The role of tourism economy in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture: Case study of Tehran District 12 Текст научной статьи по специальности «Социальная и экономическая география»

Ukrainian Journal of Ecology

Ukrainian Journal ofEcoiogy, 2018, 8(3), 304-308

CASE STUDY

The role of tourism economy in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture: Case study of Tehran District 12

F. Masheofi, A.S. Azami

Department of Urban Planning, Tehran Shomal Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. E-mail:

ashan [email protected] Submitted: 07.06.2018. Accepted: 18.07.2018

Tourism is also very effective in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture, due to its impact on economic, environmental and sociological-cultural issues. The main objective of this research, to investigate the role that tourism economics can play in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture.

We selected the 12th city of Tehran in Iran as a case study, because it has both a tourism economy and a worn out texture due to its historic history.

The method used in this research is descriptive and explanatory. In the process of this research, methods such as random and Delphi sampling, chi-square test and single-group T test have been used. The results of Pearson correlation test show that the tourism economy through the promotion of environmental quality in the neighborhoods of the 12th district of Tehran has led to the organizing of the worn-out texture of the neighborhoods of this region. This economy has created a sense of belonging among its inhabitants through improving the quality of urban services in the neighborhoods of the area. Eventually, tourism economy in the 12th region of Tehran has helped to empower the residents of those neighborhoods by improving their employment in their worn-out texture neighborhoods. Keywords: Tourism economy; organizing; revitalization; urban worn-out texture; Tehran

Introduction

Tourism is usually described, as have three major types of impacts on many of the places, which tourists visit. These effects are economic, environmental and socio-cultural in nature (and some people have mentioned political consequences also) (Harcombe, 1999). Tourism is also very effective in organizing and restoring urban texture, due to its impact on economic, environmental and sociological-cultural issues.

The significance of the economic approach and perspective to understanding this human activity is widely known. As far as both its demand and supply are concerned, tourism has distinct characteristics which set it apart from other economic activities (Song et al., 2012).

For at least two decades, social science has lamented the decline of the economically integrated neighborhood. The absence of higher-SES households from inner city neighborhoods has been blamed for a range of urban maladies, ranging from teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates to poor public services. The implication of much of this research is that urban decay, by contributing to reductions in quality of life, has a detrimental influence on those who remain in declining neighborhood (Vigdor, 2006).

According to Ministry of Housing and Urban Development officials in over 100 cities in Iran, about 87,000 hectares of urban texture are worn out. About 37,000 hectares of these worn out textiles are in cities over 200,000 and 50,000 hectares in more than 100,000 cities.(Aeini,2006) As a result, a lot of time is needed to reconstruct this texture. To shorten this time, there is a need for constructive communication between a phenomenon such as the tourism economy and the organizing and revitalizing of worn-out texture.

There are 3268 ha of worn-out texture in Tehran. For this reason, modernization of urban worn-out texture today is one of the major issues in urban management in Tehran. The 12th district of Tehran (the studied case) is the most vulnerable point in Tehran. This region is considered as one of the most important tourist hubs in the city of Tehran and even the country with its historical background and rich civilization and culture. The 12th area with an area of 16.191 square kilometers consists of 6 districts and 13 neighborhoods. The main features of this region include the Tehran market and many government agencies and institutions, ministries and embassies in this area. The neighborhoods of this area, along with their tourism centers, include: Aminzohor neighborhood (Peste yek), Ferdowsi neighborhood (Lalehzar), Baharestan neighborhood (Sa'di), Shemiran Gate neighborhood, Jaleh neighborhood (Absardar), Argh neighborhood (Pamenar), Qyam neighborhood, Shoosh neighborhood (Gateway to Ghar), Abshar neighborhood (Darvard), Sangaljeh neighborhood (Darkhongah), Market

neighborhood, Takhti neighborhood (Mokhtari), Kosar neighborhood. Regarding the fact that Zone 12 is an area with a tourism potential, this potential has not been used to organize and revitalize the worn-out texture. In this research, while investigating the characteristics of the tourism economy and organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture, the relationship between these two variables is examined and the role of the tourism economy on the organization and revitalization of urban worn-out texture is explained.

