Urban Sustainability
hossein daneshmehr; saaied khani; vorya molasalimi
Abstract
Highlights- There is a significant positive relationship between the level of apartment life standards and social capital in residents of Mehr Dwellings.- There is no significant relationship between the type of residence and social capital in residents of Mehr Dwellings.- The variables of neighborhood ...
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Highlights- There is a significant positive relationship between the level of apartment life standards and social capital in residents of Mehr Dwellings.- There is no significant relationship between the type of residence and social capital in residents of Mehr Dwellings.- The variables of neighborhood relations and level of acquaintance have influenced the social capital of residents of Mehr Dwellings. IntroductionToday, social capital is an indicator of growth and development in societies, without which it is highly challenging to achieve development at different levels. This capital increases investment in the fields of physical capital and human capital and establishes the structures created by public and private sector agents. Housing is one of the most important human needs leading to social conflicts or peace in different ages. The occurrence of each of these conditions is directly related to the amount of social capital among the residents, from the point of view that the social norths and souths in cities have turned into a concept for class distinction. Projects like Mehr Dwellings may have been capable of meeting the housing market needs in terms of quantity and shelter to a large extent, but what is stated in the theoretical literature on social housing at the global level, i.e. the level of satisfaction of residents of social housing projects, concerns the conditions therein in social, cultural, and other terms. It seems that the Mehr Dwellings project was carried out in a hasty manner regardless of basic criteria such as social capital. Therefore, the current research seeks to investigate the social capital conditions among the residents of Mehr Dwellings in the city of Sanandaj, Iran and the effective sociological factors. The questions raised on that basis concern the level of social capital among the residents of Mehr Dwellings in Sanandaj based on the above indicators and the extent to which sociological and contextual factors have affected each dimension of social capital.Theoretical FrameworkThe theoretical framework of the current research is based on the theories available in the field of social capital and the studies conducted in Iran and around the world on the research title. The structure of social capital is investigated here based on the socio-cultural dimensions of the Mehr Dwellings project. Following the discussion, the conceptual model of the research, which involves the link between the research literature and the results, is formulated in the concluding section.MethodologyThe current research is a quantitative survey and therefore involves a method of data collection in which certain groups of people are asked to answer a certain number of specific questions, which are the same for all respondents. The research population includes all the households in the Mehr Dwellings in Sanandaj in 2019. According to the statistics published by Kurdistan Province Directorate-General for Roads and Urban Development, there are 38,000 Mehr Dwellings in the whole province, of which 13,606 have been built and submitted in Sanandaj, where a population of 43,091 people lives (Kurdistan Province Directorate-General for Roads and Urban Development, 2018). The statistical sample includes people over eighteen years of age residing in 7,600 Mehr Dwellings in Baharan Neighborhood in 2019. The sample size was specified through Cochran’s formula, based on which a size of 340 people was estimated; given the possibility of drop in the sample size, 10% was added to this number, and 374 people were finally selected to make up the study sample. The sampling methods included clustering according to Mehr Dwellings blocks and random selection of people over 18 years of age. In the selection of the samples, we tried to observe the age and sex combination as far as possible. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, the formal and content validity of which were evaluated by experts in the fields of urban development and sociology. Moreover, the validity of the questions was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient as 0.849, which indicates the appropriate reliability and validity. As a research measurement tool, the SPSS version 21 software was used to analyze the data in two sections: descriptive and inferential.Results and DiscussionThe findings of the research demonstrated that there are significant positive relationships between the social capital of residents of Mehr Dwellings and a number of the variables making up the level of apartment life standards, including the degree of neighborhood relations, the level of acquaintance with the social environment, satisfaction with the place of residence, access to facilities, and the quality of urban services and infrastructures, and the contextual variables of residence background, income, and marital status. The statistical results demonstrated that there is no significant relationship between the residents’ social capital and the variables of social relations and type of residence and contextual variables (age, gender, occupation, and academic degree). Apartment life standards and social capital among the residents of Baharan Mehr Dwellings will not change overnight, because the residents of these blocks are mainly immigrants from villages, unemployed people, female householders, urban subordinates in sociological terms. Corridors of social relations are limited, while there are stable conditions from another point of view. Although the residents’ harmony has undergone major changes during the past two years due to the high costs of housing, fundamental measures need to be taken by the institutions and trustees in the urban area. According to the results of the research, important actions to be taken in the current conditions include the participation of citizens in the affairs of the neighborhood, enhancement of the infrastructure and access networks, formation of civil institutions, and establishment of service and security institutions.ConclusionThe results of the multivariate regression analysis also indicate that the variables of apartment life standards, neighborhood relations, and level of acquaintance impact the social capital of the residents of Mehr Dwellings and explain 32% of the changes in the dependent variable.
Urban Planning
Reza Ramyar; Esmaiel Zarghami
Volume 6, Issue 23 , August 2017, , Pages 39-52
Abstract
Objectives:
Residential and neighborhood open spaces are more than a simple space. They are the most important places for people living in urban areas and are part of their sense of living. The literature of neighborhood environments has always been attempting to describe neighborhoods in terms of the ...
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Objectives:
Residential and neighborhood open spaces are more than a simple space. They are the most important places for people living in urban areas and are part of their sense of living. The literature of neighborhood environments has always been attempting to describe neighborhoods in terms of the criteria of their overall quality. Social and individual attachment are two major factors having an important effect on the overall quality of residents’ lives. Psychological and sociological aspects of people’s behavior in these spaces are addressed in the disciplines of environmental psychology and sociology. These two knowledge areas have evolved with development of new methods and knowledge improvements. In these two disciplines, different and almost independent, sometimes contradicting, theories have been proposed to in a complementary way. Finding a relationship between the proposed theories in these two fields is rarely considered. Investigating one of the most important concepts in environmental psychology, i.e. place attachment, and using this concept to improve social life of residential neighborhoods, this paper tries to establish a link between these separate disciplines. Most studies conducted on place attachment and meaning of place have been at the individual level addressing mostly individual emotions and experiences. Also, in the social domain, only social emotions and experiences have been discussed. Focusing on social participation and place attachment, this research first tries to show the complexity and multi-dimensionality of these concepts and then attempts to from a framework for social planning in common areas like residential open spaces.
Research method:
Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), as a vigorous regressive multivariate analysis technique, is used to examine the hypotheses in this research. SEM is a multivariate statistical analysis technique suitable for analyzing structural relationships. Its ability to define relationships between unobserved constructs (latent variables) and observable variables has made it a common justified method in social sciences. In the modeling method here, we use SEM that allows complex relationships between one or more independent variables and one or more dependent variables.
Findings:
Based on the findings, place attachment and participation have a significant impact on social capital. The direct correlation between participation and social capital is stronger than that of place attachment, showing higher significance of participation in affecting social capital. Participation has also a great impact on place attachment.
Results:
Place attachment is a complex process that significantly affects social factors. It spreads and gets shaped over time. It is not only the place, but also social relationships produced in that place that support the maintenance and development of local community relations. Places are formed by individuals, groups and neighborhoods, and neighborhood groups are shaped by their place. According to this research, certain places with a strong sense of identity, higher communication, social capital and collective actions such as participation create a higher sense of attachment in the residents.
