Aliakbar Salaripour

1. Today, globalisation creates competitive spaces in which urban areas strive to attract creative talent and capital – an effort that ultimately leads to the emergence of creative cities (Andersso...

The burgeoning world population has transformed the interplay of space, human beings, and activity, leading to a decline in quality of life and livability in many places. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting livability within a new integrated urban-rural scale using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Based on the research background and context, objective and subjective indices of livability in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions were developed for both urban and rural settlements in Qazvin, Iran. Data on these indices were collected through secondary resources and questionnaires, and then analyzed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) along with Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), both of which are multi-criteria decision-making methods. The compatibility between these two methods—used for comparing, weighting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative criteria—sets them apart from similar approaches. The results show no complete preference both in the cities and the rural districts. Furthermore, the importance of using three dimensions is highlighted in livable communities by the fact that Qazvin city unexpectedly could not acquire complete superiority due to poor environmental function even though it is the major settlement of the region. An examination of the effective factors and indices also demonstrated that the social dimension of livability is less desirable in the whole city-region; therefore, it should be given more attention when adopting strategies and decisions. Finally, this study can offer substantial assistance to authorities and the decision-makers by employing a flexible and adjustable framework.

Urban livability plays a crucial role in fostering place attachment and behavioural intentions. This study aims to investigate the relationships between livability, place attachment, and behavioural intentions among the citizens of Isfahan City. The data collected through Likert scale questions was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results confirmed the multi-dimensionality of urban livability, encompassing six dimensions: urban security, convenience of public facilities, natural environment, socio-cultural environment, convenient transportation, and environmental health. Additionally, the SEM results revealed that place attachment mediates the effects of the six dimensions of urban livability on neighbourhood care: intention to stay, intention to support, and intention to recommend. Therefore, evaluating citizens’ perceptions can assist local governments in formulating appropriate policies to promote urban livability.

Developing technology and maximum usage of underground resources have led to the rise of several urban problems. Nonetheless, smart growth (SG) is one of the practical principles for solving different issues, such as traffic problems, air and noise pollution, urban sprawling, etc. In this article, three parameters of smart growth, namely: accessibility to public transportation, walkability, and mixed land use, and the main parameters of space syntax theory including, integration and connectivity in three different urban districts (old, middle, and modern) in the city of Bojnourd, the city in north-eastern of Iran have been investigated. By analysing these parameters, the relationship between selected SG indices and space syntax indexes has been presented. The ANP approach was also applied to improve decision-making and to grade the importance of criteria; districts were finally graded using the TOPSIS model concerning walkability, and access to public transportation. The mixed-land uses index was also calculated by examining 11 land uses through the Shannon entropy formula. The results indicate that there is an internal relationship and correlation between smart growth indicators and space syntax ones. Additionally, given solutions can be taken as a significant step to tackle urban issues and advance sustainable development aims.

One of the problems that urban communities face is migrating from small towns to big cities. Low quality of life and lack of attachment are some of the reasons that cause such a problem. Therefore, in small towns, the need to pay attention to the quality of life and the sense of attachment increases. Given that the relationship between quality of life, attachment to the city and participation has not been sufficiently studied, the present paper tries to understand the relationships between these components in the Sangar Town and find the impact of individual characteristics (gender, age and education), the length of residence and the level of income on each of the components. The Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test were used to examine the effect of demographic characteristics (age, education level, income, level, gender and length of residence) on each of the components. Using exploratory factor analysis, 9 factors were extracted from the quality of life items, and to analyze the relationships between quality of life, attachment to City and participation structural equation modeling was used. Multivariate linear regression was also used to examine the variables affecting participation. Findings indicate that quality of life (consisting of 9 factors) affects attachment to the city and attachment to the city affect participation. Urban policymakers can use the results of the present study to evaluate the effects of their executive strategies on urban livability and the satisfaction of residents.