Abstract
Iran is a country with over 1,013 big and small cities and 63,898 small, average and big villages. Complexities of life in big cities on one hand, and the shortcomings in basic facilities of small villages on the other, have raised many problems concerning living in them. However, a certain group of such settlements can be quite recognized, that is, some big villages and small towns with relative capacities of economical activities and environmental, social and physical potentials can act as mediators between big cities and small villages. Due to such facilities and also because “sustainability” is rooted in the essence of villages, it is possible to convert them to ideal settlements. This paper argues that urban planning principles can also be applied to various living complexes including villages, and this provides the possibility of using urban planning principles of New Urbanism and Urban Village movements for rural settlements. For this purpose, the concept of sustainability is elaborated, the desirable indicators of utopias are introduced from viewpoint of social reformers, the main features of indigenous urban planning in Iran are recounted and finally the possibility of realization of the doctrines of ideal settlements in such big villages and small towns will be discussed. Key words: Iran, village, indigenous urban planning, Utopia, Ideal small settlement.
Highlights
The concepts of “sustainability” and “sustainable development” were introduced in the mid-twentieth century and became pervasive in the realm of social, economic, environmental and settlements theories (Wheeler, 1998)
Studying and reviewing contemporary theories of urban and rural planning, from “New Urbanism” movement in the United States of America to “Urban Village” movement in England, suggests that almost all of these movements are after the dream of revitalizing and contemporizing the physical form and content of urban life set forth in pre-modern cities (Habibi et al, 2011)
Overview of viewpoints regarding the ideal city shows that human being has had different ideas and opinions for shaping his environment through history in order to achieve social perfection. These ideas and theories which have been expressed with some terms such as utopia, and in recent decades with eco-city, healthy city or livable city, have always attended to from ancient times by social reformers and theorists, and these people have proposed some requirements for its achievement
Summary
The concepts of “sustainability” and “sustainable development” were introduced in the mid-twentieth century and became pervasive in the realm of social, economic, environmental and settlements theories (Wheeler, 1998). They became a basis for formation of global paradigms to the extent that, in recent decades, numerous terms such as sustainable development, sustainable architecture, sustainable cities, etc. One of the most important doctrines set forth in sustainability which should be taken into full consideration is its viewpoint towards history, traditional settlements and the lifestyle of the people in the past It has been an important concept in pre-modern urban and rural communities. Studying and reviewing contemporary theories of urban and rural planning, from “New Urbanism” movement in the United States of America to “Urban Village” movement in England, suggests that almost all of these movements are after the dream of revitalizing and contemporizing the physical form and content of urban life set forth in pre-modern cities (Habibi et al, 2011)
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