Traditional versus Modern? Perceptions and Preferences of Urban Park Users in Iran

This study involved four parks in Iran—two modern ones located in Tehran and two historical, traditional examples, one in Kashan and one in Esfahan—in order to ask what are the key factors contributing to the satisfaction of visitors to the two types of park and also to compare user’s perceptions and values of the different types. An extensive questionnaire survey was conducted in each park, with a target of 300 responses, using a random sampling technique. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of a number of factors, while thinking about the park they were visiting, using a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was undertaken. The results of the scores revealed differences between the two types of park. A factor analysis of the pooled results revealed that the key aspects contributing to a visit were named as ‘having fun and enjoying oneself’, in a place with ‘no barriers to using the park’ and ‘leaving one’s cares behind’ followed by ‘relaxing in the presence of natural beauty’. A further Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling analysis was undertaken to determine the main factors affecting the differences in preference for each type of park in relation to the key demographic variables. This revealed that the modern parks were preferred over the traditional ones for three significant sets of factors—recreation, accessibility and culture—and that there was a tendency for the historical parks to been favoured by more educated people. The conclusions are that the modern parks support the main preferred activities to support the quality of life of the population—not through their design per se but because they offer many more recreational opportunities. There is potential to include traditional elements such as water features more into parks. Park planners can take the findings and use them to help improve the quality of the parks over time

A framework for the analysis and evaluation of enterprise models

Bibliography: leaves 264-288.The purpose of this study is the development and validation of a comprehensive framework for the analysis and evaluation of enterprise models. The study starts with an extensive literature review of modelling concepts and an overview of the various reference disciplines concerned with enterprise modelling. This overview is more extensive than usual in order to accommodate readers from different backgrounds. The proposed framework is based on the distinction between the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic model aspects and populated with evaluation criteria drawn from an extensive literature survey. In order to operationalize and empirically validate the framework, an exhaustive survey of enterprise models was conducted. From this survey, an XML database of more than twenty relatively large, publicly available enterprise models was constructed. A strong emphasis was placed on the interdisciplinary nature of this database and models were drawn from ontology research, linguistics, analysis patterns as well as the traditional fields of data modelling, data warehousing and enterprise systems. The resultant database forms the test bed for the detailed framework-based analysis and its public availability should constitute a useful contribution to the modelling research community. The bulk of the research is dedicated to implementing and validating specific analysis techniques to quantify the various model evaluation criteria of the framework. The aim for each of the analysis techniques is that it can, where possible, be automated and generalised to other modelling domains. The syntactic measures and analysis techniques originate largely from the disciplines of systems engineering, graph theory and computer science. Various metrics to measure model hierarchy, architecture and complexity are tested and discussed. It is found that many are not particularly useful or valid for enterprise models. Hence some new measures are proposed to assist with model visualization and an original "model signature" consisting of three key metrics is proposed.Perhaps the most significant contribution ofthe research lies in the development and validation of a significant number of semantic analysis techniques, drawing heavily on current developments in lexicography, linguistics and ontology research. Some novel and interesting techniques are proposed to measure, inter alia, domain coverage, model genericity, quality of documentation, perspicuity and model similarity. Especially model similarity is explored in depth by means of various similarity and clustering algorithms as well as ways to visualize the similarity between models. Finally, a number of pragmatic analyses techniques are applied to the models. These include face validity, degree of use, authority of model author, availability, cost, flexibility, adaptability, model currency, maturity and degree of support. This analysis relies mostly on the searching for and ranking of certain specific information details, often involving a degree of subjective interpretation, although more specific quantitative procedures are suggested for some of the criteria. To aid future researchers, a separate chapter lists some promising analysis techniques that were investigated but found to be problematic from methodological perspective. More interestingly, this chapter also presents a very strong conceptual case on how the proposed framework and the analysis techniques associated vrith its various criteria can be applied to many other information systems research areas. The case is presented on the grounds of the underlying isomorphism between the various research areas and illustrated by suggesting the application of the framework to evaluate web sites, algorithms, software applications, programming languages, system development methodologies and user interfaces

Linnaparkide kasutusmustrid, ruumiline ligipääsetavus ja kasutajaeelistused Iraani pealinnas Teheranis