Tourism economy

On the economic front, globalization is understood from the perspectives of market dynamics and imperatives of capitalism (McGrew, 2011), which are widely discussed in economic geography. The logic of market dynamics considers globalization as a direct consequence of market competition (Song et al., 2017).

The literature on the economic analysis of tourism is curiously unbalanced in that numerous studies have been undertaken of some topics, notably demand, forecasting and multiplier studies of the impact of tourism, while little attention has been paid to others. Demand and expenditure on tourism have been investigated for a wide variety of international origins and destinations. For example, Gray (1966) considered international travel in the US and Canada, Barry and O'Hagan (1971) studied tourist expenditure in Ireland, O'Hagan and Harrison (1984) conducted a study of UK expenditure in Europe, Bechdolt (1973) and Witt (1980) modelled demand for a range of foreign holidays and Pack et al. (1995) examined the changing spatial concentration and dispersal of international tourism demand in the UK. The investigation of demand has generally involved the estimation of the relative importance of particular variables which determine the level and pattern of holiday expenditure, such as income, relative prices, exchange rates and transport costs. The many studies of tourism demand in different countries and time periods are reviewed by Archer (1976), Johnson and Ashworth (1990), Sheldon (1990) and Sinclair (1991 a) while Witt and Martin (1989) examined alternative approaches to tourism demand forecasting. None the less, most of the studies of tourism demand which have been undertaken to date lack an explicit theoretical underpinning (Sinclair & Stabler, 2002).

Contemporary urban fabric

The modern city has undergone adical changes in its physical form, not only in its vast territorial expansion, but also through internal physical transformation. these have created entirely new kind of fabric. cities that were dense, compact and continuous have become diffuse, loose and discontinuous. The traditional structure of the urban fabric, its elements and its rules of organization have all been shown by morphological analysis to have changed dramatically. A shift has occurred from a closed fabric, including central business districts and outlying suburbs in which the links between the different elements(plot, street, constructed space and open space ) formed a system (the system of urban architecture), to a peri-urban fabric which is open and fragmented ,with autonomous and atomized elements which do not related to each other. This shift has been accompanied by a significant change in scale, with the appearance of imposing megastructures and relationship between building that are now only functional (Levy, 1999).

Urban worn-out texture

McCarty emphasizes the social dimension to detect worn-out texture and calls for the term "need and social poverty" (MCcarty, 2007). Vidor used four indicators of vacant residential units, residential units security, streets requiring repair and street garbage to measure urban texture exhaustion (Vigdor, 2010). David Ley in his research in North American cities, while avoiding specifying the geographical range of the worn-out texture, considers areas as "worn-out" texture, which are associated with a physical decline in housing, population decline, and social problems among people (Ley, 1991). Urban worn-out texture is considered to be areas of the legal area of the cities which, due to physical weariness, Suitable access to cavalry, facilities, services and urban infrastructures is vulnerable and have a significant cultural, environmental and economic value (Ebrahimzadeh & Maleki, 2012).

Urban worn-out texture is the urban texture in which the existence of various elements and elements in it provides for the reduction of the qualitative values of the human environment (from the physical, functional, environmental, economic and social aspects) and by reducing the residential values, Renovation in the texture stops and the desire for emigration in the population is increasing (Pakzad & Jahanshai, 2010).

Organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture

In many designs that run in urban worn-out texture, four areas are considered: Access, Charm, Facilities and regulations, Practical measures. (Balsas, 2000).

Research methods

The nature of this research is of a practical nature. The method used in this research is descriptive and explanatory. The statistical population of the research is family supervisors, both male and female, municipal officials of the 12th district, especially in the departments of urban services and experts in the field of tourism in Tehran. According to the latest Iranian population and housing census in 2017, this statistical society is 241831 people. According to the Cochran formula, the sample size of this study is 384 people. The questionnaire was distributed among 384 people. The distribution of questionnaires among households was done by random sampling. Delphi sampling is also used to provide questionnaires to

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the officials and experts in this field. The questionnaires are distributed among 15 officials and experts. A total of 400 questionnaires in this research are distributed among the officials and families of district 12 of Tehran.

