Safe City

Safe City

Analysis of the physical-spatial structure of the city and its neighborhoods from the perspective of cultural security Case study: Shahrood city

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Islam Karami 1
Fatemeh Shahhosseini 2
1 department of architectural and Urbanism, Faculty of Architectural Engineering and Urbanism, Shahrood University of Technology (SUT), Shahrood. Iran
2 Master of Science in Mathematical Statistics Department of Statistics, Faculty of Mathematical Sciences Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/ispdrc.2025.2074589.1220
Abstract
Introduction
No society will achieve sustainable political and social security without intellectual and cultural security. The issue of the present research is the role of the physical-spatial structure of the city in the perception of cultural security by citizens. The research aims to achieve physical-spatial components effective in promoting cultural security. Shahroud city in Semnan province, as one of the medium-sized cities with favorable climatic conditions in the geographical area of central Iran, is located at the center of urban development, and the need to formulate physical-spatial rules and regulations in such cities where culture and cultural security can, like Shirazeh, heal the contemporary social life of cities is essential. Cultural security means preserving the specific identity of the society. That is, the reference of cultural security is identity, which means protecting the fundamental secrets of the survival and advancement of culture. Any event or process that has a destructive effect on traditional and sustainable patterns of language, culture, identity, and religious customs is an identity and cultural threat. The present research has investigated the definitions of cultural security and through the application of descriptive-analytical methods, has identified the components of cultural security. Despite numerous articles on cultural security, a review of the research background shows the importance of the research hypothesis and its scientific gap in the theoretical literature of architecture and urban planning.
Data and Method

The components of cultural security can be examined in 5 areas:
• Attention to the principles of belief: Includes worship and worship and all activities carried out in order to perform religious duties.
• Lifestyle: Includes a way of life based on dos and don’ts and derived from the rules and laws of life that arise from the requirements of reason, Islamic law, and custom.
• Social traditions and rituals: Includes ceremonies, rituals, methods, and processes that express the way of activity and behavior in a specific area or a specific subject based on collective wisdom.
• Historical achievements and civilization-building: Includes all accumulations and experiences that rely on the principle of completion and evolution achieved over time and are based on the internal development of a product and its perfection over time.
• Positive influence from other cultures: Includes experiences that are consistent with the native culture that have emerged during cultural interactions.
To conduct field studies, a research package questionnaire was prepared based on the explained indicators for the five components and made available to citizens online. The statistical sample of the present study is the citizens of Shahroud city, which, through the calculation of the Cochran formula, the statistical sample size is 384 people. The sampling method was carried out by random and irregular sampling method and by sending links to friends and acquaintances in different neighbourhood’s of the city. An attempt was made to distribute the questionnaire link in such a way that people from different neighbourhood’s had the chance to participate in the evaluation. Therefore, people were asked to make sure to provide the link to their friends from different neighbourhood’s. The questionnaire was made with a Likert spectrum and a 5-option scale, which is part of the questions related to the demographic information of the respondents. The validity of the questionnaire was examined by examining 25 relevant and concerned experts on the subject. The reliability of the questionnaire was examined through Cronbach's Alpha. The Cronbach's alpha value is 0.86, which indicates that the set of items (from all components) are generally consistent and homogeneous and can well measure the overall construct of security.
Results and Discussion

According to the findings, cultural security in the case sample is at an average level. Of the 5 components of "belief principles", "historical achievements and civilization-building", "traditions and rituals", "positive influence from other cultures" and "lifestyle", the highest average score is related to "belief principles" and, conversely, the lowest average is related to "lifestyle". In examining the correlation between the components, there are positive and relatively strong relationships between the components. The standardized regression coefficients showed that the strongest relationship is between cultural security and positive influence from other cultures, and the weakest relationship is related to cultural security and belief principles.

Conclusion
The present study demonstrates the city's strong capacity to explain cultural security and create a platform for realizing a desirable and ideal culture. Given the necessity of paying attention to culture and identity in contemporary Iranian urban planning, it is essential to pay more attention to the indicators of realizing cultural security in new urban developments. In light of the studies conducted, strategies for directing social activities in parks and public spaces, planning flexible spaces within neighbourhood’s, developing the concept of neighbourhood and neighbourhood-centricity, trying to socialize cities while paying attention to the social nature of neighbourhood’s in local culture, reviving traditional arts, promoting the role of public building courtyards as urban spaces, creating a platform for presence, respecting the elderly and disabled, and creating active social opportunities, paying attention to the social and cultural role of mosques and religious buildings in addition to their worship function, utilizing urban arts, and paying attention to the human dignity of space will be useful in strengthening cultural security in cities.
Keywords
Cultural security
identity
Islamic city
Islamic culture
shahrood
Subjects
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Safe City
Volume 9, Issue 2 - Serial Number 34
Summer 2026
Pages 291-324