Housing and Rural Environment
Year:2015 | Volume:34 | Issue:149|Papers Count:8

Human's house without any consideration to physical dimensions and natural and climatic regulations is affected by the cultural factors of society, beliefs and the non-material needs of life, which give meaning to human's residence. In residential architecture, socio-cultural factors, effective on people's daily life and their living methods, exert some important regulations on the subject of house; therefore study of the characteristics of vernacular houses without cogitation is not very useful. Paying careful attention to cultural characteristics of the architecture of people's houses and mentioning the functions of house with this respect, originated from socio-cultural characteristics, reciprocal actions and human relations, are the subjects of this article. Therefore the main question of this article is this: what socio-cultural needs have affected on vernacular houses, in other words, what are the needs of vernacular houses? This article which is theoretical with a view to type, in post-structuralism and qualitative paradigm and paying careful attention to daily life is in the theoretical frame extracted from the theories of Amos Rappaport and Edward Hall. Gathering the information of this article was based on library studies and investigation of field observations. The research strategy is descriptive- analytical. The article information was analyzed independent from numerical documents and in a comparison procedure. In this article, house has been studied from the viewpoint of cultural needs. The research findings show that selection of house has been one of the most important transformations of people's life in pre-historical period following to taking an important decision based on settlement and is synonym to an existence selection. House is visualization of the view to life and is built in continuation of life style. Vernacular house, which is one of the people's architecture, is the visualization of culture without any chapter and as well as being originated from social characteristics, has a key role in production and visualization of culture. Architecture of vernacular houses is the symbol of tangible needs and the society's values and the people's ideology. Reciprocal effects of natural, economic and socio-cultural factors on each other and on house depend on time and place and totally form living methods, which are some of the most important factors for vernacular houses formation. The research result is a statement of distribution of cultural functions on promoting residential quality, meeting non-material needs and inclusion of belief characteristics.

This paper would be an introductory research on Rural Historical Gardens of Iran. After giving a brief description and definition about Rural Historical Gardens of Iran, the paper in its first stage will provide a list of more than sixty Rural Historical Gardens around Iran. These gardens will be introduced with their locations in a table. The table will also include some more general architectural features of these gardens, such as the period of construction, shape (architectural concept), size and slope. Afterward, the paper will focus on seven gardens of the list, selected from various geographical regions of Iran. These gardens are Afzalian in Gonabad, Sarhangabad around Zavareh, Tabaghabaghy around Khoy, Aliabad around Bojnourd, Nouri around Kerman, Neshat around Neishabour and Sadri around Taft. The author would try to introduce these gardens in more detail, such as their historical background and their preliminary owner or owners, period of construction, size, slope, direction, building and site elements, and also give some specific information about their architectural concepts. At the end of this part a summary of the characteristics is given mentioning for instance the development of these gardens around Iran and that most of them belongs to Qajar period and are still alive. At the final part and according to the information given on the previous sessions, the paper will discuss on the reasons why research on Rural Historical Gardens of Iran is valuable. Firstly, the number (quantity) and the condition (quality) of these gardens are considered. The data showed, there are many unknown Rural Historical Gardens around Iran, which need to be inspected and introduced to researchers. Most of these gardens are not still known or listed by the organization of National Conservation and Cultural Heritage of Iran or even studied by researchers. The information about the remaining is also rare and incomplete, for instance an architectural plan of the whole garden may not be available. It also showed that most of these gardens are still in a good condition, some still work properly, although most of them need serious restoration and need to be considered in a broad national conservation plan. Through further discussion, the variety of architectural concept of these gardens are considered. The similarities between these gardens and the famous palatial gardens of Iran and also some of their rare or innovative architectural concepts could introduce several issues for further studies. The location of these gardens in rural areas among residential or cultivated fields seems to show a sort of strong historical interrelationship between people and gardens in last decades and centuries. This seems to be an important factor which may lead us towards the reasons, why the Rural Historical Gardens of Iran are still kept alive by the people or how they might bring pride and identity for local residents.

Disasters have a major role in making people homeless so that some experts regard them as a catalyst for "homelessness" or loss of sense of place. In addition to huge destruction in disasters, uniform constructions and similar places in the reconstruction process speed up homelessness. Furthermore, major reconstruction activities follow a physical approach to housing construction and do not consider the re-establishment of sense of home and place and the revival of socio-cultural spirit of local community is neglected. Despite the frequent occurrence of natural disasters in Iran and increasing emphasis on social and mental rehabilitation in reconstruction process, there is no theoretical framework for the creation of "sense of place", particularly in post-disaster reconstructions This dissertation follows two main aims: first, to formulate understanding the meaning of living in Barn post-earthquake housing reconstructions from the perspective of its survivors; second, to explain the theoretical frameworks of "creation of sense of place", accordingly. The research methodology is qualitative and the "grounded theory" method, based on Strauss & Corbin (1998), is adopted to build theory. In other words, the theory is not built through hypothesis testing, but is a data-driven entity based on field study. The data collection was conducted through structured interview with 21 survivors of Narges Residential Complex selected by Snow-ball Method to obtain theoretical saturation in sampling. Data analysis, theory explanation, and paradigm model development were carried out through grounded-theory coding process. The research findings show that understanding sense of place from the viewpoint of the survivors of reconstructed settlements is interpreted as "re-experience of sense of living" depicted in the research grounded model in terms of conditional, interactive, and consequential categories. The sense depends on "self-expression", "home as a living center", and "social life". Survivors' interactions to this phenomenon are represented as "belonging to settlement" and "being as a member of extended family". These interactions finally result in "hopeful life to future" among survivors. The research results can be used as the theoretical basis for "creation of sense of place in developing urban design principles (substantive and procedural dimensions) in the post-disaster reconstructions to provide the possibility of reconstruction of better places for survivors.

