The Influence of Globalization in Residential Stock in Tehran - Article Example

The influence of Globalization in residential stock in Tehran and the resulting changes in the Iranian culture and maintenance professionals. Abstract Tehran, the largest city in the Middle East has a population of more than 13 millions. Tehran has a large migration rate from all around Iran. This means additional needs in housing and infrastructure have to be satisfied. According to the Parliament Energy department, more than private developers build 70% of the buildings in Tehran, resulting in residential sectors consumes about 66 percent of total ultimate energy. In today’s time, it is also essential to maintain the existing and new housing stock in a sustainable manner, taking care of not only the economic aspect but also the environment and quality of life of residents. The aim of this paper is to look at the present state and maintenance of Tehran’s privately owned housing sector in context of social, cultural, economical and regulatory aspects. In completion of the aim, 24 people from regulatory and construction background industry including architects, engineers, ministers have been interviewed on the maintenance strategies, policy criteria, any likely innovation and any other aspect which influence their building performance and maintenance. It has to be said that Tehran’s residential stock lacks a comprehensive design and maintenance culture at present. Both of these aspects have resulted in ad-hoc response to the design and maintenance of residential stock. In order for Tehran to contribute to existing sustainability and environmental debate there is a need to address the gap between cultural beliefs of people, existing maintenance attitude and required process for sustainable design and maintenance. The implication of this work is gaining an insight that the building professional and legislation in Tehran are lacking a structured approach for maintenance of residential development. Relying totally on replacement or redevelopment, the present housing stock of Tehran is unsustainable. It is therefore critical for the industry to innovate process/tools and training for construction and maintenance of new and existing residential stock, which can help in adapting social and cultural attitudes of residents and building professional to changes brought forward by globalisation. Keywords: Globalization, design, maintenance, innovation, residential. 1.0 Introduction Tehran is the capital of Iran and the biggest city in the Middle East region. Being the capital of the country it has been the site of industrial and the economic development. The development has drawn a large number of immigrants to the city. They come to the city to be a part of the economic development. The present population of the city is 13 millions and it is ever increasing. The large number of immigrants underlined the need of the residential spaces in the city. The sector has been influenced by the globalization in the economy and the influence of the Western culture is widely seen in the construction of the buildings. The influence of the Western culture started in the early part of the 19th century with the conquests of the British and the Russian army. The result was the confluence of the modernisation and the traditional practices. The merchant class were the group who advocated the use of the traditional practices. The newer generation felt the need of the modernisation for the development of the economy. Both the groups formed the upper part of the society. The geography of Iran changed in two phases- 1860s under the rein of Naseer-Al-Din Shah and during 1930s under Reza Shah. During the first phase, the walls of the city were demolished and the area of the city was increased. The new city had walls around it. During the second phase the walls were completely demolished which improved transportation within and around the city. In the case of the first phase, the traditional values were observed when new buildings came up besides the older ones. There was no attempt made to resurrect the older ones. However, in the second phase, the old structures were destroyed and the modernization process started. However, with the need for modernisation more and more parts of the city is giving rise to the modern buildings with the destruction of the old ones. The rise of the modernity was due to the influence of the Western cultures in the country. (Madanipour, 2003, Pp 137-142). As the modernisation process started, it drew people from around the country to the place. This gave rise to the need of the residential places. The developers in the country constructed the high rises in place of the old buildings. They paid little heed to the fact that the infrastructure of the city does not support the construction of the high rises. Most of the buildings are being demolished have not reached the end of their lives and some of them are demolished because they have reached the deterioration stage. The paper will look into the details of the maintenance strategies of the buildings and the technologies, which are imported from the West. 2.0 Feasibility of the Buildings in the city 2.1 Buildings energy consumption The consumption of the energy has been one of the focal points in the construction of the buildings. The use of the technology in the construction of the buildings helps in the construction of buildings. It is the duty of the engineers and the architects to make the buildings viable for the conversation of the energy. The buildings do not consume energy directly. However, it is consumed with the help of the technologies maintaining the cooling system of the buildings. The energy conservation depends on maintaining the comfort of the end users in the buildings. The use of the technology has made the use of the energy