Phenomenological Conceptualization of the Institutional Core of Spatial Planning of Environmental Quality in Kazeroun's Villages

Abstract

The present research seeks to detail a phenomenological conceptualization of institutional core with a retroductive-deductive research strategy in the spatial planning of environmental quality in the case study. Planning polices in these settlements do not include stakeholders’ participation and are often top-down. Also, specialization and sectorial view in the planning of sustainable spatial development of the villages and the existence of a prevailing physical approach that did not pay attention to economic, socio-cultural, and ecological issues, led to the change of land use. Agricultural land has been used by other users, and with the passing of time, urbanism has become more popular with the spirit of consumerism, weakening of production morale, reducing the level of economic productivity, and eventually reducing the environmental quality of these villages. According to the lived experiences of the rural inhabitants and the participants, by focusing on rural groups and customs and behavioral patterns in their daily lives in the form of participatory workshops and using the snowball method, this study examined the environmental quality. In addition, in the framework of these two methods of planning, the methodology of participatory assessment of environmental quality and participatory assessment of rural communication were used to analyze the concepts with tools such as interviews and group discussions, which included 9 semi-structured interviews and 9 participatory workshops with the presence of rural groups, and the institutional cores were determined from the point of view of the participants in the definition of village, quality of values, knowledge, leadership, strategic planning, integration, rural-urban linkages and citizenship rights.

Keywords

• strategic spatial planning
• phenomenology
• institutional core
• environmental quality