Socio-Physical Aspects of Urban Neighborhoods in Iranian Cities With Special Reference to the City of Mashad

From the third decade of the 20 century onward, Iranian cities have experienced a rapid transformation resulting from swift social, economic and political changes. These changes, stemming from many global factors such as industrial revolution, led to a new lifestyle in Iranian society and also in the cities and their residential areas. A lack of proper urban policy and management, as well as inadequate attention to the real societal and cultural needs of Iranian inhabitants has resulted in the emergence of many problems in Iranian cities and their residential neighborhoods. This thesis −with an inquiry into the socio-physical aspects of the residential areas in contemporary Iran with a particular reference to the City of Mashad − tries to understand the physical aspects of residential areas, activities of residents in outdoor neighborhood spaces, and also the effect of these physical characteristics on the social behavior, activities, and sense of community of the inhabitants. A multi-method approach (both quantitative and qualitative methods) is adopted to examine the objectives of this research. Also, in order to understand the influence of the physica