Journal of Sustainable Urban & Regional Development Studies (JSURDS)

Abstract Background and Objective: Creativity is widely recognized as one of the fundamental qualities of architectural design and remains a primary concern for architects. Nevertheless, it appears that creativity has received comparatively little attention in the design of industrial buildings. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the reasons, barriers, and strategies for enhancing architectural creativity in industrial building design. To this end, it evaluates formal and technical innovation as two observable manifestations of architectural creativity in industrial buildings.
Methodology: This study adopts a mixed-method research approach based on secondary data analysis. The quantitative section utilizes survey data from a previous study on the architecture of 63 industrial buildings located in the Caspian Industrial Estate, where the formal and technical characteristics of each building were documented through field observation. The qualitative section draws upon findings from an earlier study concerning the nature of the architectural design process in industrial complexes. Subsequently, logical reasoning and comparative analysis of these datasets were employed to examine the underlying reasons, barriers, and potential strategies for improving creativity in the architectural design of industrial buildings.
Results and Findings: The findings indicate that the use of innovative architectural forms has not been a major concern for either designers or owners of industrial buildings. Although technical innovation was found to be relatively more prevalent than formal innovation, it has been largely confined to the use of modern materials and prefabricated construction methods, with little extension to structural innovation. The industrial nature of these projects, its restrictive influence on architectural creativity, the limited application of innovation to broader technical aspects, and the repetition of stereotypical design patterns constitute the principal barriers to enhancing creativity in industrial architecture. Based on these findings, the study proposes several strategies for promoting architectural creativity in the design of industrial buildings.

Abstract Background and Aim: Urban creativity is one of the main drivers for achieving sustainable development. This requires having creative industries, creative employees, creative knowledge, and cultural richness. The present study was conducted with the aim of strategic planning to achieve a creative city in Ardabil.
Methodology: The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The data collection method is library-survey. Based on the creative city indicators and the collected data, 34 strategies for achieving a creative city were divided into five main criteria (people, economic enterprises, urban spaces, connections and communications, and city vision and reputation), and to determine their importance (opinions of 50 experts), structural equation testing was used in SMART-PLS software.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the economic enterprises criterion (factor loading 0.937), the people criterion (factor loading 0.936), the urban spaces criterion (factor loading 0.918), the linkages and communications criterion (factor loading 0.896), and the city vision and reputation criterion (factor loading 0.875) are the best strategies for achieving a creative city. Also, among the economic enterprises criterion, specialized support for creative businesses (factor load 0.87), among the people criterion, developing creative capacity at all levels of general education (factor load 0.85), among the urban spaces criterion, creating stable and secure spaces for cultural and artistic activities (factor load 0.76), among the linkage and communications criterion, providing virtual infrastructures and facilitating electronic communications (factor load 0.82), and among the city's vision and reputation criterion, planning to enhance the city's regional and supra-regional position and facilitating the presence of tourists (factor load 0.83) are the most important strategies for achieving a creative city in Ardabil.