واکاوی پدیدۀ انقباض شهری و تأثیر فضاهای بلااستفاده بر وقوع آن مطالعۀ موردی: محدودۀ کارخانۀ ریسباف اصفهان

نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

نویسندگان

1 دانش‌آموخته کارشناسی ارشد طراحی شهری، گروه شهرسازی، دانشکده معماری و شهرسازی، دانشگاه هنر اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران.

2 دانشیار طراحی شهریگروه شهرسازی، دانشکده معماری و شهرسازی، دانشگاه هنر اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران.

چکیده

اهداف و پیشینه: انقباض شهری نوعی بحران ساختاری در شهر است که با کاهش جمعیت و رکود اقتصادی همراه است و منجر به شکل‌گیری فضاهای متروک یا بدون استفاده در مراکز و یا محدوده‌های پیرامونی می‌شود. فضاهایی که به محیط پیرامونشان متصل نیستند و گسست اجتماعی ـ فضایی در بافت پیرامونی آنها از مهم‌ترین شاخص‌های انقباض شهری است؛ ازجملة این فضاها، کارخانه‌های قدیمی در حاشیة شهرها هستند که در اثر توسعه، در بخش درونی شهر واقع شده ولی بلااستفاده باقی مانده‌اند. در شهر اصفهان نیز، که زمانی به سبب وفور کارخانه‌های نساجی، به منچستر شرق مشهور بوده، کارخانه‌های قدیمی نظیر سایت کارخانه ریسباف به‌دنبال تحولات اقتصادی، با از دست رفتن کارکردهای اصلی آنها، دیگر اتصالی با شهر ندارند و به‌صورت قطعات بزرگ متروکه در بخش درونی شهر نمایان هستند. هدف در این مقاله، ارزیابی تأثیر کارخانه‌های بلااستفاده بر وقوع پدیدة انقباض شهری، با ارجاع به کارخانه ریسباف اصفهان، با انگیزة بیان راهبردهای طراحی شهری به‌منظور پاسخ‌گویی به چالش‌های ناشی از این پدیده است. 
 
مواد و روش‌ها: درگام نخست، مبتنی بر مطالعة مبانی نظری موضوع، علل پدیداری انقباض شهری و پیامدهای آن شناسایی شدند. به‌منظور آسیب‌شناسی کارخانة ریسباف، به‌منزلة یکی از مصادیق پدیدة انقباض شهری، به شناخت و تحلیل این محدوده از منظر طراحی شهری و با تأکید و تمرکز بر بعد ساختاری (کالبدی ـ فضایی) پرداخته شد. همچنین بررسی اجمالی دیگر ابعاد شامل ابعاد جمعیتی، اقتصادی، و مدیریتی، تحلیل کامل‌تری از پدیدة انقباض شهری در محدودة مطالعاتی به دست داد. در این راستا، به‌منظور جمع‌آوری و تحلیل داده‌ها از روش آمیخته (کمی و کیفی توأمان)، روش چیدمان فضا، و نقشه‌های شناختی و رفتاری استفاده شده است.
نتایج و جمع‌بندی: یافته‌های کمی و کیفی این پژوهش نشان‌دهندة انزوا و گسست فضایی کارخانه ریسباف و اتصال و همپیوندی پایین آن در سطح محلی و کلان است که از پیامدهای غیرمستقیم انقباض شهری محسوب می‌شود. بر این اساس، اتخاذ دو راهبرد طراحی شهری پاسخ‌گو به چالش انقباض شهری (راهبرد پیونددهندة شهری و راهبرد پیوند مکان) برای برقراری پیوندها و اتصالات مجموعه در دو سطح محلی و کلان و ایجاد هم‌پیوندی بین عناصر مجموعه ریسباف نسبت به یکدیگر و برقراری ارتباطات کارخانه ریسباف با بافت اطرافش به‌منظور تقویت ارتباط جزء و کل در ساختار موجود در کنار ملاحظات مربوط به حفاظت و احیای معماری آن ضرورت دارد.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات


عنوان مقاله [English]

An Investigation of the urban shrinkage phenomenon and the effect of unused spaces on its occurrence; Case study: Isfahan's Risbaf factory district

نویسندگان [English]

  • Mehrnoosh Amiryousefi 1
  • Bahador Zamani 2
1 M.A in Urban Design,, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Art University of Isfahan
2 Associate Professor of Urban Planning Department, Architecture Faculty, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
چکیده [English]

