Residential Neighborhoods

Organization of living environment is possible through a clear definition of private and public arenas and determination of a spatial hierarchy. Such defined arenas increase the sense of belonging to the environment which personalizes residential environments. Enclosure is among the quantities that play a significant role in defining the spaces. In fact, enclosure is the factor that defines a space as a ground for occurrence of other events. Enclosure is an individual subjective ground to define the space and the primary factor in conversion of space into place. One of the basic functions of a house is to determine a territory. This paper considers the concept of territory as an effective factor on the quality of the relationship between the human and his residential environment and investigates the effect of enclosure on this territory. Two residential areas including a part of Haft-Hoz neighborhood and Shahrak-e Gharb (West Town) were selected as the sample of the test. The effects of enclosure factor on the concept of territory were analyzed in common residential complexes. A qualitative research method was applied and questionnaire was used as the scientific method. According to the belief that the relationship between human and the environment depends on many different factors, this paper investigates and analyzes the concept of territory and spatial enclosure as one of the effective factors on the quality of the relationship between human and residential environment in the mentioned neighborhoods.

 Providing the conditions of residential neighborhoods to enhance residents' quality of life has always been an issue of great for urban experts and policymakers of various fields. According to the extensive research in this field, addressing quality of life indicates its importance in residential neighborhoods. The present manuscript evaluates and prioritizes the indicators that improve the quality of life based on the review and analysis of experts (in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and planning). The s trategy of this s tudy is the correlation with a descriptive-analytical approach to evaluate and prioritize the indicators of quality of life, four of which have been identified for review by experts, namely Ins titutional; Economic; Social and Environmental satisfaction. A total of 22 experts answered the ques tions, and the findings were analyzed using the DANP technique. The findings indicate that the components of "ins titutional satisfaction" and "social satisfaction" have the mos t significant impact on enhancing residents' quality of life, respectively, from the perspective of experts. In addition, based on the weight of the obtained components, "policy-making and decision-making of organizations and ins titutions" in the neighborhood and "access to health facilities and services" were ranked as the firs t and las t practical components, respectively. Therefore, s trategies can be developed based on the prioritization of experts, such as s trengthening social and infras tructural services and facilities (ins titutional); Residents' decision-making and participation in neighborhood management (social); provision of participatory housing (economic), and development of open and green space (environmental).