Mohammad Rahim Rahnama; Mehdi Bazargan
Abstract
ExtendedAbstract
Introduction
Walking is one of the most basic methods of transportation in cities. Before the Industrial Revolution, pattern of movements within cities was based on a human scale. But with the onset of Industrial Revolution and the subsequent dominance of modernist thought, the role ...
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ExtendedAbstract
Introduction
Walking is one of the most basic methods of transportation in cities. Before the Industrial Revolution, pattern of movements within cities was based on a human scale. But with the onset of Industrial Revolution and the subsequent dominance of modernist thought, the role and importance of pedestrian zones diminished. Due to the unsatisfactory situation of modern urban planning and its failure, the increased importance given to human development and environmental issues resulted in the introduction of New Urbanism approach. New Urbanism is a response to modernism and the negative effects of suburban expansionin Europe and North America after World War II. In recent years, there have been widespread reactions against the use of motorized vehiclesseeking to revive the issue of increasing walkabilityof cities. With a population of 3057679,Mashhad annually receives 30 million pilgrims and tourists due to the presence of holy shrine of Imam Reza (Peace be Upon Him), which sometimes makes the movement of pedestrians especially around the holy Razavishrine difficult. Furthermore, the holy Razavishrine is located in the central part of the city (Central Business District-CBD) surrounded by a worn-out urban texture and a network of organic passages and thus needs paths with walkability capability. Therefore, the present study intends to identify walkable and human-centered routesin Mashhad using the New Urbanism approach.
Materials and Methods
The present study takes advantage of a descriptive-analytic survey methodology. 32 quantitative and qualitative pedestrian related indices are investigated and 400 questionnairesaredistributedin Mashhad. ArcGIS software is used to analyze the collected data. The study area is Mashhad with an area of around 35187 hectares, a population of 3057679, and a population density of 87 per hectare.
ResultsandDiscussion
Investigating respondents’ age group indicates that 5% of respondents are in the 15-24 year age group, 17% in the age group of 25-34 years, 9% in the age group of 35-44 years, 15.75% in the age group of 45-54 years, 22% in the age group of 55-64 years and 31.25% in the age group of 65 years and more. 32% of the respondents are men and 68% are women.
Surveys show that pedestrians in the western half of Mashhad are more energetic. Public participation is higher in informal settlements of Mashhad. Police records show that crime rates are higher in the suburbs of Mashhad. Regarding hiking culture, the findings show that districts number 1, 8, 9 and 11 ranked highest in the studied indices. The patterns and spatial trends of activities and population attraction centers establishmentin Mashhad show that due to the presence of holy Razavi shrine, most of these activities are located in the central part of the city (CBD), which has the highest potential to attract the population. In fact, the CBD and western areas of Mashhad have the highest economic potential to attract popular activities in Mashhad and thus, the highest number of air pollution sources. The central part of the city (CBD) and west of Mashhad have the highest sources of air pollution. Moreover, the central part of the city (CBD) and the western parts of Mashhad show the highest degree of interconnection in their urban pathways and thus, are more capable of facilitating movement within the city. Per capita green space of Mashhad is 14.26 m2.District number 7 with an area of 2736894 m2 (22.4%) have the mostand Samendistrict with an area of 44736 m2 (0.36%) have the least green space.
Conclusion
Based on 10 principles of New Urbanism, 32 quantitative and qualitative pedestrian related indices were extracted, identifying the paths that canbe used as routesfor pedestrians. For this purpose, 400 questionnaires were distributedin districts of Mashhad. Quantitative and qualitative data were then converted to location-based data and used for spatial analysis (SDA). Finally, combining location-based data, pedestrian routes were identified in Mashhad. Results indicate that based on the New Urbanism indices,district number 8 and Thamenare the first priority, district number11 is the second priority and district number2 is the third priority for pedestrian routes. Kohsangi, Imam Reza (AS) and Moallem-Imamatstreets were also identified as the best pedestrian routes in Mashhad.
Mehdi Bazargan; Mohammad Ajza Shokouhi
Abstract
Introduction Nowadays, theft -especially residential burglary-is considered as one of the most common and frequent crimes in many countries of the world, including Iran. As such, it has become a pervasive and serious problem with various social, economic, and security-related aspects. Investigating ...
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Introduction Nowadays, theft -especially residential burglary-is considered as one of the most common and frequent crimes in many countries of the world, including Iran. As such, it has become a pervasive and serious problem with various social, economic, and security-related aspects. Investigating geographical dimensions of this crime facilitates the process of exploring this phenomenon. Space and its special features play an important and undeniable role in crime commitment, because space has always been considered as one of the most important factors in commitment of financial crimes such as residential burglary. Spatial analysis and geographical investigation of crimes seek to provide a spatial presentation of criminal actions, crime dispersion, and crime hotspots. This type of crime analysis basically aims to provide a model for decreasing crime commitment in urban spaces. Accordingly, the present research seeks tomodel spatial diffusion of residential burglary crimes in MashhadusingHogstrand’s spatial diffusion theory. Materials and methods The present study is performed based on descriptive-analytic and qualitative methods. The research sample includes cases of residential burglary committed in Mashhad in the 2011-2017period. Data analysis was performed using ArcGIS software. Case study area includes Mashhad, with an area of about 35187 hectares, a population of more than 3057679, and a population density of 87 people per hectare. Results and discussion Police reports in Mashhad suggest that the highest crime rates belong to the 2nd and 3thdistricts, and the lowest rates belong toSamen (around Razavi Shrine), the 12th, and 8thdistricts. 70% of crimes in Mashhad are committed in informal settlements including the 2nd, 3th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10thdistricts. However, only 10.6% of the city area and 29.3% of its population belong to these districts. Furthermore, the highest crime rates have been reported in 2017. In 2011, only two major crime hotspots were observed in Mashahd (in the 2nd and 3thdistricts). Results suggest that crimes have spread from one place to anotherin Mashhad, which indicates a close relationship between crime and distance factor. In other words, proximity to a crime hotspothas resulted in rapid spread of crimes, and due to the short distance, nearby places have been affected more quickly. Informal settlements of Mashhad are located in eastern, northern, and northeastern districts,which contain 99% of crime hotspots. This indicates that spatial autocorrelation of crimes in informal settlements of Mashhad is relatively high, which has led to formation of crime hotspots in these districts. However, moving from marginalized areas towards southern districts of Mashhad (more prosperous regions), spatial correlation of crimes decreases, and lead to formation of 99% of cold spots. Conclusion The present research has investigated the spatial diffusion pattern of crimes in Mashhad in 2011-2017period.To reach this end, crime hotspots were investigated by quantitative methods such as Kernel density, Moran coefficient, and crime hotspot analysis. Results suggest that the highest crime rates are reported in the 2nd and 3thdistricts, while the lowest rates are reported in Samen (around Razavi Shrine), the 12th, and 8th regions. In fact, 70% of crimes in Mashhad are committed in informal settlements including the 2nd, 3th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10thdistricts. Moreover, statistics indicate that for every100000 people,anaverage of 75/2 cases of crimes have been reported in the 2011-2017period.Results of Moran coefficient for spatial diffusion of crimes indicated the presence of a cluster distribution of crimes in Mashhad. Meanwhile, spatial diffusion pattern of crimes in Mashhad suggests that the first crime hotspots were formed in northern, eastern, and northeastern districtsof Mashhad, and crimes have spread from these to other districts (more central and prosperous regions such as the 8th and 9thdistricts). In fact, investigations suggest that crimes are spreading from informal settlements to other regionsof Mashhad, and acompatible spatial diffusion pattern of crimes exists in this city.
