An Analytical Approach to the Typology of Informal Settlements for Deriving ArchitecAn Architectural Indicators: Evidence from the Periphery of Yasuj City, Irantural Iran

Jamshidi Zardak, Aliaskar; Parva, Mohammad; Movahed, Khosro

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2026.737443

An Analytical Approach to the Typology of Informal Settlements for Deriving ArchitecAn Architectural Indicators: Evidence from the Periphery of Yasuj City, Irantural Iran

Document Type : Case Study

Authors

Aliaskar Jamshidi Zardak

Mohammad Parva

Khosro Movahed

Department of Architecture, Shi.C., Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2026.737443

Abstract

Informal settlements on the periphery of rapidly growing Iranian cities are commonly read as homogeneous zones of deprivation, a framing that has produced uniform, and frequently ineffective, upgrading prescriptions. The problem this study addresses is the absence of a context-grounded, physically explicit typology that can differentiate such settlements and translate that differentiation into architectural guidance. The aim is therefore to develop an analytical approach for the physical typology of informal settlements and to derive weighted architectural indicators for their assessment and improvement, using the periphery of Yasuj city as the case. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was applied: seventeen candidate factors distilled from the literature were refined through four rounds of a fuzzy Delphi with a fifteen-member expert panel, weighted through a fuzzy analytic hierarchy/network process, and validated through a partial least squares measurement model; field-surveyed units were then classified through hierarchical clustering and interpreted morphologically across three clusters form, space, and materials. The findings converge on five core weighted indicators physical durability, spatial legibility, physical safety, social interaction, and functional accessibility (Kendall’s W = 0.79) and identify four physical types along a continuum of physical transformation: compact spontaneous, organic hillside, semi-consolidated, and upgrading, with intervention-priority indices of 0.86, 0.68, 0.50, and 0.34, respectively. Within the three-cluster structure, space carries the strongest discriminating role (path coefficient β = 0.52), ahead of form and materials. The study concludes that typology can be advanced from a descriptive device to an instrument for context-based architectural intervention: each type carries an internal logic that dictates a distinct, stage-appropriate strategy, offering planners a means to target scarce resources toward the most vulnerable fabrics.

Graphical Abstract

An Analytical Approach to the Typology of Informal Settlements for Deriving ArchitecAn Architectural Indicators: Evidence from the Periphery of Yasuj City, Irantural Iran

Highlights

● A four-stage mixed-methods approach derives weighted architectural indicators for informal settlements.

● Five core indicators are stabilized through a four-round fuzzy Delphi (Kendall's W = 0.79).

● Four physical types are identified along a single continuum of physical transformation.

● Space outweighs form and materials as the dominant discriminating cluster (β = 0.52).

● An intervention-priority index translates the typology into a differentiated upgrading doctrine.

Keywords

Analytic network process

architectural typology

Fuzzy Delphi

informal settlements

Yasuj city

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