A Theoretical Approach to Capabilities of the Traditional Urban Form in Promoting Sustainable Transportation

Abstract

Influenced by the early to mid-twentieth century modernization, the Iranian cities experienced urban transformations that laid extensive effects on the social and physical human activities that have remained until today. Mobility is one of such issues that are broadly under the influence of the transformed urban form. This paper claims that the new Iranian urban planning encourages the city dwellers to drive personal cars because the neighborhoods and their centers lost importance after the urban form modernization efforts in 1930-1960. Neighborhoods with districts centers used to be basic elements of the traditional Iranian urban form. This study indicates the capabilities of the small-scale traditional urban forms like neighborhood arrangement in solving modern mobility problems. The theoretical approach that this study discusses over is that strengthening neighborhoods and Neighborhood Unit Centers (NUCs) can promote sustainable transportation, namely pedestrian travels. As a result the urban travels will be shortened and localized. The dominant view of automobile-oriented planning is needed to be replaced by a more humanist strategy, such as neighborhood-oriented planning. This ideology uses the neighborhoods to enhance sustainable mobility. To test this hypothesis, micro-scale and city-scale quantitative and empirical observations are suggested to prove the capacities of neighborhoods and their centrality in making the city-level travels more sustainable and decrease traffic congestion.

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