نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی و پژوهشی

نویسندگان

• ابراهیم شریف زاده اقدم ¹
• دانا علیزاده ²
• مهتاب علی نژاد ³

¹ ، دکتری، بخش جغرافیا، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد

² . دکتری، بخش جغرافیا، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران

³ دانشجوی دکتری، بخش جغرافیا، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه شیراز، شیراز. رایانامه

چکیده

هدف: این پژوهش با هدف واکاوی کارکردهای اجتماعی–فرهنگی پارک‌های شهری مشهد و شناسایی سازوکارهایی است که موجب تبدیل کارکردهای مثبت به پیامدهای آسیب‌زا شده‌اند

روش پژوهش: روش‌شناسی پژوهش تلفیقی از مطالعه کیفی و ارزیابی تأثیرات اجتماعی (اتا) است. در مرحله کیفی، ۵۰ مصاحبه عمیق با مطلعان، نخبگان محلی و ذی‌نفعان انجام شد در مرحله دوم، روش اتا برای تحلیل پیامدهای مثبت و منفی ناشی از طراحی، مدیریت و کاربری فضاهای سبز به کار گرفته شد.

نتایج: یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد بوستان‌ها و فضاهای سبز شهری در معرض تأثیرات منفی اجتماعی قرار دارند به‌گونه‌ای که به میزان قابل توجهی به‌صورت کژکارکرد در مسیر جامعه‌پذیری و مشارکت اجتماعی، احساس تعلق و امکان بهره‌برداری شهروندان نسبت به فضای سبز را کاهش داده‌اند، پدیده‌ی مرکزی، «کاهش اقبال عمومی» است که در چرخه‌ای با «تزلزل امنیت اجتماعی»، «رهاشدگی ساختاری»، «ضعف اثربخشی همبستگی اجتماعی» و «فقدان شمولیت» بازتولید می‌شود. در مقابل، سه راهبردِ «قدرت بخشیدن به شادی جمعی»، «تعامل‌افزایی» و «تبعیض‌زدایی» با فعال‌سازی حس تعلق و مشارکت شهروندی، پیامدهای مثبتی چون «پاتوق‌زُدایی»، «تقویت باور جمعی» و «ارتقای کیفیت زندگی» را رقم می‌زنند.

نتیجه‌گیری: نتیجه‌گیری پژوهش مؤید این امر هست که اگر بتوان از روابط قوی و در هم تنیده اجتماعات محلی و شهری در مدیریت مؤثر شهری و جوهره آن یعنی مشارکت محلی بهره گرفت، امکان مدیریت سامانمند و مطلوب شهری نیز فراهم می‌شود. خروجی، یک مدل مفهومیِ تبیینی و برنامه‌ی اجرایی برای مدیریت شهری است که اولویت‌بندی مداخلات را متناسب با هویت محلی و عدالت فضایی پیشنهاد می‌کند.

کلیدواژه‌ها

• پارک‌های شهری
• آسیب‌شناسی اجتماعی
• ارزیابی تأثیرات اجتماعی (اتا)
• امنیت اجتماعی
• تعاملات جمعی

موضوعات

• برنامه ریزی شهری

عنوان مقاله [English]

Socio-Cultural Functions of Urban Parks: From Social Pathology to Collective Interaction Renewal (Case Study: Mashhad, Iran)

نویسندگان [English]

• Ebrahim Sharifzadeh Aghadam ¹
• dana Alizadeh ²
• Mahtab alinezhad ³

¹ Ph.D., Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

² Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

³ Ph.D. Candidate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran

چکیده [English]

Introduction
Urban parks and green spaces represent essential socio-cultural arenas within contemporary cities. Beyond their ecological and aesthetic roles, parks are dynamic public spaces that shape patterns of interaction, inclusion, and belonging. In rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as Mashhad, the second-largest city in Iran, these spaces have become increasingly vulnerable to social challenges including insecurity, marginalization, and weakened social cohesion. Prior literature acknowledges that public parks embody both the promise of social revitalization and the risk of becoming sites of deviance, exclusion, and crime. Mashhad provides an important case study because of its demographic diversity, religious-touristic significance, and rapid urban expansion. The city’s 13 municipal districts contain numerous parks, yet these spaces reveal stark variations in accessibility, security, and public perception.
Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the socio-cultural roles of urban parks in Mashhad with a particular focus on identifying the processes that transform positive social functions into dysfunctional outcomes. The study seeks to:
Assess the extent to which social pathologies affect urban parks and undermine public acceptance.
Examine the interplay between insecurity, structural abandonment, weak solidarity, and exclusion in shaping social dysfunctions.
Propose strategies that can renew collective interaction, reinforce social belonging, and enhance urban quality of life. Provide an explanatory conceptual model and practical framework for municipalities and partner institutions to implement socially responsive urban management.
 
