The present paper aims for the most part to prove the fact that religious and spiritual places and above all, mosques play major roles within Islamic urban areas. They are in fact the basis of civil infrastructures. A historical analysis focusing on where mosques stand in Islamic urban areas reveals that mosques have always been the center of development and growth and that they must be studied...

This paper presents an empirical study of the effects of urban growth controls on the intercity commuting of workers. Growth controls (land use regulations that attempt to restrict population growth and urban sprawl) have increased housing prices and diverted population growth to uncontrolled cities. It has been suggested that resulting changes in local labour supply might stimulate intercity c...

The current recession is international in scope but affects different places with varying severity. According to the World Bank, poor nations are (and will) bear the brunt of the economic, social, and health fallout from the current recession. As well, it is quite likely that rural regions of developed nations such as Canada, will be disproportionately affected by the current recession, relativ...

Urban enclaves have richly interconnected social and physical geographies, much of which is hidden from casual observation. As a result, interpersonal collaboration, coordination, and socio-physical navigation is often suboptimal. We are exploring how ubiquitous social computing applications that seamlessly provide location-aware information about people and places could help address this situa...

This study aims to redefine spaces of learning to places of learning through the direct engagement of local communities as a way to examine and learn from real world issues in the city. This paper exemplifies Smart City Learning, where the key goal is to promote the generation and exchange of urban design ideas for the future development of South Bank, in Brisbane, Australia, informing the crea...

Urban Environment planning can prevent abnormal behaviors, crime and felony in urban places by identifying effective local features and environmental conditions, along with other actions, so that the felon would have much less opportunities for committing criminal and unlawful acts in urban areas. This article is part of the outcomes of a study project called “formulation of environmental crite...

Introduction: A childs world centers around the home, school and the local community. These should be healthy places. But in reality, these places are often so unhealthy that they underlie majority of accident and disease among children in the developing world. The aim of this study was to determine ergonomic, safety and environmental health status at primary schools in Markazi province. Materi...

Abstract In 2013, UN-HABITAT provided the City Prosperity Index (CPI) to evaluate policies and guide urban decision-makers. Quality of life is one of the five dimensions of urban prosperity, which is one of the newest theories in the field of urban planning. The concept of urban quality of life has been invigorated in the wake of social welfare and social justice schools. In Iran, from the past...

The growing emissions of artificial light to the atmosphere are producing, among other effects, a significant increase of the night sky brightness (NSB) above its expected natural values. A permanent sensor network has been deployed in Galicia (northwest of Iberian peninsula) to monitor the anthropogenic disruption of the night sky darkness in a countrywide area. The network is composed of 14 d...