Due to the increasing urban population and the lack of appropriate planning and insufficient substructure preparation for city dwellers in the third world countries, urban management problems and then informal settlements will emerge and develop gradually. Housing quantitative and qualitative indicators and standards are necessary for achieving minimal social justice and welfare. Housing of informal settlements residents manifests the lack of suitable housing indicators which are useful to be identified in order to help promoting the quality of life for them. City of Urmia is also facing with the problem of informal settlements and Eslam Abade Koshtargah can be referred to as an example. The physical and social characteristics of informal settlement are much highlighted in housing sector and have its special characteristics. There are also some shortages in infrastructures and urban fundamental services too. This is an applied research that emphasizes the Holistic approach by descriptive and analytical method. It applies field studies, open and closed questionnaires (random sampling), library studies and statistical data from the Statistical Center of Iran according to the content and the subject of the study. Data would end in legal results after being collected and analyzed. There were 137 questionnaires which were calculated by the Cochran formula. This paper is going to do comparative analyses on quantitative and qualitative indicators of housing and also accessibility rate to fundamental infrastructures such as water, electricity, sewerage and etc. in comparison with city of Urmia and similar settlements in the third world countries. The results show that the quantitative and qualitative indicators of housing are unsuitable in comparison with Urmia but it benefits of better conditions in accessibility of fundamental infrastructures and satisfaction level when compared with informal settlements in the third world countries.

Rural housing manifests biological and livelihood practices and ultimately effective environmental factors and forces and trends of Socio-economic impact in giving shape to them. Any changes in settlement patterns and housing in rural communities, causes an extensive transformation and developments in various aspects of the rural households. Thus, changing in the architecture of rural housing requires thoughtful planning and knowledge-based scientific studies. Regarding the importance of housing as one of the basic needs, the government adopted policies for the improvement of rural housings .So, after the Islamic revolution occurred in early 1980 in Iran, planning for improvement of housing condition in rural areas became one the most important concerns for the Iranian Governments due to the incommensurate and substandard housing in rural areas and several development plans were employed. One of these programs is providing facilities to reinforce and upgrade the quality of rural housing, which during this trend led to significant physical developments in rural buildings. Accordingly, this article examines the impact of housing facilities on reinforcing rural housing and also architectural patterns used in Sarjam village located in Ahmadabad district in Mashhad County. The question is that "how much did these government facilities improve reinforcement and architecture of housing in these rural areas? The research method in this paper is descriptive- analytical based on statistical tests of Spearman and Kyodo. Gathering information was done using Library and Surveyor field method research methods. Software used in this study includes EXCEL, SPSS, and Auto cad. The sample size consists of the villages above 20 households in rural area of Sarjam village who received facilities from 2006 to 2010, and the project covered about 223 households that were selected using classification probability sampling. Cochran method was used to determine sample size which was estimated to be 141 household. The results show that housing facilities led to reinforcing the rural housing and enjoying health services. But according to the same plan type offered by the Housing Foundation as the responsible authority and not considering the economic, cultural, physical and geographical qualities of the area; these facilities have vanished the vernacular architecture of rural buildings and created a dichotomy in rural constructions.

Rural development originates from a variety factors and one of which is desirable housing. Rural areas are highly dependent on housing due to their nature. In these areas, houses, in addition to being a settlement, have other functions such as being a place for raising cattle and the related products and other economic activities (i.e. agricultural products). Given the importance of rural settlements, investigating the factors influencing habitants' satisfaction and dissatisfaction can be helpful in analyzing current status of settlement, future decisions to enhance the quality of living areas and avoid a repeat of those defects in other places. Therefore, considering the importance of the research, the aim of the present study which is descriptive-analytical, is to examine the villagers' satisfaction in Ravansar and investigate the factors that affect their settlement satisfaction. Statistical population consisted of 5998 householders in 143 villages of Ravansar County. Using the Cochran formula and through the multistage sampling method, 180 people were selected as the sample size. In this study, 18 villages as the target ones were selected from six Rural Districts located in Ravansar County and the questionnaires were distributed among the householders (n = 180). The instrument used was a questionnaire which its validity was confirmed superficially by the opinion of experts and university professors. A pilot test was conducted to assess the reliability coefficient of the questionnaires which its Cronbach's alpha coefficient was more than 0.86 percent. The collected field data were analyzed using SPSS. Data analysis indicated that %40.6 of rural residents of Ravansar County were of low level, %37.8 of moderate level, and %21.7 of high level of satisfaction. In general, one-sample t-test results at 0.95 percent showed that satisfaction level was lower than moderate in the area. The findings also indicated that 6 variables such as the economic, welfare, facilities, physical, health, and structural explains %80.88 of the total variance of variables (factors influencing their satisfaction with rural housing). Duncan test results showed that Ghori Ghale and Zalo Ab Rural Districts were the highest and lowest in terms of satisfaction level of rural housing or housing units in which they live among the Rural Districts of Ravansar County.

