Toward social sustainability: evidence from the Chaharbagh Abbasi Pedestrian Street in a historical Middle Eastern city, Iran

Figures & data

Table 1. Built environment and social sustainability factors.

Mouratidis (2021)	Yıldız et al. (2020)	Blečić et al. (2020)	Eizenberg and Jabareen (2017)	Soni and Soni (2016)
Travel Leisure and work Social relationships Residential well-being Emotional responses Health	Accessibility and quality of social life Conservation of resources Quality of the built environment Protection of disadvantaged groups Commercial and economic opportunities	Efficiency and comfort Safety Security and certainty Pleasantness Attractiveness	Equity Safety Eco-presumption Physical forms	Social interactions and relations Sense of belonging Sense of responsibility and pride Security and safety Heritage preservation and urban renewal Livability improvement

Figure 1. Case study area.

Figure 2. Case study area; Photographs by authors (2022).

Figure 3. Chaharbagh Abbasi over time from left to right. Source: Pictures adapted from the book Voyages de Monsieur le chevalier Chardin en Perse et autre lieux de l’Orient by Jean Chardin (in French), 2018, Figure XLII; Iran’s Metropolises News Agency, 2014, (imna.ir/x3mCP); authors, 2022.

Figure 4. The change of social space in Chaharbagh Abbasi: city inhabitants’ and visitors’ perspectives. Source: authors survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (2017).

Table 2. Changes in pre- and post-pedestrianization in social interaction: city inhabitants’ and visitors’ perspectives.

	City inhabitants’ point of view				Visitors’ point of view
	2017		2022		2017		2022
	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage
Significantly decrease	33	4.1	15	3	9	2.3	13	3
Decrease	46	5.7	59	10	8	2.1	24	6
No change	273	33.8	85	14	154	39.7	123	31
Increase	333	41.2	244	41	114	29.4	153	39
Significantly increase	93	11.5	185	31	54	13.9	83	21
No answer	30	3.7	0	0	49	12.6	0	0
Total	808	100	588	100	388	100	396	100

Source: Authors’ survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (MATFA 2017).

Figure 5. Which urban areas impact on the SI, SB, SR, SAF, and SEC* of Chaharbagh Abbasi Pedestrian Street and to what extent? Source: The map was adapted from the Municipality of Isfahan and modified by the authors. *Abbreviation: SI, social interaction; SB, sense of belonging; SR, sense of responsibility; SAF, sense of safety; SEC, sense of security.

Table 3. Changes in pre- and post-pedestrianization in city inhabitants’ sense of responsibility and belonging.

	City inhabitants’ sense of Responsibility				City inhabitants’ sense of Belonging
	2017		2022		2017		2022
	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage
Very low	40	4.9	57	10	97	12	0	0
Low	64	7.9	104	18	125	15.5	38	6
Moderate	149	18.4	180	31	211	26.1	173	29
High	241	29.8	175	30	181	22.4	255	43
Very high	272	33.7	72	12	168	20.8	122	21
No answer	42	5.2	0	0	26	3.2	0	0
Total	808	100	588	100	808	100	588	100

Source: Authors’ survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (MATFA 2017).

Table 4. Changes in pre- and post-pedestrianization in sense of safety: city inhabitants’ and visitors’ perspectives.

	City inhabitants’ perspectives on safety				Visitors’ perspectives on safety
	2017		2022		2017		2022
	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage
Very low	106	13.1	4	1	99	25.5	28	7
Low	134	16.6	13	2	88	22.7	50	13
Moderate	228	28.2	85	14	85	21.9	63	16
High	229	28.3	358	61	41	10.6	152	38
Very high	67	8.3	128	22	25	6.4	103	26
No answer	44	5.4	0	0	50	12.9	0	0
Total	808	100	588	100	388	100	396	100

Source: Authors’ survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (MATFA 2017).

Table 5. Changes in pre- and post-pedestrianization in sense of security: city inhabitants’ and visitors’ perspectives.

	City inhabitants’ perspectives on security				Visitors’ perspectives on security
	2017		2022		2017		2022
	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage	Frequently	Percentage
Very low	44	5.4	25	4	17	4.3	12	3
Low	62	7.7	62	11	38	9.8	48	12
Moderate	231	29	212	36	73	18.8	103	26
High	294	37	213	36	143	36.9	154	39
Very high	131	16.2	76	13	76	19.6	79	20
No answer	46	5.7	0	0	41	10.6	0	0
Total	808	100	588	100	388	100	396	100

Source: Authors’ survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (MATFA 2017).

Figure 6. The shares of urban areas on social dimensions of Chaharbagh Abbasi pedestrian street. Source: Authors’ survey (2022).

Figure 7. Social sustainability dimensions in pre- and post- pedestrianization of Chaharbagh Abbasi. Source: Authors’ survey (2022) and surveys performed by Municipality of Isfahan (2017).

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