conservation relevant. In the case of the official buildings, the energy conservation is not important, as the end users are not bothered about the conservation of energy. In the case of the residential buildings, the conservation is more prominent. The energy in a building is consumed with the help of the different uses like the electricity. The use of the electricity in the cooling and the heating systems of the building, usage of the escalators etc. consumes a major part of the energy. The presence of a large number of people in the buildings causes high amount of energy being produced in the surroundings. (Aune, Berker, and Bye, 2008; Pp 45-46; Hutcheson, 1994). In the case of the buildings, if the temperature of the place is 28 degrees and the radiant temperature is 20 degrees, then the temperature of the neighbourhood will be 24 degrees. The thermal storage is the highest in the case of the floors of the buildings. Therefore, an exposed surface will be able to generate more heat in the buildings. The main aim of the conservation of the energy in the buildings has been the comfort of the dwellers. An air conditioned building of 50,000 square feet size will use 20,000 thermos of gas per annum. The EUI of the buildings, which is the usage of the energy per square metre of the area, ranges from 150 to 300 kWh per metre square. It is high for the office buildings and relatively low for the residential buildings. This underlines the fact that the energy conservation in the buildings is not done in an efficient manner. (Beggs & Moodley, 1997, Pp 234-235; Thomson, 1994; P 15; Yik, Lee & Ng, 2002, Pp 408-409) In the worldwide scenario, the demolition of buildings is not an acceptable practice for the Governments. The demolition of the buildings brings hazards to the environment and affects the conservation of energy. The Governments should look to develop the old buildings in order to conserve the energy. The CO2 emissions in the case of destruction effect the environment. 2.2 Demolition of old buildings The demolition of the old buildings pollutes the environment. The demolition causes the materials of the buildings to get mixed in the environment. Most of the materials are not recyclable and this causes the emission of the CO2 gases in the environment. The waste materials of the buildings are dumped into the environment, which increase the pollution. As they are not recyclable they deter the natural flow of the environment. Some of the materials like the cement can harm the environment by restricting the flow of drainage in the area. (Zavadskas, Bezder, and Kaklauskas, 1998, Pp 336-337) 3.0 Maintenance Therefore, it has been important for the Government and the relevant authority to maintain the buildings. This will reduce the process of demolition of the buildings and this will help in the development of the environment. Maintenance in the buildings can be said as the combination of the technical and the administrative functions to retain the functional ability of the buildings. In addition to the environmental factors, there are the economic factors that underline the causes for the maintenance of the buildings. The buildings are constructed with the help of huge economic resources and the wastage of the building would mean loss of the economic resources. The importance of the buildings has increased in the modern world with the increase in the business activities. There has been an increase in the usage of the office spaces. With the increase of the population, the need of residential buildings has arisen. Therefore, the buildings have been an important constituent in the society and the economy. The maintenance of the buildings increase the comfort level of the inhabitants in the buildings and the use of the modern technology make the lives of the buildings longer. With the increase in the life span, the economic benefits of the buildings are maximised and the environment is protected. (Beggs & Moodley, n.d.; Thomson, 1994; Cigolini, 3rd March, 2008) 3.1 Facility management More and more people in the world have become aware of the environmental factors in the environment and that has given rise to the facilities management. The main aim of the facility management is to increase the value and comfort factor of the property. The facility management looks into the area of the maintenance of the environmental norms of the buildings and looks into the development of the environment. The use of the various technologies like the nightventing, Terrmodeck etc help in the maintenance of the environmental norms and add to the comfort of the buildings. The facility management is also helpful in the maintenance of the buildings. The management looks after the maintenance of the temperature of the buildings and look into the maintaining the structure, which will assure the building of a longer life. (Beggs & Moodley, n.d. ;Thomson, 1994) 3.2 Economic benefit With the increase in the life of the buildings, the economy is also benefitted. The construction of the buildings requires a huge amount of costs and the implementation of the modern technologies add up to it. The construction cost of the buildings is the capital cost. If the buildings are demolished prematurely, then the cost of the buildings goes to waste and the capital cost is not recovered. With the demolition of the buildings, the residential and the office spaces lessen and there is a requirement of further buildings. This adds up to the cost. Therefore, the maintenance of the building can save huge cost in the case of the buildings. (Wood,2003, P 77) 4 Methodology In the case of this paper, a method of the primary research has been taken. The method of interviews is the most suitable form of the research. As the paper deals in the construction of the buildings in Tehran, it has been apt to use the interviews with