Housing is the main part of the rural structure, which has an important role in the formation of the structural and architectural identity of villages. The rural house not only satisfies basic human needs but also means of livelihood and thus possess a complex form due to their multiple functions and embedded activities. Traditionally, common formal aspects of rural housing were less affected by those of the city. In rural areas, housing, either as an individual dwelling or as a collective fabric reveals specific formational directions. Regarding the available materials and local economy, the formation of rural housing and its internal configuration, multiple functionalities have been considered. In rural housing, each element has formed based on several need, and as a consequence of human thoughts, in relation to cultural, social, economic, natural, historical, etc. factors, it has always been evolving. However, the architecture of the new rural housing, which have been BUILT mostly using loans from ‘Rural Housing Rehabilitation Program’ (RHRP), are very different from indigenous patterns, and more than being rural, are conforming to urban formal compositions. This shift has drastically affected the linkage between elements in the rural housing causing difficulty in adaptability with rural needs altering rural configurations. The issue becomes more visible as the trend goes on as a widely accepted change of taste of construction. The goal of RHRP loan beyond improving structural resistance, was to improve the quality of housing and rural structure, safety, sanitary and welfare level in villages. However, researches show that RHRP even though has led to higher resistance of rural housing but also has undermined rural configuration and its social, economic and cultural grounds. Through an analytical and descriptive approach together with surveys, theoretical literature review of rural housing, this study attempts to analyze the effects of RHRP loan system on the structure and configuration of the Nodeh village of Bojnord. The results of this research show that RHRP opportunities has also brought about certain threats including damaging domestic culture and manners, farming fields and shrinking of the responsive dwelling spaces due to tendency toward urban norms and appearances.

INTRODUCTION: The imposition of quarantine in pandemics brings about negative psychological consequences. Sufficient understanding based on ENVIRONMENTal and behavioral sciences leads to the prediction of needs and preparedness. Given the role of housing and the ENVIRONMENT on health, awareness of their effects on the COVID-19 pandemic will facilitate future actions and risk management planning. METHODS: The present cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted based on a mixedmethod approach. In the qualitative section, participants who were selected by non-probability sampling method were interviewed via phone, and data collection continued until data saturation using the snowball method. A number of 27 telephone interviews were conducted and after the content analysis of unorganized data, the questionnaire was developed in three parts, the initial pilot was conducted on 30 participants, and Cronbach's alpha was calculated at 0. 76. Moreover, 144 online questionnaires were completed in What’, sApp virtual groups by purposive and available sampling method, followed by statistical analysis. FINDINGS: As evidenced by the obtained results, in house and interior design scales, surface area,furniture,color,opening and outdoor space as well as living space and in neighborhood scale, density indicators,shared accesses and spaces have positively affected the tolerance of quarantine, reduction of anxiety, and health improvement. Furthermore, stress-reducing places were found to be different in different age groups. In addition, some motivations have generated some new behaviors and needs which are supported by such affordances as openings and windows to open spaces for the provision of natural daylight and ventilation, as well as a specific open space for movement, nature enjoyment, activity, physical activity, and contact with the natural ENVIRONMENT. CONCLUSION: There was a reciprocal relationship between behavioral orientations and ENVIRONMENTal-physical aspects of housing in the current health crisis. The residential ENVIRONMENT can influence disease prevention and the promotion of health-related behaviors.

the relationship between public health and urban planning is an innovative and important issue that it has prominent position in future urban planning. In this context, adverse air quality condition and air pollutant concentrations higher than the permitted limit set by the World Health Organization is considered as a threat to the health of citizens in big cities. According to result of air pollution monitoring (conducted in the Tehran Air Quality Control Company), Tehran air quality have deteriorated in recent years. In this regard, according to the World Bank estimates the annual economic value of losses of life and damage caused by air pollution in Iran is totaled $ 1.8 billion and pursuant to figures, Tehran residents’ lifetime has been averagely shorter by 5 years. Tehran metropolitan due to the special geographical condition (topography and meteorology), social (population distribution and traffic), culture (level of culture and related education) and urban development, is faced with the dilemma of air pollution. It’s necessary to mention, motor-vehicle emissions are the primary source of most fine and ultra-fine particles in Tehran (More than 70 percent of Tehran's air pollution is related to motor-vehicle emissions). Planning and subsequently design of BUILT ENVIRONMENT feature could have various effect on urban life style and public health, modality of mobility and urban transportation are sobering instance of this effectiveness. Promoting walk ability and reduce reliance on motor vehicles can play an effective role in improving urban air quality. According to that, The main goal of this article is the analysis of the BUILT ENVIRONMENT impacts on urban air quality by examination of BUILT ENVIRONMENT variable and concentrations of air pollutants in surrounding areas of fourteen air quality monitoring stations in Tehran. In this regard, BUILT ENVIRONMENT indicators in reducing reliance on motorized transport and promoting walk ability, reducing heat Islands and increasing urban respiratory lung derived from the theoretical literature were analyzed in Arc Map software. Then the relationship between these indicators and the mean annual concentrations of NO, CO, NO2, O3 and PM10 were examined in 2010. We use regression analysis to explain the relationship between the independent and dependent variables and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the main factors of BUILT ENVIRONMENT indicators. The results suggest that indicators of distance from the main arterials, distance from city centers, block areas, intersection density and area of open and green urban spaces have the highest correlation with concentration of pollutants. Additionally, the different behavior of pollutants based on primary and secondary air pollutants were determined by using spatial analysis about distance from downtown. This issue is well understood in the context of O3 and PM10 pollutants. So that Primary pollutant PM10 increase by approaching to downtown and secondary pollutant O3 increase by getting away from the downtown. Also in connection with the BUILT ENVIRONMENT indicators, results showed that population density, intersection density, retail density and green space area decrease with distance from the city center.