Data analysis methods

SPSS software was used to analyze the data of the questionnaire. In the analysis section of the statistical data in the first part, descriptive analysis of the data from the distributed questionnaires has been studied. Descriptive indicators have been used to determine the descriptive frequency tables of the studied population. In the second part, inferential analysis was performed and using the appropriate statistical test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normal distribution of data, Pearson correlation test for correlation and the relationship of variables with each other, one-sample t-test for effecting Variables on each other and regression are used to predict variables to analyze hypotheses and research questions (Graph 1).

Graph 1: Conceptual model of research.

Research questions

• How will the tourism economy in the 12th district of Tehran empower residents?

• In what way, the tourism economy will increase the sense of belonging in the neighborhoods of the 12th district of Tehran.

• How does the tourism economy lead to the organizing of neighborhoods in the 12th district of Tehran? Research hypotheses

• It seems that the tourism economics, through improving employment in the neighborhoods of the 12th district of Tehran, seems to empower the residents of those neighborhoods.

• It seems that the tourism economics, through improving the quality of urban services in the neighborhoods of the 12th district of Tehran, seems to create a sense of belonging among the inhabitants of this region.

• It seems that tourism economy through the promotion of environmental quality in the neighborhoods of the 12th district of Tehran has led to the organization of neighborhood in this region.

Case study

The study area is 12th district of Tehran. District 12 is one of the oldest cities in Tehran and the historical center of Tehran, located in the center of this city. This area is limited from the north to the streets of Revolution, from the western to Hafez and Vahdat-e Islami streets, to the south to Shoush Street and from the east to Shahrivar St. 17 and the Shahid Mahallat road. The 12th zone covers 1600 hectares (3.2 percent of Tehran's territory) and 241831 population (2.7 percent of the population of the metropolitan area), more than three-fourths of Tehran's Nasseri, the historical center of Tehran. More than 80 percent of the business, administrative, government, workshop and warehouse functions, and more than 50 percent of cultural-religious functions and catering are urban and metamorphosed. 22% of commercial units (major and retail), 22.2% of workshops, 10% of warehouses, 4.8% of large spaces and administrative buildings of Tehran are located in this region. 27% of the region is over 400 years old and 73% of the texture is more than 200 years old. More than 43% of the region's area is comprised of domains and zones of interest. Almost these values are considered to be more than one-third of the area of the worn-out region (whether valuable or not). In other words, the historical center of Tehran has suffered from a growing deterioration. (Bavand Consulting Engineers, 2006).

Research findings

Chi-square test findings

According to Table 1, it can be seen that in all questions the percentages agree and totally agree more than the percentage of opposing responses, has completely disagreed. Considering the level of significance of chi-squared values (p<0.05), the percentage difference was significant and it can be said that most respondents agreed with all 15 factors considered. As can be seen, the highest percentages of the answer were in agreement and in full agreement with questions 10, 15 and 11, and the lowest percentage of responses were in agreement and in full agreement with questions 1, 7 and 3 respectively.

Table 1. Chi-square test to compare the percentage of responding and disagreeing with the questions.

Question Number Total Percentage Total Opposite and No Chi- df sig

number of agrees and totally completely opposite comments Square

persons agree percentages

Question 10 400 74.8 12.5 12.7 308.765 2 0.001

Question 15 400 74.5 11.5 14 305.42 2 0.001

Question 11 400 74.3 10.7 15 302.435 2 0.001

Question 13 400 73.8 13.2 13 294.035 2 0.001

Question 9 400 72.5 13.2 14.3 276.185 2 0.001

Question 14 400 71.5 13.7 14.8 262.265 2 0.001

Question 4 400 70 14 16 242.24 2 0.001

Question 5 400 69.8 13.2 17 239.555 2 0.001

Question 8 400 68.5 20.5 11 228.02 2 0.001

Question 12 400 67.5 17 15.5 210.26 2 0.001

Question 6 400 64.8 11.5 23.7 186.665 2 0.001

Question 2 400 63.5 19.7 16.8 164.345 2 0.001

Question 3 400 65 15.8 19.2 181.235 2 0.001

Question 7 400 61.5 24.5 14 149.42 2 0.001

Question 1 400 57.3 31.1 11.7 125.195 2 0.001

Single-group T test findings in index relationship

According to Table 2, in all questions, the effect level of the index was higher than the expected average. Considering the significance level of t values obtained (p>0.05), the mean differences are significant, and it can be said that the impact of all 15 indicators is high and above average. Among the indicators considered, questions 15, 10 and 11 respectively have the highest impact and questions 1, 7 and 2 respectively have the least effect.

