REAL CORP 2009 Proceedings/Tagungsband Sitges, 22-25 April 2009 – http://www.corp.at ISBN: 978-3-9502139-6-6 (CD-ROM); ISBN: 978-3-9502139-7-3 (Print) Editors: Manfred SCHRENK, Vasily V. POPOVICH, Dirk ENGELKE, Pietro ELISEI 687 Exploring the people's perception of urban public parks in Tehran Zohreh A. Daneshpour, Asrin Mahmoodpour (Dr. Zohreh A.Daneshpour, Ph.D., Faculty of Architecture & Urban Planning, Sh. Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran, z_danesh@sbu.ac.ir) (Architect /Planner, Asrin Mahmoodpour, M. A., Faculty of Architecture & Urban Planning, Sh. Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran, asrin_ar@yahoo.com) 1 ABSTRACT Urban public parks play an essential role in enhancing the quality of life in urban areas and are particularly beneficial where stress is a common aspect of life. The social status of users of urban parks has universally been important in their perception of these places. In this paper an attempt has been made to explore the perception of the different groups of population of major urban public parks in Tehran. The extent the people use public parks must be viewed against the increasing privatisation of consumption, including leisure and recreational activities, universally and in Iran, which has been exposed to a number of factors construing to the enhancement of this kind of privatisation. To this end, a dual process of obtaining information from the users and non-users of urban parks in Tehran is done. The first group of respondents was chosen amongst young and educated population with access to the internet. The second group for whom an in place questionnaires was used, were users or potential users of the three major parks in Tehran. This study indicated that the respondents perception of the urban public parks in Tehran include the quality and quantity of green areas, types of activities offered in the parks, the social status of other users, its security, the visibility of law enforcement, the location of the park and their ownership of private means of transportation. Also, it was deduced that the use of public parks has become a major source of leisure and recreational activity for lower income groups. As there is a socio-spatial dichotomy in Tehran, the lower income groups, use the urban parks in the northern parts of the city. This – and the physically inactive lifestyles of many of the more well-off and educated residents – has become major barriers of using urban parks – especially during the weekends and public holidays - in Tehran. 2 PURPOSE OF THE PAPER In this paper an attempt has been made to explore the perception of the different groups of population about using major urban public parks in Tehran. The manner in which and the extent the people use public parks has to be viewed against the increasing privatisation of consumption, including leisure and recreational activities, worldwide and in Iran - specifically since 1979 - which the country has been exposed to a number of issues construing to the enhancement of this kind of privatisation. In general, this study attempts to explore some of the prominent issues in the production and use of public spaces in Tehran. To pursue the appropriate investigation the following questions can be posed: • How do people perceive the public spaces of Tehran and their relative problem areas? • What is the extent the people use public parks in view of the increasing privatisation of consumption. • What are the differing trends of various socio-economic groups towards using public parks, as part of their leisure activities? 2.1 Public parks and the privatisation of consumption There are two aspects as to the privatisation of public spaces. One is found in such societies that face diverse socio-cultural impediments that constrain the people to spend their leisure time in their private domains. The other aspect is part of a tripartite categorisation of policies towards public spaces of ‘privatisation’, ‘commodification’ and ‘commercialisation’. Privatisation’ of public space signifies the shifting of the planning and management of public spaces from public sector to the private sector (introduction and extension of market principles in the provision of public spaces). ‘Commodification’ of public space refers to the recognition of public realm as a commodity. ‘Commercialisation’ of public space means that public realm is used to produce profit rather than to improve the quality of urban space and life. The second course of privatisation of urban public space - which turns them into controlled spaces - has negative consequences attributed to this transformation including denying entry to public spaces for unwanted people (according to such measures as poverty, gender, age, ethnicity or religion). The increasing shift towards privatisation - in