of an architecture but also makes it evident that via such a model we can guess some new aspects of identity of that case which have not ever been considered.

Transition from growth concept to the concept of development among policy makers and planners has been aimed for overcoming the challenges emerged due to economic growth programs and neglecting social and cultural aspects in many human settlements. In fact, lack of attention to social, economic and cultural aspects in the process of growth led to posing life quality issue in the process of development among planners. Hence, improvement of life quality in rural communities became the ultimate goal of rural development projects and plans. But the main prerequisite of achieving this goal is providing suitable conditions for living (livability) that can pave the way for life quality improvement in rural communities. Currently, low quality of living conditions in rural settlements of our country has deprived many of people from suitable living quality and this can be a reason for population reduction. Since different interpretations have been presented for livability and its indices, the present study aims to identify livable rural communities’ indices and also evaluate these conditions in present situation in rural settlements of Kahak area of Qom Province. The method of present research is descriptive-analytical and document and survey investigations were selected as techniques of this study. Statistical population of this research include all permanent residents of 9 villages of Kahak area in Qom Province (N=6935) of which 364 individuals were selected through categorical random sampling. Results indicate that economic indices such as job, income level, saving rate, etc. among other criteria have significant contribution in determination of livability degree in rural areas of this region. Moreover, the results of adaptive comparison of settlements using Tukey and Dunnette test indicated that although some villages have more population and services and facilities, they suffer lower livability than other less population villages (life conditions quality). Therefore, elimination of economic challenges and enabling the villagers to improve their living quality and reduce differences in living conditions is the most important livability factor in rural settlements. On the other hand, continuity of present conditions, such as making villages hierarchical in order to provide required services and facilities for villages cannot be regarded a suitable policy for improving living conditions in villages, because under such conditions, economic dynamism and competition among rural settlements in attracting private sector capital and opportunities of high level services attraction would be impossible. Hence, only by improving some indices it cannot be expected that sufficient dynamism is provided for sustainability in new period and living quality and quantity needed to be improved in any village considering their potentials.

Spatial interactions and functional relationships between cities and surrounding areas such as rural areas located in their influence zones gradually lead to a variety of changes in their different aspects. Demographical changes (migration of rural-urban, population evacuation etc.) and changes in economic and functional structure (weakening of the base and foundation of agricultural activities and expansion of non-productive activities etc.) are not exceptions. In this regard, among the important changes of this kind which are influenced by the cities and mainly observed in the rural areas of Iran in recent years are the functional changes in the rural areas of the metropolitan zones of Tabriz including Lyghvan Valley with its villages which are of great importance due to their ecological features in complementing Tabriz Metropolitan. Therefore, such villages being influenced by the metropolitan, experience changes in their functional structure. Most probably, the existence of various problems and setbacks in Tabriz metropolitan such as higher price of land and housing, acute air pollution and other factors have been unappealing cases as opposed to the lower price of land and housing, cleanness of air and tourist attraction and so on in the rural settlements which are very attractive. In the present paper, four villages have been selected among the rural settlement zone of Tabriz metropolitan to clarify how functional changes and the factors influencing them work. The main goal of the study is to obtain a thorough and scientific understanding of the affecting factors on the functional changes of these villages. The present study, not only gives important data about the way the changes occur, but also helps the planners strive for the organization and functional planning of such villages using the given data. The method of study is based on field study (direct observation, filling out various questionnaires). To study and express the relationships between the different variables of the study, a descriptive-analytical method and to review the previous works and changes and developments, documentary methods have been used. Meanwhile, in order to analyze the data, SPSS Software and chi-square and F-statistics have been used. Finally, strategies and recommendations have been presented for better functional organization of the villages under study in specific, and of all such villages in general. The findings show that there is a logical relationship between being host for immigration of the villages under study, the kind of their economic activities, the place of the occupation of the breadwinners of the households, and their functional changes. The proximity of the studied villages to the largest demographic, industrial and service center of the north-west (Tabriz) and also Basmenj and the fast and easy access of these villages to these cities, the immigration of people to these villages because of the lower price of land and housing, work and occupation, changes in the kind of economic activities and the place of occupation of the heads of the households under study, all have led to a functional change of villages from an agricultural one to service, industrial, housing-dormitory ones.