Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

---

One of the most important aspects of presence of citizens in urban spaces, that enhances their vitality and their effective social roles, is “moving on foot”. Nowadays, in many urban spaces, motion of a large number of citizens, who like to walk here and there in the cities, is affected by various factors. Dissatisfaction of pedestrians due to the limitation of urban spaces has a relationship with the violation of their rights. Citizenship rights, is one of the issues to be considered in Islam and is highly encouraged in respecting human values. A citizen, is an official member of a city, state or country and because of that, there are rights and responsibilities for him/her that have been assigned in law. In fact, citizenship right is a combination of duties and responsibilities of citizens in relation to each other, to the local and to the national government. In Islam, the rights and responsibilities that are known as the citizens’ rights are indigenous with the laws and regulations that have been known and assigned as Islamic human rights. These rights that must be strongly respected by Muslims, include civil, human, social, political, cultural and judicial rights. By studying some samples of justice in the Holy Qur’an, one can notice that “justice” involves all the issues which related to human beings. Some of the meanings of justice in Qur›an which have connection with citizenship rights in Muslim community include: placing everything in their right places, proper and accurate application of everything, respect for individual rights and the prevention of injury and trespassing, saving and prevention extremes, equality with other people and prevention and prohibition of superiority. Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) also mentioned justice as a factor for protecting and defending human beings’ right. He emphasized justice as the main criterion for all individual, social, moral, material, physical, spiritual, political and non-political rights. In this article, citizenship right is discussed from the perspective of justice in Islam. Justice is an important factor in the formation of the Islamic city. City is a complex structure that in every moment is influenced by three factors, «body or the built form», «population» and «social relations». So, establishment of justice in Islamic city is the function of (1) establishment of justice in the physical framework of a city, (2)fairly citizens use of urban facilities, (3) establishment of justice regarding to the citizens’ cultural aspects and issues (4) establishment of justice in the behavior of citizens with the physical framework of the city. The balance of the city framework, justice in the rational provision and distribution of municipal facilities, with access to the city authorities, fighting against oppression, good placement of urban facilities and their proximity and accessibility are all the signs of justice in urban scale. But in small-scale there are principles that following them, shows the importance of respecting pedestrians› rights and social justice, such as respect for human worth and dignity, good proportionality between dimensions of space and the characteristics of mental and physical organism of the human body, making the relationship between nature and human, and respect for other people, “La zarar va La zerar rule in Islam”, individual privacy, creating visual beauty and many other issue of these kinds. This study sought to evaluate the impact of these factors in violation of the rights of pedestrians, in the study area (intersection of Jalal Ale Ahmad and Chamran Highway to Kargar-e-shomali Street and Fatemi Intersection) as one of the areas with high pedestrian traffic. The statistical population of this study are the pedestrians who use these paths (the study area) at different times of the day and night. Research methodology is analytical-explanatory and based on field study. So on the basis of pedestrians and authorities views that was found through the researchand the principles of justice in Islam in relation to citizenship rights, six sets of criteria for the analysis citizenship rights of pedestrianscan be defined: Continuity, short distances, beauty, security, safety and comfort.A hierarchical model which intends to determine and analyze the factors that affect the rights of pedestrians in the study area has been used as well as “Expert Choice” software to evaluate the model. The results were obtained for the measures, on the basis of priority including security, safety, short distances, comfort, continuity and beauty. This means that in the study area, security had the greater role on the rights of pedestrians, and beauty has the least importance than others. On the basis of the principles of justice in Islam in relation to rights of citizens and with the issues which obtained in technical studies and expert opinions, the criteria which can affect pedestrian rights were found. For analysis of data, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique, and for the importance of options, a questionnaire have been used. “Delphi Method” was also used to evaluate the importance of the criteria and sub criteria. AHP, according to its special features in the issues related to urban planning is a useful and desirable application. It is useful because it prepared a context for analysis and conversion of complex issues to a logical and simple hierarchy, thus planners can evaluate options with criteria and sub criteria. In addition, it also helps in analyzing the compatibility review in judgments. Given that most issues in urban planning and design can be studied through qualitative and quantitative indicators, the possibility of simultaneous use of both qualitative and quantitative criteria in AHP method made it a powerful tool for analyzing urban issues. Flexibility, ease of calculation and the possibility of final rankings also are other advantages of AHP method which can help in the investigation of Issues in urban planning. So, citizenship rights as a manifestation of the principle of justice in the Muslim community should be considered in Islamic cities. The results of the research show that urban management is the most important factor in relation with violation and defense of pedestrians’ rights. Other factors are: the way people behave in adjacent spaces, the behavior of the owners of vehicles and the behavior of other users at the urban spaces. Security is also the most important factor for pedestrians, the lack of it, is a type of violation of their rights. The current problematic situation of pedestrians’ rights is the result of years’ lack of planning and implementing the rights of individuals to neglect issues of implementation of the management system, but the planners and designers can enhance the present situation through a integrated comprehensive and coordinated planning. This program should be associated with all aspects of planning, design and management of the system. Thus, the crucial role of urban management in connection with the rights of pedestrians in designing new cities, in regularization of towns, in allocating of funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of urban road networks and the regulation of urban laws (like appropriate legislation and ordinances to bring about the changes in the culture of citizens who are either walking or riding in urban spaces), as the main tools for managing short and average trips within the city, and the most appropriate manner, must have the highest priority.

Keywords: Citizenship rights, Pedestrians’ rights in Islam, justice, AHP technique, Delphi technique

Full-Text [PDF 463 kb]   (8397 Downloads)    

Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:

---