Materials and Methods
This research employed a mixed methodology that integrates qualitative exploration with social impact assessment (ETA).
Qualitative phase: In-depth semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted with 50 informants, including local stakeholders, community leaders, and residents across the 13 districts of Mashhad. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Field observations captured patterns of park usage, security concerns, and forms of social interaction, providing contextual insights into lived experiences.
Social Impact Assessment (ETA): This stage analyzed the social implications of urban projects, focusing on both intended and unintended consequences of park design and management. The assessment identified key stakeholders, traced causal relationships between spatial conditions and social outcomes, and classified both positive and negative impacts.The study followed a grounded-theory orientation, allowing codes and categories to emerge from the data. By combining empirical evidence with theoretical frameworks on social capital, urban governance, and spatial justice, the research generated a conceptual model illustrating the dynamics of park-related social processes.
 
Results
The analysis revealed that Mashhad’s urban parks are subject to significant social pathologies, which manifest in reduced public trust, declining participation, and functional inefficiency.
Central Phenomenon: Decline in Public Acceptance The dominant theme identified was a “decline in public acceptance,” meaning that citizens increasingly perceive parks as unsafe, uninviting, or irrelevant to their daily needs. This decline is not an isolated outcome but part of a self-reinforcing cycle sustained by four interrelated categories:
Fragile Social Security: In many parks, the visible presence of delinquent groups, drug users, and marginalized populations has undermined perceptions of safety. Structural policing has been inadequate, and informal community-based safety mechanisms have eroded. Women and vulnerable groups, in particular, report reduced willingness to frequent parks, which further weakens surveillance and collective guardianship.
Structural Abandonment: Many parks suffer from insufficient maintenance, inadequate lighting, poor design choices, and lack of responsive management. Uniform Park layouts across districts fail to reflect local cultural needs, thereby diminishing neighborhood attachment.
Weak Social Solidarity: Although community ties in some neighborhoods remain relatively strong, structural challenges limit the ability of solidarity to reduce deviant behavior. In deprived areas, even cohesive local cultures have been unable to counter the stigmatization of parks as crime-prone zones. Thus, solidarity without institutional support remains ineffective.
Lack of Inclusion: Discriminatory allocation of park facilities fosters perceptions of inequality. Examples include better-equipped sports facilities for boys compared to girls, and inadequate accessibility for people with disabilities. These inequities not only restrict usage but also intensify feelings of alienation and exclusion, feeding into the cycle of declining acceptance.
Strategic Responses: From Dysfunction to Renewal
Despite these challenges, the study identified three strategic approaches that can reverse the negative trajectory and activate positive socio-cultural functions:
Empowering Collective Happiness: Parks serve as arenas for leisure, recreation, and cultural celebration. Organizing family-centered events, providing joyful and inclusive recreational opportunities, and designing spaces that generate positive shared memories can increase citizen presence. Such collective joy strengthens the emotional bond between people and place, reinforcing social belonging.
Enhancing Interaction: By redesigning physical layouts to encourage gathering, dialogue, and participation, parks can become hubs of everyday sociality. Interaction fosters trust, strengthens social capital, and enables collaborative problem-solving. This strategy highlights the role of parks as democratic spaces where different social groups can coexist and engage constructively.
Eliminating Discrimination: Ensuring equitable distribution of facilities and inclusive design can restore trust in public institutions. Accessibility for women, children, elderly, and persons with disabilities is not only a matter of rights but also a precondition for genuine participation.
Consequential Outcomes:
When these strategies are implemented, three significant outcomes emerge:
De-marginalization: Parks lose their function as deviant hangouts and regain legitimacy as community-friendly spaces.
 
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that the socio-cultural role of urban parks in Mashhad is shaped by a complex interplay between structural vulnerabilities and community-based strategies. While current conditions reveal significant dysfunction, parks also possess transformative potential if managed through participatory and context-sensitive approaches.
Key conclusions include:
Parks should not be seen merely as ecological or recreational assets but as socio-political arenas where issues of inclusion, justice, and governance converge.
Urban management must integrate local participation and recognize neighborhood identity to avoid one-size-fits-all interventions.
Addressing security requires both structural measures (institutional coordination between municipalities and police) and social strategies (encouraging family presence, cultural events, and community stewardship).
A balanced model combining collective joy, enhanced interaction, and reduced discrimination can reactivate positive park functions and restore citizen trust.
The practical implication is the need for a conceptual model and implementation plan tailored to Mashhad’s specific urban and cultural landscape. Such a framework should prioritize interventions aligned with spatial justice and local identity. Municipalities and partner institutions are urged to shift from a top-down managerial approach to an inclusive model of co-governance, where citizens become active participants in shaping, protecting, and enjoying their public spaces.
 

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

• Urban parks
• social issues
• Social Impact Assessment
• Social safety
• Community interactions