Safe City

Safe City

Effects of Environmental Attributes on Perceived Safety: A Case Study in Kashan

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Saleheh Bokharaei 1
Faezeh Tafreshi 2
1 Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Shahid Beheshti University.Tehran. Iran
2 Ph.D Candidate, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Arts, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/ispdrc.2025.2056691.1177
Abstract
Introduction
As the population grows and lifestyles change, urban societies are expanding. The concentration of population in cities for various reasons such as job opportunities, ease of access and meeting life's needs necessitates attention to the study of residential design principles at various scales. Safety, as a fundamental need, is a quality of the environment that, if achieved, ensures the presence of individuals in the environment, and if the environment is perceived as unsafe, the most important qualitative aspect of the environment is compromised, and people will be forced to flee. Efforts to identify the effective components of safety in different scales of environmental design and extract practical patterns to other urban spaces require comprehensive studies. This research aims to explore the safety patterns of residential complexes through an emphasis on environmental and human factors affecting safety in the urban fabric of Kashan.
Methodology
Three neighborhoods (Kohneh Square, Shamekhi Mosque, and Najiabad) in the city of Kashan, where safety of the fabric was matter, were selected. In each of the three neighborhoods, individuals were randomly selected for interview. Interviews continued until the information became repetitive and reached theoretical saturation. In the limited traditional fabric, 9 interviews (6 women and 3 men), in the middle fabric 11 interviews (6 women and 5 men), and in the new fabric of Najiabad neighborhood, 14 interviews (9 women and 5 men) were conducted. After transcription the interviews, open, axial, and selective coding were conducted. Based on the coding performed on the interviews in each neighborhood, features and components related to safety were extracted. Through comparing the three neighborhoods and examining the similarities and differences in comparison with the theoretical foundations, data analysis was performed.
Results and discussion
The influential factors on the safety of the historical fabric include neighborly relations and their recognition, proximity to the city center, appropriate lighting, the presence of a central mosque and its programs, the lifestyle pattern of some old residents, alleyway living, low number of vacant units, residents' surveillance of the neighborhood, and the presence and dispersion of elements such as schools, mosques, etc. The influential factors in the unsafety of this area include the long distance between house doors, frequent alleyway breaks, lack of small shops, solid walls (few open houses), distance from the main street, low traffic in secondary alleys, anonymity and unpredictability of alleys, presence of some ruined units, accommodation of non-native residents, lifestyle patterns and people's living hours. In the middle fabric (Shamekhi Mosque neighborhood), the influential factors on safety include proximity to main axes, neighborhood elements such as schools, Sepah building, neighbors' surveillance, alley guards, long history of residence of most residents and absence of abandoned units, safety equipment and home surveillance cameras, sufficient lighting, and factors such as unequal width of streets, many two-story units, gradual change in fabric over time, lack of small shops, more than two breaks in alleys, neighborhood's reputation for wealth, low traffic in secondary alleys, anonymity and unpredictability of alleys, allocation of a street to schools and offices with morning to noon employment, presence of large-scale units and long walls, non-level streets affecting the unsafety of the fabric. In the new fabric, the influential factors on the safety of the new fabric include predictable urban design pattern, municipal reforms, neighborhood elements such as schools and sports fields, presence of law enforcement and police patrols, high traffic, open houses and proximity to house doors, dispersion of small shops, proximity to main and secondary axes, night gatherings and self-organized religious ceremonies in the neighborhood, absence of ruined and old units in the neighborhood area, division of the area into blocks of ten to twenty houses with a chessboard pattern, approximate recognition and face-to-face interaction of residents in each alley, neighborhood life and simultaneous living of different social classes in terms of wealth and financial power. Factors that were effective in the unsafety of the new fabric include darkness and lack of sufficient lighting, park design and layout pattern, units under construction, vacant lands, low traffic, presence of specific uses such as addiction treatment center, location in the border fabric of Kashan, reduced level of recognition and neighborly relations, presence of large-scale units and long walls, and ongoing development projects.
Conclusion
The results of this research show that the physical environment can be an effective factor in improving or weakening safety. The different factors found in each of the three neighborhoods and their alignment with theories in the field of environmental safety show that environmental characteristics such as climate and geography, rout legibility, appropriate distribution of non-residential uses, neighboring units, rout lighting, providing auditory spaces, presence of surveillance uses, appropriate façade transparency, and control of abandoned and ruined units have a significant impact on environmental safety.
Keywords
Housing
Neighborhood
Neighborhood Unit
Safety
Physical Environment
Subjects
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