@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 0000-0000    Iranian Journal of Isaar Studies 2017;1(1):17-22

Background
… [1, 2]. Studies have shown that most of government buildings do not have the appropriate condition for equal access for disabled veterans, which has led to decreased motivation of spatial and social mobility of disabled veterans for active participation in social and economic affairs of the society… [3].
Previous Studies
Venter et al. have shown that improved accessibility and mobility of disabled individuals could have an impact on reduction of poverty and disabilities, creation of occupation, and accessibility of disabled individuals to urban services and facilities [4]. … [5-7]. According to Azizi, sustainability of urban public spaces depends on vitality, identity, dynamism, compatibility, diversity, readability, and access to urban spaces [8]. In this regard, Bahmanpour and Salajegheh [9] reported that Laleh Park of Tehran has a moderate condition for disabled individuals. In addition, Bozi et al. [10] used TOPSIS model to evaluate the traffic of Shiraz, Iran. … [11]. In a research by Kamanroodi [12] in Tehran, Iran, it was marked that the centralized structure and dispersed performance of Tehran's urban development management has an inadequate performance for improving the condition of urban spaces for disabled people. … [13].
Aim(s)
This research aimed to evaluate the appropriateness level of government buildings in Rasht, Iran, for disabled veterans.
Research type
This was a descriptive and survey research.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted on 256 government buildings of Rasht in 2016.
Sampling method and number
In total, 70 buildings were selected through simple random sampling.
Used devices&materials
Data collection tool was a checklist for evaluation of appropriateness of government buildings. At first, the selected public buildings of Rasht were ranked according to the components of appropriateness using TOPSIS method. In this technique, factors or options are assessed by an individual or a group of decision-makers. In addition, each selected factor must have the minimum distance with the positive ideal factor (the most important) and maximum distance with the negative ideal factor (the least important). In fact, the distance of each factor with positive and negative ideals is evaluated, which will be the criterion for ranking and prioritizing the factors [14]. The TOPSIS method is carried out, as follows: 1. Formation of data matrices based on N alternatives (the selected public buildings of Rasht) and K indicators (requirements and terms of municipal engineering and architecture that is required for design of public buildings to be used by veterans and individuals with physical and motor disabilities). 2. Changing the existing decision matrix to unscaled matrix (the main cause of unscaling the data is the difference between the scale of the data. By performing this process, data were between 0 and 1). 3. Weighting of indicators: analytical hierarchy process was used in Expert Choice Software, and the elements present at each stage of the hierarchy were evaluated from bottom to top, compared to all the elements related to the higher level. At the end, paired comparison matrix was formed (ratio of importance of factors 1–9). After weighting the indicators, the weight of each indicator was multiplied by normalized numbers and a standard data matrix was created. 4. Determining the solution of positive and negative ideals: using the standard data matrix, the highest (A+) and lowest (A–) performances of each indicators were calculated using the equations below: A+ = {(Max Vij|j∈J), (Min Vij–| ∈J^-)|i={1,2,3,…,m})} , J ={1,2,3,...,n) A- = {(Min Vij|j∈J), (Max Vij–| ∈J^-)|i={1,2,3,…,m})} , J– ={1,2,3,...,n) 5. Estimation of the distance of each option from the positive and negative ideals. 6. Determining the relative distance to the best criteria (sum of the number of each line of the tables in the fifth stage was obtained and raised to the exponent of 0.5). 7. Calculation of relative proximity to the ideal solution and ranking of options: relative proximity of –d compared to +d was estimated through the equation below, followed by ranking of options according to the obtained amount between 0 and 1. The more proximity of this amount to 1, the higher the rank. In addition, proximity of this number to zero is indicative of lower rank. 〖cl〗_i^+= (d_i^-)/(〖(d〗_i^++d_i^- )0 ≤〖cl〗_i^+≤ 1 Statistical Analysis: After entering the data into the analysis software, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between the studied variables.
Findings by Text
According to the results, some appropriateness components were observed in some evaluated areas of Rasht. In terms of appropriateness indicator, the highest and lowest ranks were allocated to the municipality and city council buildings of Rasht (Table 1). According to the results of the present research, a significant relationship was observed between the management process of increasing the appropriateness of government buildings and administrative measures for disabled veterans (p=0.0001; r=0.637). In this regard, increased management actions for enhancing the appropriateness of government buildings led to improved executive measures. Moreover, a significant association was found between the cooperation of government organizations and appropriateness of government buildings (p=0.0001; r=0.526). In this respect, increased cooperation of government organizations in the area of appropriateness of buildings improved the overall condition of public buildings. Furthermore, a significant relationship was observed between demographic characteristics of government managers and appropriateness of government buildings (p=0.0001; r=0.56). According to the results, increased age and high work experience, educational level, and social and economic headquarter of managers had a significant relationship with improved appropriateness of government buildings. There was also a significant correlation between preparedness of government buildings and taking measures to increase the level of appropriateness of buildings (p=0.0001; r=0.597). In this regard, increased level of preparedness of government buildings led to elevated number of appropriateness measures.
Main comparison to the similar studies
Urban development theory emphasizes the improvement of level of access and social welfare of citizens. In this regard, despite considerable national and local policy-making and legal measures in the country, the appropriateness planning system has no proper long-, mid- and short-term plans, which are coherent and sustainable with efficient mechanisms for institutional monitoring, controlling, evaluating, and coordinating. The main assumptions of urban management theory are creating proper foundations for all citizens, including disabled veterans and individuals, to have access to public spaces and government buildings, increasing equal opportunities and level of satisfaction of citizens with urban management services, and improving the public spaces by optimal use of limited resources [15]. … [16, 17].
Suggestions
None declared by the authors.
Limitations
None declared by the authors.
Conclusions
Public and government buildings of Rasht have a moderate condition in terms of access of disabled veterans and individuals and appropriateness measures.
Acknowledgments
None declared by the authors.
Conflict of interest
None declared by the authors.
Ethical Permissions
None declared by the authors.
Funding Sources
None declared by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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