A Thesis for applying for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Landscape Architecture.Väitekiri filosoofiadoktori kraadi taotlemiseks maastikuarhitektuuri erialal.Tehran, the capital of Iran, suffers from many social and environmental problems. The most important problem is poor urban planning, which led to massive sprawl. The amount of urban green or blue space, in particular parks, has not kept pace with residential development and the increase in population density resulting from inward migration. As parks are increasingly recognised as vital components of the urban fabric for a wide range of benefits, such as the health, well-being and quality of life of urban residents, it is time that this subject was given serious consideration. Investigations were made related to aspects of urban park distribution within the city, patterns of use, park quality and user preferences of a representative sample of parks distributed across the city. Data were collected through city and site assessments, user observations, and a questionnaire. This study revealed there was no consistency or clear pattern in the distribution of parks or other green areas in relation to the urban residential patterns and whether the district is a better off or poor one. It also found that patterns of urban park use and their relationship to factors of quality, depend on each other and work together, so all these criteria should fit the needs of future users. It recognised that design should focus on the most important criteria to improve the quality of life of local residents. The findings also revealed that three significant sets of factors – recreation, accessibility and culture – contribute to the satisfaction of visitors to two types of park, modern ones and historical, traditional ones. The results showed that the modern parks were preferred over the traditional ones. A broad overview of the emerging picture also revealed important problems associated with spatial justice and especially gender issues – where there are specific obstacles placed in the way of women using parks equally with men. Therefore, it is recommended that more attention be paid to provide green space in an equitable way within the city, as a priority for planning. Also careful consideration is required of the people’s need for parks in Tehran. The results provide guidance for future research about understanding the needs for park users in Tehran and should help park planners to identify the priorities for future planning.Iraani pealinn Teheran vaevleb paljude sotsiaalsete ja keskkonnaprobleemide käes. Kõige olulisem neist on kehv linnaplaneerimine, mis on viinud linna ulatusliku laialivalgumiseni. Linna rohealade ja veekogude ning eelkõige parkide hulk ei ole suutnud sammu pidada elamuarenduse ja sisserändest tulenenud asustustiheduse kasvuga. Kuna parke peetakse järjest enam linnaruumi eluliselt tähtsaks osaks, mis on mitmes mõttes kasulikud (näiteks linnaelanike tervise, heaolu ja elukvaliteedi jaoks), siis on aeg see teema tõsisemalt käsile võtta. Kogu linna haarava parkide esindusliku valimi põhjal viidi läbi parkide jaotust puudutavate aspektide, kasutusmustrite, parkide kvaliteedi ja kasutajaeelistuste uuringud. Andmeid koguti linna- ja kohahindamise, kasutajavaatluste ja küsimustiku kaudu. Uuringust selgus, et parkide või teiste rohealade jaotumuses puudub järjepidevus ning selge seaduspära linna elamustruktuuride ja ka selle vahel, kas tegu on paremal või halvemal järjel linnaosaga. Samuti leiti, et linnaparkide kasutusmustrid ja nende suhe kvaliteediteguritega sõltuvad üksteisest ning toimivad koos, mistõttu peaksid kõik need kriteeriumid olema kooskõlas tulevaste kasutajate vajadustega. See tähendab, et kavandamisel peaks keskenduma kõige olulisematele kriteeriumitele, et parandada kohalike elanike elukvaliteeti. Uuringu tulemustest selgus ka see, et puhkamisvõimalused, ligipääsetavus ja kultuur on kolm olulist tegurit, mis annavad panuse külastajate rahulolusse kahte tüüpi parkide (ajalooliste ehk traditsiooniliste ja tänapäevaste) puhul. Tulemuste järgi eelistatakse tänapäevaseid parke traditsioonilistele. Üldine ülevaade olukorrast tõi ilmsiks ka mitu ruumikasutusõigluse ning eelkõige soolise võrdõiguslikkusega seotud probleemkohta – naistele on seatud teatud piirangud, mis ei luba neil parke meestega võrdselt kasutada. Seetõttu on soovitatav pöörata planeerimisel esmalt rohkem tähelepanu rohealade võrdsele kasutusõigusele. Samuti tuleb hoolikalt läbi mõelda inimeste vajadused Teherani parkides. Tulemused annavad suunised edasisteks uuringuteks, et mõista Teherani pargikasutajate vajadusi ja peaksid aitama pargiplaneerijatel määrata kindlaks tulevaste planeeringute prioriteedid.Publication of this dissertation is supported by the Estonian University of Life Sciences