چكيده به لاتين
In the past and even in the recent years, many of approaches to organaizing informal settlements and, in general, the development of local communities, have focused on the needs of settlements and have paid less attention to the assets and capabilities of the inhabitants. In fact, need-based approaches has affected the planning process. However, in recent years, with the expansion of community-based development approaches, asset-based thinking has become commonplace among planners. One of these approaches is the asset-based community development, which believes that the development should be based on local capital and the least governmental interference in order to to enhance the social status of the area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to first study theoretical foundations and experience of encountering informal settlements and adopt a policy of development with the purpose of identifying the assets of the Farahzad area of Tehran and mobilizing them in order to organize it. Thus, the Farahzad neighborhood and its informal settlements located in the northwest of Tehran metropolitan area have been selected as the study sample. In order to attain the research purpose, theoretical foundations and organization experiences have been studied using an asset-based approach by articles and library documentation. Field surveys and semi-structed interviews with local activists are used to obtain the assets of Farahzad area. Therefore, 93 household samples with Cochran formula and 10 percent error rate were randomly selected for questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and one-sample T-test. The purpose of this research is in the field of applied-development research, and in terms of its nature, it falls into the category of descriptive-analytic research.
The results show that social capital in the Farahzad area is located in the components of belonging, social cohesion and partnership and cooperation at a relatively high level. Furthermore, the existence of powerful informal networks between active NGOs, religious institutions and residents and ethnicities, Farahzad’s river and ohysical assets of the neighborhood are the assets of this area. After the withdrawal and prepration of the assets map, they have been mobilized for the development of the area. Action plans with prioritization and designation of executive agencies have also been identified in the end, with their implementation, improving living conditions and livelihoods in the neighborhood and reducing its social damages.
Keywords: Asset-based community development, Informal Settlements, Social Capital, Local Assets, organization, Farahzad area of Tehran