Background and objectives: Urban shrinkage is a type of structural crisis associated with population decline and economic downturn resulting in abandoned or disused spaces. Despite many US cities having encountered the phenomenon in the early 1950s, the discourse around shrinkage did not emerge until the late 1990s and 2000s. In most studies, even the term ‘shrinkage’ was not applied, with terms such as ‘decline,’ ‘decay,’ ‘abandonment,’ ‘anti-urbanism,’ ‘urban crisis,’ and ‘population recession’ being more common. The urban shrinkage discourse emerged as the problems of older American cities exacerbated, and with authorities began to make drastic changes at the turn of the millennium. This shift was reflected in the publication of books with titles such as Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighbourhood Revival (Grogan et al., 2000) and Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown (Gratz et al., 1998). With the emergence of positive changes in some long-suffering cities, the discourse ultimately appeared as a distinct subject (Daniel et al., 2016). Typically, the definition of shrinkage is accompanied by an image of decline (Beauregard, 2005). Spatially, shrinkage is understood as a doughnut or a mosaic pattern with hollow spaces. In other words, the term may not represent a homogeneous phenomenon across a given area: some sections may experience minor growth, whilst others left abandoned, stagnant, and shrinking (Sousa et al., 2011: 15). As such, abandoned and disused spaces are both causes and symptoms of urban shrinkage. These spaces are disconnected from their surrounding environment, with socio-spatial disintegration being one of their most important indicators. In dynamic cities, development and decline occur simultaneously. In some cases, abandoned spaces may be reused within a short timeline, while in others, no interventions take place, potentially leading to significant problems within the region. These abandoned spaces can be considered as opportunities for cities, conveying a history that facilitates a redesign as well as an introduction of certain urban scenarios. They also provide opportunities for urban designers, city planners, and architects to develop and apply various methods engaging in creative thinking (Berger, 2006). Among these spaces are old factories located on the outskirts of cities, which, due to urban development, have become part of the inner city and remained disused. Such areas need to be investigated in search for ways of integrating them into their surrounding urban fabric. In Isfahan, once known as the ‘Manchester of the East’ for its abundant textile factories, old factories such as the Risbaf have lost their primary functions due to economic transformations and deindustrialisation, resulting in large abandoned parcels situated in the inner city. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of such disused factories on urban shrinkage, using Risbaf as a case in point, and to propose urban design strategies responding the challenges posed by this phenomenon.
Materials and Methods: Based on a study of the theoretical foundations of the topic, the work started with identifying the causes of urban shrinkage. The next step involved recognising the consequences of urban shrinkage, including economic, structural, social, or a combination of all three aspects. These consequences may occur over varying timelines and, if unaddressed, may lead to a ‘domino effect’. To understand how to intervene and reuse abandoned lands, it is crucial to first comprehend how these forces impact the socio-spatial formation of cities. Consequently, to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Risbaf as an example of urban shrinkage, this research focused on understanding and analysing its area from an urban design perspective, with an emphasis on the structural (physical–spatial) dimensions. A brief review of other dimensions, including demographic, economic, and managerial factors, provided a more thorough analysis of urban shrinkage within the study area. For data collection and analysis, a mixed quantitative- qualitative method was applied. For data analysis, Space Syntax techniques, cognitive and behavioural mappings were applied. One of the key concepts in the Space Syntax theory is the notion of connectivity: an indicator suitable for understanding collective spaces and facilitating movement between areas, as well as representing active nodes and links between spaces. The connectivity indicator is directly associated with the integration indicator, that is, the greater the number of interconnections within a space and the more connections it has to multiple nodes, the greater its degree of integration (Kalantari et al., 2018). In so doing, axial maps were drawn using AutoCAD and then imported into DepthmapX. Then, spatial analysis maps were prepared using QGIS and GIS to evaluate the factory based on which the results were displayed on a blue to red spectrum, where red colour indicates strong and blue denoting weak connections. Qualitatively, in order to understand people’s perceptions of the immediate peripheral axis, and identify significant signs and axes from the users’ point of views, the cognitive and behavioural tracking maps were analysed.
Results and conclusion: The quantitative and qualitative findings of this study indicate the isolation and spatial disintegration of the Risbaf factory and its low connectivity and integration at the local and macro levels, which are considered as indirect consequences of the urban shrinkage. Therefore, this valuable industrial heritage currently stands as a complex devoid of function and disconnected from the urban fabric, exemplifying the phenomenon of urban shrinkage. It is necessary, in response, to adopt urban design strategies, including Urban Connector and Place Patchwork strategies. This would be in line with reinforcing connections and integration of the complex at both local and macro levels through creating interconnections between the complex’s elements and establishing connections of the factory as part of whole within the existing structure. On top of that the factory preservation and revitalisation need to be considered.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Urban shrinkage
  • Unused and abandoned spaces
  • Integration with the city
  • Industrial heritage
  • Isfahan's Risbaf factory