Walking is the most prevalent type of physical activity. Multiple factors affect whether an individual is physically active or not. Research to date has found that psychological and social factors partly explain why people engage in physical activity. However, the inability of these models to fully explain why people engage in physical activity has led to consideration of the BUILT ENVIRONMENT as a factor that may influence levels of physical activity. This research was conducted with the main objective of studying the effects of BUILT ENVIRONMENT on walking activity in zone 7 in Tehran. The research method is descriptive and analytical. Data collection was done in both documentary and field methodology. The statistical population of this research includes people over 15 years of age, zone 7 of Tehran and the sample size was calculated using Cochran formula, which is equal to 384. The analysis unit is Individual, and the analysis level is the neighborhood. The study process was carried out in two general stages. In the first stage, we first measured neighborhoods in Tehran's 7 zone based on the walkability index. The neighborhoods were at three levels: High walkability neighborhoods, moderate walkability neighborhoods and low walkability neighborhoods. Then, in the next step, it was measured the people walking time within their neighborhoods, through the distribution of questionnaires and self-reported of the participants. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the walking amount of the inhabitants of the neighborhoods, with different walkability level. In such a way, people living in neighborhoods with High walkability neighborhoods, are more likely to walk in the within their neighborhood. Also, the results indicate that there is a significant relationship between walking by residential density and street connectivity, but there is no relationship between walking and land use mix within neighborhoods.

Language as one of the semiotic systems encounters the culture on the one hand and has an interrelationship with the people who live on that lingo-society on the other. According to several scientific experiments, language and ENVIRONMENTal perception and recognition process are involved in shaping a unique phenomenon. Therefore, one can say that language can be considered as one of the most important tools or processes by which people can understand and communicate with the BUILT ENVIRONMENT. One of the methods that can be used for perceiving the depth of people’s cultures and beliefs is to refer to their language within the framework of cultural semiotics. Following the previous articles about the traditional urban as well as architectural elements in Iran, i.e. the meaning of “City”, “House” and “Garden” in Persian language, in this research, the words or signs related to “semantic field of connectional spaces” have been brought into academic spotlight.The modern needs and the rapid development of science and technology have resulted in the development of theories and physical elements in the field of urban planning and design which have been accepted as “important elements” in Iran. Consequently, there have been two major mistakes; firstly, we , as Iranians, forgot our own rich heritage and the basics that we have received from our ancestors, and secondly there were no acceptable plans for new evolutions and we were just an importer and even, in some cases, misunderstood the perception of imported subjective and objective ENVIRONMENTal elements.The aim of this research is to explore the richness as well as the meaningfulness of language and ENVIRONMENTal interconnectedness through studying Persian words associated with connectional spaces (Raah, Gozar, etc.). This will help with finding the common concepts in these phenomena as well as the holistic nature of the ENVIRONMENTal elements in order to enrich them (from physical and lingo-cultural view) and try to provide appropriate conditions to apply them in the future. For this purpose, the above relationship has been represented by the help of the existing theories in semiotics, and especially linguistics. The method that has been applied for this research could be classified in phenomenology, and from methodological view it is categorized within the framework of content analysis.According to research results, there are many words or signs in Persian to refer to the semantic field of connectional spaces such as road, passage, way, etc. They indicate their different dimensions and aspects not only because of technical aspects but also from lingo-cultural perception and the cognition point of view. These aspects in Persian can be divided into six groups. The other major aim of this article is to show that regarding the existing patterns and meanings of words in Persian language, many new and modern concepts could be localized and deployed in order to make very strong interrelationships between ENVIRONMENT, language, and the common perceptions of the ENVIRONMENT.

Conceptual view to the matter of “Introversion” as one of the most prominent features of Islamic architecture is the main issue of this research. The research tries to analyze the introversion concept and then in the context of critical theory, it tries to concentrate on typology of relationships between city and architectural spaces. First, the research present Islamic anthropologic model and then by using this model, elements of BUILT ENVIRONMENT which were mentioned in Islamic scriptures are presented. Then, the main issue of the research, concept of inside and outside is represented. Five issues in this relevant is presented and these issues are analyzed in relevance to main four physical issues in Islamic scriptures –home, mosque, bazaar and street. Then, it follows by comparative analysis of semantic ideas in human-ENVIRONMENT relationships. Finally, the conclusion is presented by redefining introversion and presenting a model for these spaces in Islamic city.