Table 2. Single-group t test to compare the effect of each indicator on the expected average.

Question number Number of Averag Standard Expected T df sig

persons e deviation average

Organizing and revitalizing 400 19.22 3.91 15 21.55 39 0.00

texture 7 9 1

Sense of belonging 400 18.38 4.08 15 16.59 39 0.00

5 9 1

Employment 400 18.17 4.53 15 13.97 39 0.00

4 9 1

Single-group T test findings in variable relationship and research hypothesis

According to Table 3, the effect of all three variables was more than expected. Considering the significant level of t values obtained (p<0.05), the difference between meanings is significant, so the effect of all three variables (texture upgrading, sense of belonging and occupation) is significantly higher than is average. Therefore, all three variables are verified.

Table 3. Single-group t test to examine the significance of the effect of each variable.

Question number Number of persons Average Standard deviation Expected average T df sig

Question 10 400 3.96 1.1 3 17.408 399 0.001

Question 15 400 3.89 1.09 3 16.371 399 0.001

Question 11 400 3.87 1.01 3 17.204 399 0.001

Question 13 400 3.86 1.11 3 15.424 399 0.001

Question 9 400 3.84 1.1 3 15.201 399 0.001

Question 14 400 3.8 1.17 3 13.678 399 0.001

Question 4 400 3.79 1.09 3 14.539 399 0.001

Question 5 400 3.75 1.15 3 12.953 399 0.001

Question 8 400 3.74 1.11 3 13.342 399 0.001

Question 12 400 3.71 1.06 3 13.524 399 0.001

Question 6 400 3.69 1.12 3 12.432 399 0.001

Question 2 400 3.66 1.12 3 11.674 399 0.001

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Question 3 400 3.62 1.14 3 10.767 399 0.001

Question 7 400 3.33 1.29 3 5.166 399 0.001

Question 1 400 3.26 1.42 3 3.622 399 0.001

Conclusion

According to the questions, there is a significant relationship between the improvement of environmental quality and the quality of the worn texture in the region of Tehran. This connection is the result of the presence of the phenomenon of tourism economy in this region. As a result, the promotion of environmental quality in the 12th district of Tehran, with the help of the strengthening of the tourism economy, could act as a way of organizing and reviving the worn-out texture of the region. One of the obvious features of this region is the interaction between the tourism economy and the urban worn-out texture of the region. The reason for this association is the type of worn-out texture of the region, which is a type of historical texture. On the other hand, the relationship between the quality of urban services and the sense of belonging in the place, and on the other hand, the relationship between the economy and the quality of urban services, has examined these relationships in the second hypothesis. In this hypothesis, according to the test, the impact of the tourism economy on the organization and restoration of worn out tissue is evident through the improvement of the quality of urban services. These relationships are confirmed through the meaningful relationship between the quality of the urban environment and the sense of belonging to citizens.

According to the test, the effect of employment variable on empowerment of citizens in the 12th region has had a more moderate effect. Employment on the one hand is one of the key parameters and one of the important results of the tourism economy, On the other hand, it is one of the most important factors influencing the empowerment of citizens. The role of empowering citizens in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture is one of the roles confirmed in related theories and hypotheses. As a result, a single-group t-test clearly illustrates the important role of the tourism economy in organizing and revitalizing the urban-trapped texture of the 12th region. The tourism economy plays this role through indicators of employment and empowerment of citizens.

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Citation: Farane, M., Ali-Sheikh, A. (2018). The role of tourism economy in organizing and revitalizing urban worn-out texture: Case study of Tehran District 12. Ukrainian Journal of Ecology, 8(3), 304-308. I ("OE^^^MlThk work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. License