Defining Neighborhood, Analysis of Two Different Approaches: Expert-oriented Approach of Theorists and Perceptual Approach of Residents

نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

1 Ph.D. Student of Urban Design, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor of Urban Design, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

چکیده

The different offered definitions of “Neighborhood Unit” in various approaches and
viewpoints by different specialized views, on the one hand; and excessive attention to expert-oriented
and reduced viewpoints as well as neglecting residents’ perception of the neighborhood on the other hand
necessitate providing a complete and exact definition of neighborhood which can cover all approaches
and viewpoints. Therefore, this paper applied the content analysis research method – descriptive content
analysis- to analyze the numerous important neighborhood definitions meticulously. It scrutinizes two
different approaches, specialized views (expert-oriented) and the perceptual approach (resident-oriented)
in order to extract the most appropriate and repeated indicators, and finally introduce a comprehensive
definition of neighborhood according to these indicators. Result show significant differences exist
between neighborhood characteristics according to the definitions given by experts, famous theories
and perceptual understanding of residents. For instance the definitions of neighborhood center(s), land
uses, boundaries of neighborhood and etc. were used to derive the final appropriate indicators obtained
from both approaches. The indicators are: neighborhood boundaries including streets and traffic roads;
natural elements and social distinctions such as racial or ethnical distinctions; neighborhood area as it
is perceptible for residents (50-500 acres); neighborhood land use (providing daily and weekly needs,
appropriate access); economic- social homogeneity (social class, and income level of residents, land
value); social interaction (social relations and residents’ participation); and semantic and particular
symbols of neighborhood (natural and historical characteristics and neighborhood meanings).

کلیدواژه‌ها


عنوان مقاله [English]

Defining Neighborhood, Analysis of Two Different Approaches: Expert-oriented Approach of Theorists and Perceptual Approach of Residents

نویسندگان [English]

  • Khashayar Emadi 1
  • Ali Ghaffari 2
1 Ph.D. Student of Urban Design, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Professor of Urban Design, Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
چکیده [English]

The different offered definitions of “Neighborhood Unit” in various approaches and
viewpoints by different specialized views, on the one hand; and excessive attention to expert-oriented
and reduced viewpoints as well as neglecting residents’ perception of the neighborhood on the other hand
necessitate providing a complete and exact definition of neighborhood which can cover all approaches
and viewpoints. Therefore, this paper applied the content analysis research method – descriptive content
analysis- to analyze the numerous important neighborhood definitions meticulously. It scrutinizes two
different approaches, specialized views (expert-oriented) and the perceptual approach (resident-oriented)
in order to extract the most appropriate and repeated indicators, and finally introduce a comprehensive
definition of neighborhood according to these indicators. Result show significant differences exist
between neighborhood characteristics according to the definitions given by experts, famous theories
and perceptual understanding of residents. For instance the definitions of neighborhood center(s), land
uses, boundaries of neighborhood and etc. were used to derive the final appropriate indicators obtained
from both approaches. The indicators are: neighborhood boundaries including streets and traffic roads;
natural elements and social distinctions such as racial or ethnical distinctions; neighborhood area as it
is perceptible for residents (50-500 acres); neighborhood land use (providing daily and weekly needs,
appropriate access); economic- social homogeneity (social class, and income level of residents, land
value); social interaction (social relations and residents’ participation); and semantic and particular
symbols of neighborhood (natural and historical characteristics and neighborhood meanings).

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Neighborhood Definition
  • Expert Approach
  • Perceptual Approach
  • Residents Definitions
  • Specialists Definitions
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