Social surveying of Kan neighborhood urban design project
Coordinator: Hadi Kashani
Kan neighborhood, which is located in the west of Tehran, is adjacent to the famous gardens of Kan, and it is governed by different construction rules than other neighborhoods in Tehran. For more than three decades, various plans have been given for this neighborhood due to its special conditions (limitation of construction density to preserve gardens) and to improve the quality of life of the residents. In these plans, an attempt has been made to propose a peaceful solution by considering the conditions of different stakeholders for construction in the vicinity of Cannes Gardens. These plans have not been implemented due to various reasons, the most important of which is the lack of satisfaction of the residents of the neighborhood. In 2018, Negin Shahr Company received a mission from Tehran City Renewal Company to present a new plan for this neighborhood. The company tried to include as many as possible opinions of the residents of the Kan neighborhood in the new design for this neighborhood.
In line with this concern, Ensanshahr Institute came to the help of Negin Shahr to carry out the social studies of this project. In this study, the focus of which was to identify and analyze the current situation of the neighborhood, we tried to identify and analyze the existing conditions of the neighborhood with the help of residents using the approach and tools of participatory work. During this work, we held about 40 meetings in six months with different groups of residents in different parts of the neighborhood. In these meetings, we tried to take care of the diversity and ethnic, gender, and age differences in the neighborhood and include the principle of inclusion and search for diversity and difference in our fieldwork.
Due to these meetings and knowledge, the division of the neighborhood from the residents' point of view, the composition of different groups living in the neighborhood, the geographical distribution of the residents and ethnicities, as well as the important places of the neighborhood from the residents' point of view were shown on a map prepared by them. Also, the issues and problems in the neighborhood were specified on this map and the residents' solutions to solve the problems were mentioned. The residents also told the factors that encourage or prevent them to migrate from the neighborhood or stay in the neighborhood and analyzed the conditions under which they are willing to settle and migrate from this neighborhood.
The collection of such analysis and knowledge of the neighborhood gave Negin Shahr company reliable and reliable information for the proposed plan for the Kan neighborhood. In fact, this information not only helped to know what actions should be taken in the neighborhood, but this knowledge made the designer company understand what actions should not be taken and what sensitivities and considerations should be taken into account in any changes in the neighborhood.