people from regulatory and construction background industry including architects, engineers, ministers. A total number of 24 individuals have been questioned on the maintenance strategies, policy criteria, any likely innovation and any other aspect, which influence their building performance and maintenance. The persons have been questioned on a host of factors and the subjects on which the questions were asked are as follows: Maintenance strategies Frequency of maintenance Existing manual on up keeping the buildings Building management systems Rules and regulation Architects creativity and innovation in choosing material and design Innovativeness of engineers in design, construction and maintenance Motivations for innovation Life span of buildings Demolishing buildings and replacing them Economical drives Maintenance plans for historical buildings New technologies applied in the buildings and their maintenance plan Importing building technologies Importance of environmental issues in construction industry Where are the problems and where they are coming from? The questions were based on the findings of the literature review and it was apt to put forward the questions to the concerned persons. The answers to the questions would help to divulge the details of the construction of the buildings in Tehran. The summarized findings of the interviews are discussed below. In the case of the maintenance of the buildings, the importance of the facility managers has been stated. In the case of Iran, there has been no rules regarding the maintenance of the buildings and there is no appreciation of good work. In some place like Rome, there has been a particular system of maintenance of the buildings. In Rome, no building can be demolished. However, they can be renovated. In the area of the maintenance, in Iran there has been no proper system. Buildings are the properties of the individuals and the families and they are responsible for the maintenance. Though there are managers, in the case of residential complexes, they do not take care of the maintenance. There is a lack of professional set up in the construction of the buildings and in many cases the quality in the buildings are not maintained. With the rise in the immigration, the need for the buildings in Tehran went up. The fees of the workers were higher and the people resorted to the buildings with faulty designs. The buildings were made 8 storeyed when the capacity was to make 2 storeys. This added to the pressure and the need for the demolition of the buildings rose. The Government does not look into the detailed aspect of the construction of the buildings. In the recent years the Government has made rules for the escalators in the buildings. However, there has been no control on the electricity and the water supply. The maintenance of the buildings in Tehran is poor. In Saman Complex, the chillers and the centralised cooling system have gone out of order due to the poor maintenance. The architects with no help from the engineers make the design of the buildings. The authority looked to increase the number of buildings without the knowledge of the proper maintenance. There have been shortages of the technicians who can use the technology. The innovation in the business can only be possible when the architects make the provisions for it. In most of the cases, there are no provisions. In the case of the technologies, the clients adopt their use as they are satisfied with the guarantee period. They do not bother for the manuals and the instructions of usage. In the building sector of Tehran, 95% of the buildings are constructed by the private sector. They have no moral responsibility in the maintenance of the buildings. In the old ages, the life of the buildings in Tehran was longer as the people lived in their own houses. However, today with the growth of the apartments, the people have lost the interest for the maintenance of the buildings. In addition to this, there is widespread corruption in the Government and work can be accomplished by bribing the people in the Government. The Government has not worked in confluence with the society. There is no system in Iran where the property is passed on to the descendants. They are confiscated by the political power. This has passed on to the Government and they are not interested in the well-being of the society. The characteristics of the society have influenced the Iranians to place less importance to the maintenance of the buildings in some respect. The Government do not give mortgages for the buildings, which are 10 years old. Therefore, it has become a norm for the builders to demolish the old buildings and construct a new one. The insurance sector is also bad and most people do not insure the properties. People do not attach a bond with the buildings. The economic progress has been made in Iran but in the case of the social development, the country still lags behind. Therefore, the main findings of the interviews are: Socio cultural economical development problem Economical issues Lack of planning and management Cultural issues Lessons learned from history Genetic Faulty designs lead to poor maintenance Lack of quality control in design and construction phase Insurance problems Legal and governance issues Definition of maintenance is different Lessons learned from religion Up keeping with globalization People don’t obey rules and most of the rules are not socially constructed 5 Analysis The findings of the interviews underline the fact that the society, economy and the political world of the country has influenced the lack of development in the building sector of the country. The findings can be analyzed as follows: Heredity is the trait in the individuals at the time of the birth. Most of the characteristics of the individual are influenced by the heredity of the