Business Improvement Districts as a New Approach for Planning and Revitalization of City Centers (Case Study: Nazi Abad District of Tehran)
Subject Areas : Teachings of improvement and renovation in worn-out urban contexts
hamid ramezani
1
,
Milad Tofangchi Mahyari
2
*
,
Hadis Kamari
3
1 - Research instructor, Department of Architecture and Urban Landscape, Institute of Humanities and Social Studies Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Ph.D Researcher of Urban Planning, Faculty of Urban Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 - M.A of Regional Planning, Faculty of Urban Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Keywords: Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), City Centers, Revitalization, Nazi Abad District of Tehran, and Structural Equation Modeling.,
Abstract :
Achieving lively and dynamic urban centers on the one hand and spreading this dynamism in the direction of continuous change and improving the quality of place on the other hand should be considered one of the most important urban issues in urban centers of Iran. These centers are in two situations in terms of intervention; First, urban centers whose economic dynamics have decreased over time due to various economic, functional and spatial reasons, and second, urban centers whose functional dynamics have not led to the improvement of the quality of the place. Among these approaches, today business improvement district (BID) can sort out overwhelming problems of old city center in the word. The Nazi Abad district of Tehran with its regional land-use, designed for business orders and strong financial foundation can take advantage from opportunities and innovations that a business development district create through interaction among property owners and businesses. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to provide safe and vibrant business centers based on opportunities and innovations which BID provided with the community-based economic development planning in Nazi Abad District, including its residents, business and property owners and local government become profitable. After collecting data through a questionnaire, Confirmatory Factor Analysis method were used to explain the relationships between manifest and hidden variables and Path Analysis to explain the relationships between hidden variables. The Results of the research show that, in order to create a business improvement district in Nazi Abad should first focus on social dimension and component, and then it should emphasize on the economic, transportation and accessibility, physical land-use, and environmental dimensions and components. Moreover, among the sub-dimensions, local business development plays an important role, followed by the participation increasement, security, project financing, pedestrian access and occupational training. In conclusion, in order to implement and institutionalize the Business Improvement Districts in the country's urban planning system, it will be necessary to draft clear and codified local laws and the support of relevant officials and institutions.
Keywords: Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), City Centers, Revitalization, Nazi Abad District of Tehran, and Structural Equation Modeling.
Introduction
Although today urban centers are mentioned as the most important part of a city, but due to the physical and functional issues of these centers as well as the development of business areas in other different urban areas due to having special facilities, day by day the prosperity of these centers are reduced and it also reduces the desire of customers to buy from urban centers. One of the new approaches mentioned for the planning and revitalization of these centers is the approach of business improvement districts. Since the 1970s, many countries around the world have enacted laws that allow for the creation of business improvement zones. A business improvement district is a local entity consisting of property or business owners that collects taxes from its members in a specific area and uses this revenue to advance its goals, including maintaining public spaces, security, innovation, communication, development, and others. (Valli et al, 2024: 2).
One of the contemporary methods to revive and prevent the destruction and deterioration of these shopping centers is to create business improvement districts. These conceptual areas are aimed at economic empowerment and social participation, especially in the city center or commercial retail strip, which through the partnership between commercial property owners and with tools such as taxes, in a way to seek the prosperity of business, increase economic vitality, improve the security situation, increase public spaces, increase public health. The neighborhood of Nazi Abad, having extra-regional uses and designed commercial lines, can benefit from the innovations that the business improvement district creates and with the participation and interaction between property and business owners, existing threats can be overcome through the establishment of the business improvement district. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to introduce the business improvement district of Naziabad and to identify the dimensions, components and indicators affecting this issue in Naziabad neighborhood.
Research Method
The method used in this research is a descriptive-analytical method and the data collection method is in the form of a questionnaire. At the beginning, the dimensions, criteria and indicators of the business improvement districts were extracted according to the studies and the theoretical framework of the research and became the basis for designing the questionnaire. Finally, after collecting the data through the questionnaire, using the external model (confirmatory factor analysis method) in SPSS software to explain the relationships between obvious and hidden variables and the internal model (data path analysis) in Smart PLS software for explaining the relationships between hidden variables was explained with each other.
Results
The relationship between the investigated variables in each of the research hypotheses has been tested based on a causal structure with the PLS partial least squares technique. In the general model of the research that is drawn in Figure 1, the measurement model (the relationship between each of the observable variables and the hidden variable) and the path model (the relationship between the hidden variables) have been calculated. In order to measure the significance of relationships, the t-statistic has been calculated using the autocorrelation method. In this model, which is the output of Smart PLS software, a summary of the results related to the standard factor load of the relationships of the research variables is presented.
Figure 1. Research structure model extracted from Smart PLS software
Nazi Abad neighborhood receives more influence from some dimensions and components to become an active, safe and lively business improvement district. The social dimension has the greatest impact on the business improvement district of Nazi Abad, compared to other factors, followed by the economic, transportation and access and physical, user and environmental dimensions in the second to fourth place in terms of influencing on business improvement district.
The studies conducted indicate that in order to create a business improvement district in Nazi Abad, in addition to prioritizing the effective dimensions, the first stage should be focused on the development of local business. This orientation that emphasizes the concept of collective activity is the most important need of this area. Then, to achieve the business improvement district of Nazi Abad, increasing participation and providing security from social dimensions plays the most important role. With a significant difference compared to these variables, project financing is from the economic categories and pedestrian access to the area is from the sub-dimensions of transportation and access. After that, there is the promotion of job training and horse access to the district. The lower impact intensity of the business improvement district of Naziabad from the variables of improving the physical condition, land use planning and improving the environment is also the reason for the least effect of the physical, use and environment dimensions on the creation of the desired business district.
Discussion and Conclusion
Today, while the centers of cities and districts are referred to as the most important part and their beating heart, due to social, economic, physical and functional issues and problems on the one hand and the existence of large retail stores and shopping centers in the districts On the other hand, the prosperity of the city with special facilities decreases day by day the prosperity of these centers and the desire of customers to buy from these centers decreases. One of the new approaches in the direction of revitalizing these centers is the approach of business improvement districts use to improve and manage a specific area or a specific business line in a cooperative manner.
Despite the large number of domestic and foreign researches that have been conducted in relation to business improvement districts, most of these studies are on an urban scale (Moradi, 2017; Barati et al., 2013) and non-urban (Sharif-Zadegan and Malek-Pour, 1390; Valli et al., 2024) and this issue has been investigated less on a local scale and from the point of view of business owners. Therefore, in this research, the investigation of Naziabad neighborhood showed that there are grounds and tendencies to create a business improvement district that can bring economic prosperity and good quality of life back to Naziabad neighborhood. Of course, this requires a comprehensive study of all the features related to business improvement districts in Naziabad neighborhood.
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