Abstract

Considering the environmental, economic and social goals of sustainable architecture, most of the researches that have been done in the “sustainable architecture” topics are developed generally in the environmental and economic goals and even in some cases have resulted in design principles that reflect these goals in design. But concerning social objectives, there are less established design principles which have utilized these goals in designing. Therefore extensive studies are required to reflect the goals as rules in design. With this background, the paper’s question is raised: “How can we determine the principles of architectural design in public spaces in terms of social goals of sustainable architecture?” Regarding the question, this hypothesis arises that: “A method of the architectural - urban design has direct impact on non-physical stability of space”. In order to prove this hypothesis, considering that the social sustainability has different definitions in the different cultures - thanks to diversity of behaviors, beliefs and cultures- in this article the spatial and environmental quality criteria are reviewed to find overall optimum spatial qualities which can be effective on social sustainability of public spaces, then these cases are studied in Ardabil (Iran) to suggest design principles based on social sustainability in the city. The research method is field research (interviews and questionnaires), archival research combination.