individual. The heredity is caused by the genetically influenced factors- the traits that are present in the ancestors of the individuals. In the case of the mental set up the heredity plays a huge role. In the case of the IQ, the African Negroes were termed the less intelligent while the Europeans were the people with the highest intelligence. A study in Harvard states that any behaviour that repeats for 10 generation becomes part of people genetics. In the case of the building market of Tehran, the people do not take care of the maintaining the buildings. The ancestors of the people had no control over the property and it passed on the hands of a political power. There has been a trend in Iran where the people think they have no guarantee of life over the period of 5 years. These have passed on to the genes of the people and influenced the subject of maintenance. The Government may have helped the cause of the adaptability of the citizens to the new development. This could have been done with the help of the stringent rules and regulations. It has been seen that the people behave positively when pushed hard. However, the Government has been corrupt in Tehran. (Hirsch, 1997; Latour, Mauguin, and Teil, 1994) Faulty designs are another cause for the degradation of the maintenance in the buildings. The buildings access the use of the developed technology in the sector of the construction of the houses. There are fewer provisions for the innovation and the conservation of the energy. The designs of the buildings are faulty with less space and less provisions for the climatic changes. In addition to this, the culture of the people in Tehran has to be changed regarding the maintenance of the buildings. The use of the modern technologies is to be assisted with the help of the manuals. However, in most of the case, the people are less bothered about the manuals. The culture of the society degrades the maintenance of the buildings. The culture of the country should be developed. Gunar Myrdal development vicious cycle suggests that no economical development is successful without cultural development. (Al-Hammad, Assaf & Al-Shihah, 1997) It has to be stated that the bringing in new rules and regulations would not help the situation. In the case of Iran, the rules are not followed and the Government does not have much power in the maintenance of the rules. People obey rules that are socially constructed, Social control theory proposes that people’s relationship, commitment, values, norms and beliefs encourage them not to break the law. So designing more rules for example for maintenance would be meaningless. The issues depicted in the interviews are the main reasons for the condition of the housing sector in Tehran today. The social, political and the cultural factors have a deep impact on the condition in the industry. 6 Conclusions The condition in the housing sector in Tehran is deplorable with the destruction of the buildings. If Tehran wants to be a part of the developed world, the industry has to be sustainable. In place of the destruction of the houses, there should be practice of the maintenance of the buildings. The Government should help in the process by encouraging the people to take loans and insurance. The designs of the buildings are to be made in accordance to the global norms. The integration of the technology in the housing sector should be confluence with the presence of the technicians. The designs of the buildings are to be innovative and people should be made aware of the hazards of the destruction of the houses. In this case, the Government has to play a huge role, as change in the attitudes is difficult to obtain. The presence of the facility managers are to be encouraged as they are responsible for the maintenance of the buildings. They should think of some innovative ways to change the attitudes of the people. This would help in the development of the housing sector and Tehran would be a part of the developing housing markets of the world. References 1. Al-Hammad, A., Assaf, S. and Al-Shihah.M (1997). “The effect of faulty design on building maintenance.” Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Volume 3 Number 1, pp.29-39. 2. Aune, M., Berker, T. and R. Bye. (August, 2008). “The missing link which was already there.” Facilities, Volume 27 Number 1/2, 2009, pp.44-55 3. Beggs, C and K. Moodley, (1997). “Facilities management for passively constructed buildings.” Facilities, Volume 15, Number 9/10, pp. 233-240 4. Cigolini, R., Fedele, L. and Garetti, M. and M. Macchi (2008). “Recent advances in maintenance and facility management.” Production planning and control. Volume 19 No. 4, pp.279-286 5. Hirsch, J. (1997). Some history of heredity-vs-environment, genetic inferiority at Harvard(?), and The (incredible) Bell Curve. Genetica, Volume 99, pp. 207–224 6. Hutcheson, J. (1994). “The life cycle economics of buildings.” Facilities, Volume 12 Number 5, pp.11-15 7. Latour, B., Mauguin, P. and G. Teil (1994). “A note on socio technical graphs.” Social studies of Science. Volume 22, pp.33-58. 8. Madanipour, A. (n.d.). “Modernization and everyday life: Urban and Rural change in Iran.” In, A. Madanipour, Iran encountering globalization: problems and prospects, London: Routledge 9. Thompson, P. (1994). “The maintenance factor in facilities management.” Volume 12, number 6, pp.13-16. 10. Wood, B. (2003). “Approaching the care free building.”, Facilities, Volume 21, Number ¾, pp.74-79 11. Yik, F, Lee, W and C. Ng. (2002). “Building energy efficiency and the remuneration of operation and maintenance personnel.”, Facilities, Volume 12, Number 13/14, pp.406-413. 12. Zavadskas, E., Bezder, E. and A. Kaklauskas. (1998). “Raising the efficiency of the building lifetime with special emphasis on maintenance.”, Facilities, Volume 16, Number 11, pp.334-340 Read More