Architectural and Environmental  Research

Architectural and Environmental Research

Qualitative assessment of pedestrian routs of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz based on components of urban design quality in the sustainable place model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz,Ahvaz, Iran
2 PhD student in urban design, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran
3 Instructor of Architecture Department, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
Abstract
Recently, numerous studies have been conducted in the field of creating attractiveness and encouraging voluntary walking in cities, among which the study in the academic areas has had a small contribution. In this regard, lack of attention to pedestrian routes in Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz due to the dominance of riders over pedestrians is considered a serious problem for the users, and planning to increase their satisfaction as much as possible is important. As one of the first measures, it seems necessary to evaluate the components of quality in the pedestrian crossings of this university.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the pedestrian paths of this university including three components of design quality in the sustainable place model of environmental, functional, and experimental-aesthetic components to answer these questions that what is the qualities related to each one of the listed components? Did this qualities in the pedestrian routes reach a desirable level? What is the order of promotion priority for undesirable qualities and the promotion strategies for each one?

This research described the existing qualities of the pedestrian routes of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz with a practical orientation and case study strategy. In the first step, the quality and indicators related to the constituent components of urban design quality were obtained through library studies. Then a questionnaire based on these data and observing the current situation was prepared and given to 456 students, staff and faculty members and their opinions about the qualities were assessed using SPSS software and t-student test.

The results of the analysis of the questionnaire using the AHP method showed that the pedestrian routes in the three mentioned components are at a low level of desirability and improving the quality requires a prioritization program among them. The first priority in improving the current conditions is the qualities that have been evaluated at the lowest level including the qualities of inclusivity, public arena and climatic comfort from the functional component, readability, visual personality, sense of time and color of belonging from the experimental-aesthetic component. In the following, improving the qualities of permeability and movement, safety and security as the second priority and improving the qualities of adaptability of the behavior setting from the functional component, sensory richness from the experimental-aesthetic component and adaptation to nature from the environmental component as the third priority is suggested.
Keywords

  • Receive Date 12 September 2024
  • Revise Date 10 December 2024
  • Accept Date 03 February 2025