Sense of Security from the Environmental Perspective A Case Study of Tehran’s Pardisan Park

Abstract

Since, in the same vein as public spaces, urban green spaces play a significant role in establishing social interactions in the Iranian cities, security concerns need to be taken more seriously in such places than other social environments, the insufficiency of which could diminish their functional capacity. This could in turn lead to a source of subsequent difficulties in urban spaces. Therefore, the undeniable role of environmental factors in inducing a sense of tranquility in individuals needs to be further taken into account in the field of urban design and planning. <br />In light of the above concern, this study aimed at explaining the contributing environmental factors to fostering a sense of security. To this end, the scope of this was limited to Pardisan Park as the case study. This was a qualitative research, in which the prepared questionnaires were analyzed using AMOS in order to examine the various environmental factors. After a preliminary test was conducted, a conceptual model comprising five perspectives of environmental legibility, visual disturbance, lighting, cleanliness, and noise pollution was developed and analyzed. Taking the significance level as well as goodness- and badness-of-fit indices into consideration, all of these perspectives had acceptable load factors. Their impact ratios were 0.51, 0.28, 0.30, 0.78, and 0.23, respectively. Finally, suggestions were made in order to enhance the sense of security in the specified space, which could be implemented by landscape designers and urban managers.