BUILT ENVIRONMENT does not “simply appear overnight, like a movie-set springing up on a vacant lot, but has to be produced”. Thus, the first point in dealing with such an ENVIRONMENT is considered to be the tracing of time in the evaluation of the city and keeping in mind that the whole is more than its parts. The last point becomes naturally understood when the process of city building is probed; because the notion of process in itself comprises the relatedness among the socio-cultural events that resulted in urban artefacts. This also means considering a large number of factors, especially socio-cultural ones, involved in this process. By doing this, we can relate the physical ENVIRONMENT with the social, “relating the world of artefacts with the world of people” – who BUILT and used them Considering this argument, the paper examines structural elements influences on the development and use of urban space in Qatar-chyan quarter, Sanandaj, Iran as a historical narrative. It is argued that the existence of Dara-bayan River, socio-political role of the Wakils’ family and Ulama (educated people with religious backgrounds), and the continuation of principal route, through the residential segregation, formed and drove the phases of quarter’s development and defined the main socio-spatial structural elements of the quarter. The paper then proceeds to examine those structural elements as they were before overall influences of modernism in Iranian context, especially before the first cross-roads of the city in 1930. The paper concludes that, in defining and conceptualising the structural elements of a particular BUILT ENVIRONMENT, it is difficult to rely on one factor. While the role of nature as form giver is an important factor, we can not undermine other soft factors, especially socio-cultural ones. This defines the nature of BUILT form which comprises both the realms of the physical and the social and multi-dimensions background namely as socio-spatial factors.

Although many ENVIRONMENTal problems such as pollution shortage of natural resources and damages to the ENVIRONMENT are apparently results of mans unplanned and wrong use of nature the root of the problems should be sought from neglecting the spirituality and (symbolic) meaning of nature and its elements which have been considered in all traditional cultures. The quantitative thought predominated over the modern era (like modern architecture which considers buildings and cities as machines) approaches the nature as a machine from which the maximum economic and material efficiency is the final aim.Researching the hypothesis which considers effects of promotion and revitalization of spiritual culture on protecting ENVIRONMENT and elements deals with three main components. "culture" "natural elements" and "geographical place". In this research "Iranian culture" "water" and "Iran" are respectively selected as justifications of the above mentioned components. The mechanical school of thought takes into water as a part of the machine of existence by which human physiological and material needs can be responded. Whereas by paying attention to different degrees of human life (spiritual mental and material) and by considering the importance of spiritual and mental aspects of human life everything in the world is meaningful. Being away of the fact that nature and natural elements have (symbolic and spiritual) meanings will help straighten and enrich in addition to being a guide in the quantitative field in relation to nature. Basic subjects in Iranian culture will be considered in this paper. Moreover the paper endeavors to investigate the ways of getting benefits from historical experiments by which besides solving material problems human life will be meaningful. The main titles (subjects) of the paper are as follows: "introduction and generalities" "spiritual aspects of water in Iranian culture" "water in Iranian architectural and urban spaces" "water and its related architectural elements" "present situation" and "conclusion and suggestions".

Due to the change of lifestyle and improvement of public health the number of aged people has considerably increased. Considering the relationship of the ENVIRONMENT and people, the BUILT ENVIRONMENT features could exacerbate or facilitate the elderly people’ s vulnerability and social needs. Recently, a large number of studies have put emphasis on the relationship between the neighborhoods’ open spaces attributes and seniors’ social needs. This study seeks to investigate the impact of the BUILT ENVIRONMENT indicators on the time the elderly spent in urban spaces of Banafsheh neighborhood in Mashhad. In order to do this, through a cross-sectional survey research, 33 indicators were collected from recent studies and categorized in seven main urban design qualities based on perceived and self-report data collected by questionnaire. A regression analysis revealed the impact of each quality on the sociability of the elderly. Results demonstrate that in this context, “ safety” is the most effective factor on the elderly presence in open spaces. “ Attractiveness” and “ all age presence” are at the next points.

This study investigates the application of landscape ecology in planning and design of urban ecological systems. The ecological approach to landscape planning and the concepts of designing and implementing ecological systems have gained increasing attention in the last two decades. However, the ecological systems of urban ENVIRONMENT need more research to consider BUILT and natural patches and corridors together and to provide proper and applicable strategies that meet all of the diverse aspects of planning and designing sustainable urban systems. This approach could help in defining sustainable landscape development, aiming for a balance between both physical and natural systems in urban areas. This research is focused on Tehran’s metropolitan area as a case study to provide a relationship between landscape ecology and urban planning and design to propose a model for analyzing and providing strategies and policies for conserving and resorting urban ecological systems. The spatial structure of green and natural areas are studied and categorized based on the patch-corridor-matrix model. Overlaying the selected layers helped provide strategies for conservation and reclamation, and policies to improve the structure and function of urban landscapes. The strategies to restore the ecological structure and to develop its function in Tehran metropolitan area are based on structural congruence, aggregate with outliers, local compensation and indispensable patterns.