From the very early stages of human history, the issue of housing has been of great importance and one of the most essential human needs that a lot of effort has been put in providing it. Presently the main function of housing, apart from its role as a shelter, is provision of a proper place for the family to have a desirable life in it. Housing is one of the most important elements in rural texture which is influenced by natural and human forces. So any kind of change in natural and human conditions demonstrates itself in housing. Therefore we can say that housing patterns are a reflection of the influential forces and elements in taking their shape. One of these important factors is identity, thus the present study focuses on the role of identity in the changes of rural housing patterns. This article is an applied study and the method used has been descriptive- analytical. The statistical population of the present article includes the villages of East Eghbal rural district in the central of Qazvin. According to the census of 2011, this district has 14 populated villages, 4424 households, and a population of 14656. Considering the expansion of the area under study and the fact that the research needed to be more precise, four villages were chosen (Erenjak, Vousough Abad, Shinghar, Najaf Abad) using the revised Cochran formula. These villages have a population of 4307 and 1256 households. A questionnaire with 27 qualifiers for the analysis of rural households' identities, 27 indices for the analysis of the traditional components of rural housing, and 20 indices for analyzing the modem components of rural housing was formulated. The questionnaire's level of reliability was obtained 0.76 with Cronbach's alpha which shows a proper trust factor. The method for analyzing and evaluating the obtained data has been descriptive (average, standard deviation) and inferential (Kendall test, one-sample t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient). According to the research done on the traditional and modem elements of rural housing, most rural houses lack a traditional texture and have followed the modem urban pattern in deleting the productive functions. Also the analysis of the modem factors in rural housing has shown that most houses have followed an urban construction, the reason for which can be the short distance between these villages and Qazvin itself. As the research was carried on, it was proved that the households which had a transitional identity from rural to an urban one, have experienced most changes in housing patterns; and the households who have received housing credit have also had more changes in their housing patterns. The research shows that since the housing credit has only had a monetary aspect and there has been no supervision on the construction methods, thus most rural households were inclined to use urban housing patterns, a process which is effective to the elimination of the productive functions in rural houses and the acceptance of urban housing patterns.

Regardless of their success or failure, rural history of Iran is full of examples related to different managerial styles in different parts of Iran. Rural management in Iran has been materialized in various ways. It has also experienced fluctuations in terms of legal and structural frameworks. However, lack of efficient rural management in most villages has created many problems for rural residents during different eras of the past history especially before 1960s (1340s in Iranian calendar). It is necessary to remember that after the Islamic revolution in 1979, diverse organizations have been formed in order to manage the villages including: Rural Islamic Councils, Khaneh Hamyar (house of Corporation), and Rural Development Office. Each of the mentioned organizations have successes and failures in their records, however, the weight of failure is somehow more than success. The lack of a comprehensive rural management system and social failure of mentioned organizations were the main reasons for most rural problems. After years of trial and error, eventually the legislation of Councils in 1995 (1374) and then the legislation of Dehyari (Rural Governor Offices) in 1998 (1377) were passed mainly to transfer the responsibilities to new rural managers. The present study is aimed to evaluate the function of Dehyars (Rural Governors) in rural development at Aivan Gharb County of Illam province in west of Iran, which contains 72 villages with about 50,000 population. This study is a basic and applied research which has used a documentary-surveying method to shed a light on Dehyar's functioning in Aivan Gharb County. After considering a theoretical framework, two different questionnaires were provided to be completed by 200 sample households and 16 rural governors (Dehyars) in 16 villages. Based on examined hypotheses, the followings can be mentioned as the main findings of the present study: 1. Dehyars are successful in interactions with rural councils and government organizations. 2. There is no significant difference between economic, social and physical aspects of rural governors' (Dehyars') functions. 3.Literacy and academic qualifications have had a great impact on Dehyar's functions. 4.Main problems encountered Dehyars include: lack of facilities, the weakness of rural economic structure, problems associated with collecting tax and aids. It is evident that the present study covers just some areas of rural management at a sample part of Iran. Though the results can be applied to elsewhere, there is a need to deeper and wider studies of rural management in different parts of Iran according to their various socio-economic and cultural characteristics.