Identifying and Explaining the Components of Vista Quality in Residential Complexes: A Case Study of the Kowsar Neighborhood (Kuy-e Kowsar), Arak

Fathi, Omid; Habib, Susan; Mirriahi, Saeed; Garakani, Amirhossein

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2026.743306

Identifying and Explaining the Components of Vista Quality in Residential Complexes: A Case Study of the Kowsar Neighborhood (Kuy-e Kowsar), Arak

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Omid Fathi ¹

Susan Habib ¹

Saeed Mirriahi ²

Amirhossein Garakani ³

¹ Department of Architecture, Taf.C., Islamic Azad University, Tafresh, Iran

² Department of Architecture, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

³ Department of Architecture, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2026.743306

Abstract

Vista, the perceived quality of a resident’s visual connection with the outdoor environment through a window or balcony constitutes a meaningful yet underexplored dimension of residential experience. While prior research has addressed isolated components such as view content, visual access, clarity, window characteristics, natural elements, and perceived values, a coherent multidimensional framework integrating these components within a residential-complex context, particularly in Iran, remains underdeveloped. This qualitative study aims to identify and conceptually organize the components of vista quality in residential complexes, using Kuy-e Kowsar complex in Arak as the empirical setting. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 purposively selected experts in architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture. Thematic analysis was conducted through iterative reading of transcripts, extraction of meaning units, generation and consolidation of initial codes, and progressive theme formation. Analysis yielded 62 consolidated codes, 14 sub-themes, and 3 main themes: (1) physical and perceptual components shaping vista quality, (2) human experience and perceived values associated with vista, and (3) contextual factors affecting perceived vista value. The interpretive synthesis suggests that vista quality emerges from the relational interplay among what is seen, how it is seen, the observer’s characteristics, and the observational context. The proposed framework is exploratory rather than causal or empirically tested, and its primary contribution lies in organizing previously scattered components into a context-sensitive structure applicable to residential complexes. Validation through residents’ lived experience and preferences is identified as a direction for future research.

Graphical Abstract

Identifying and Explaining the Components of Vista Quality in Residential Complexes: A Case Study of the Kowsar Neighborhood (Kuy-e Kowsar), Arak

Highlights

Vista quality, the perceived quality of a resident's visual connection with the outdoors through a window or balcony is treated as a multidimensional, context-sensitive construct rather than a matter of scenic beauty or view extent alone.

Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 13 experts in architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture yielded 62 consolidated codes, 14 sub-themes, and 3 main themes.

The three main themes are physical and perceptual components, human experience and perceived values, and contextual factors affecting the perceived value of vista.

The study contributes an exploratory framework and a relational model in which vista quality emerges from the relation among what is seen, how it is seen, the observer, and the context.

Grounded in the Kuy-e Kowsar complex (Arak), the framework positions view provision, openness–privacy balance, and visual justice as masterplan-scale design considerations, to be validated with residents in future work.

Keywords

Contextual factors

Iran

residential complex

residential environment

thematic analysis

view quality

vista

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