Background: Physical activity levels were low for pregnant and postpartum participants in a diet and physical activity intervention. To explore micro level characteristics of participants’ neighborhoods related to physical activity, an ancillary study was conducted. Methods: This cross-sectional study encompassed the neighborhood street segments of women participating in a diet and physical activity intervention that was conducted in the Lower Mississippi Delta. A neighborhood was defined as all street segments within one-fourth walking mile of a participant’ s home address. Street segments were measured using the Rural Active Living Assessment’ s Street Segment Assessment tool. In the field and on foot, raters measured street segments using neighborhood maps with segments identified. Results: Mean street segment length was 0. 22 miles (SD = 0. 14). All segments had flat terrain with residential (98%), open spaces (74%), and public/civic (34%) as the most prevalent land uses. Almost three-fourths of segments did not have any sidewalks (69%), sidewalk buffers or defined shoulders (73%), crosswalks or pedestrian signage (69%), or posted speed limits (74%). However, 88% had stop signs and almost all (96%) had street lighting and were paved multilane roads (95%) with low traffic volume (90%). Most residential structures present were single family detached homes (95%) and the most common public/civic and commercial structures were churches (24%) and convenience stores (9%), respectively. Almost all of the street segments were rated as walkable (99%) and aesthetically pleasing (94%). Conclusion: Neighborhood street segments surrounding Delta Healthy Sprouts participants’ homes were walkable and aesthetically pleasing. However, safety features such as sidewalks, pedestrian signage, and posted speed limit signs were lacking. To address these inadequate pedestrian safety features, infrastructure changes are needed for small rural towns.

Thematic analysis has been used as a qualitative method for data analysis in various fields, especially psychology, behavioral sciences, health, and sociology. However, this approach, which emphasizes the content of the text, and views language as a direct and transparent path to meaning, has been less applied in the field of architecture and urban planning. Thematic analysis is a flexible theoretical approach, easy to learn, able to summarize data, and so on. Hence, it can be applied to a wide range of qualitative ENVIRONMENTal studies, particularly to understand the users’ perception of the ENVIRONMENT, which shapes their relationship with the ENVIRONMENT, by classifying the meaning patterns within the data set. Using this approach allows provide an in-depth description of the data, and to highlight the similarities and differences between the data, thereby enabling the creation of rich and complex data. The present study introduces the thematic analysis as a flexible method, through a sample study undertook this method, and describes its six steps, including familiarizing with data, assigning preliminary code, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and finally, producing a report. It explains how the thematic analysis is used in BUILT-ENVIRONMENT studies. The study presented as a sample attempts to identify the meaning experienced by people in the architectural space. It strives to answer the following question, "What aspects of meaning are perceived when moving through a BUILT ENVIRONMENT? " The aim was to focus on the influence of physical properties on the users’ experiences of the ENVIRONMENT to obtain useful findings for architects and ENVIRONMENT designers. To identify the widest possible range of capabilities for movement and the possible experiences obtained with them, an interview was designed using “ phenomenological ethnography” approach, in which students and staff of an academic campus were asked to respond to the questions of a deep, qualitative interview when moving on their daily paths in the campus. Each participant was asked to move, along with the interviewer, on his/her daily main paths, express his/her thoughts and feelings about the path. Each interviewee were also asked to take photos of the phenomena affecting route selection, and explain why and how they affect. The thematic analysis of the interview content reveals eight meanings of efficiency, convenience, legibility, sense of belonging, agency, invitingness, attraction, and beauty, which can be summarized under 3 themes of physical comfort, involvement, and making sense (being apprehensible). These themes explain the main meanings experienced by people during movement between and within buildings. The findings show that some of the physical properties of the path clearly lead to the experience of certain meanings. Based on these findings, users experience efficiency in short, direct, and simple paths with minimum barriers. Paths with multiple accesses and amenities provide more convenience. Distinct paths with clear boundaries and adequate signs are easier to remember. All of these properties of a path provide an experience of physical comfort for those who move through the ENVIRONMENT. The findings, on the other hand, suggest that navigable paths, containing reference points can be easily understood and remembered, and therefore, affored legibility. Other properties of the path that make it private, familiar and friendly, or make people feel more comfortable in it, allow for a sense of belonging. Together, these qualities of legibility, familiarity, friendliness, and the like enhance making sense of the ENVIRONMENT for users. Finally, according to other part of findings, individuals can engage and involve in ENVIRONMENTs (identifying themselves as part of ENVIRONMENTs) where they, in addition to feeling more sense of invitation, experience agency that results from a greater sense of control over the ENVIRONMENT through visual access and so forth. Crossing paths that have pleasing aesthetical qualities, and arouses individuals’ positive emotions, yield similar results and increase the involvement in the ENVIRONMENT. These results can be used to design ENVIRONMENTs that are more favorable to users, and could help to create the desired architectural spaces for them by considering the attributes that provide physical comfort, the qualities through which individuals make sense of their settings, and those that more strongly attract and involve users with their BUILT ENVIRONMENTs. Moreover, the process of thematic analysis, introduced in this article, can be applied for analyzing contents in similar qualitative research in the field.