Architecture and Urban Development (IJAUD)

There is a consensus among housing experts and policy makers that there are not enough resources for government alone to address growing urban housing challenges in many developing countries. Consequently, a paradigm shift from government provision to partnerships between the public and private sectors is advocated. This study exامینed the prospects and challenges of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in housing provision in Ogun State Southwest Nigeria. Data were derived from the review of official records and interview enquires. Findings show that Public-Private Partnership in housing in the study area is based on the joint venture approach between government agencies and corporate commercial private property developers. So far, attention has been on the provision of housing for high-income earners, while the challenges of insufficient numbers of housing units and housing affordability among low-income earners have not been addressed. The key challenges militating against Public-Private Partnership in housing are inadequate supply of land by government and housing finance, high cost of building materials, graft as well as the exclusion of low-income people from the PPPs. Given the huge housing supply deficit in Ogun State, it is argued that the future success of PPP is contingent upon addressing these challenges and the involvement of organizations that represent low-income people in the institutional framework of the PPPs.

Iranian historical houses constitute a significant part of the architectural heritage of the country both qualitatively and quantitatively though due research is not conducted on them. This study investigates t0he physical evolution of Qajar House of Baqeri in Gorganand attempts to monitor life stream over its lifespan. The study also investigates the effect of external transformations on architectural evolutions in this house. The study adopted a combined approach and cited evidence both form the building and its periphery. The study revealed that the architecture of this house corresponds to the lifestyle, social milieu, economic conditions, technology, beliefs and tastes of its residents over the course of its history. Each of these factors was found to influence the creation of house atmosphere consistent with form, scale and proportions of the building.

The transition from the industrial age and the growing impact of the global economy on human life which has led to rapid expansion of western urban design culture in countries like Iran, are among the reasons why nowadays there is only a memory left in our minds of our traditional cities. "Urban identity" is one of the most important and most controversial issues among urban designers and other professionals involved in urban issues. This is a crisis faced by todays cities for years and has had direct and indirect effects on citizens everyday lives. Kish Island as one of the most unique island with coral reefs in the world is no exception. In this study, the components of urban identity in Kish are investigated from physical and content dimensions. Based on evaluations, the qualified variables with specific and highlighted traits which play an important role in Kish Island identity are introduced.

The 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran is considered as a turning point in the contemporary architecture of the nation. There have been apexes to the eye catching architectural improvements in the three forthcoming decades after the revolution. One of the most effective isorganizing the contests in architectural that affairs has not only removed the recession in the field but has also discarded the professional monotonicity. It may enhance the possibility of the best selections and invite the younger generation to experience the existing trends of the profession. But, the inconsistency of the competition organizers in fulfilling their commitment to either pay cash prizes or signing contracts with the winning competitors and failure in judging the designs decrease the positive effects. Exامینing the competitions throughout the three decades after the Revolution suggests that the continuity of such competitions, and revising their structure, can be considered as a suitable and useful approach in developing the contemporary architecture of Iran.

The present paper aims for the most part to prove the fact that religious and spiritual places and above all, mosques play major roles within Islamic urban areas. They are in fact the basis of civil infrastructures. A historical analysis focusing on where mosques stand in Islamic urban areas reveals that mosques have always been the center of development and growth and that they must be studied as a cultural and historical component of Islamic cities. The study also argues that considering mosques as works of architecture in isolation would be a far cry from reality. There are indisputable ties between mosques and historical –cultural developments in such cities.

Because of the dispersion of activities in big cities, employing highways as the most important connecting way is indispensable. In today world, highways are connection arteries of cities transporting people to their social activities. Because of continual use of highway, their walls prepare a context for conveying many Social, Cultural, Economic, etc concepts. That is why most economic promotions,communication of social concepts and cultural teachings are provided on highways walls and margins.In few recent years, given the same potential, highway walls has created a site for appearance of street art. Street art is demonstration of author’s personal signs on the walls and public places of the city and public audience decode the concepts embeded in the text of that art. Currently Tehran municipality, in a general policy, tried to spread and pay attention to street art particularly in the highways contexts. In this paper, we classify these designs on Tehran highway walls while indicating present examples and interpret the concepts lying in these designs from a semiotic view point.

Appearance of nationalism in each country is influenced by some social , religious and political factors throughout the history of that country In Iranian contemporary history, this process has also been dependent upon opinions and thoughts of some of the nationalist intellectuals and modernists their intellectual products played an important role in various social , intellectual and even artistic areas of the country .thus this paper firstly seeks to introduce nationalistic social trends in Iran and classify nationalist architectural tendencies in flounced by nationalist social trends besides explication of nationalist principles of each tendency and in the following , along with explanation of nationalist tendencies in architecture , some architectural works are introduced as examples.

The aim of this research paper was to determine the role of urban space design on cities competitiveness in the process of globalization. In the era of globalization and with the rush of investors to find attractive places for investment, cities are becoming the focal points for investors and the urban managers, who need to present a variety of attractions to draw financial capital and be able to compete with other cities. But, it seems these days, capital and time is wasted due to the lack of coherent theoretical foundations regarding the role of urban design professionals in making cities and urban spaces more attractive. This study explains and discusses the role of urban design in the process of making cities attractive in order to compete, by using a descriptive approach and by studying and reviewing relevant scientific resources and researches. The outcome of this study shows that today the relationship between urban design and urban economic conditions are reversed, and this phenomenon, based on the aims that have been mentioned in this article, has created a new model of urban space management in order to attract investors and develop urban growth.