Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• taher parizadi
• mahdi moradi ¹
• masoumeh saki ²

¹ Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch

² Master of Geography and Urban Planner, Kharazmi University of Tehran

Abstract

Modern cities have turned into the main places for people to work and live in; therefore, they are confronted with many challenges from social, economic, environmental, and managerial aspects. The rapid growth of population, urban population in particular, and extensive immigration from the village to the city, mainly to large cities, along with the need to meet the immigrants’ needs highlights the necessity of considering the existing districts and neighborhoods of the city in order to prevent its horizontal growth and decrease in the importance of its internal fabric. If the trend continues, it will lead to a decline in the quality of life and, consequently, in urban viability. A viable urban system is one where all the inhabitants’ social, economic, physical, and psychological health is considered. Viability can be seen as a way of achieving sustainable development, where urban viability can be obtained through viable neighborhoods. A viable city is one where you can live a healthy life, a city for everyone. It is regarded as a link between the past and the present. That is, it esteems the historical symbols on the one side, and acknowledges what has not yet been born on the other. The immethodical development of Iranian cities over the past few decades has confronted the urban areas with many problems, such as economic, social, and environmental ones. This research seeks to investigate the amount of viability in the central district of the city of Boroujerd. This district holds the greatest place identity in the area due to the availability of ancient, valuable elements including historical monuments such as Imam Mosque, the bazaar, squares, and several religious centers, location in the initial core and distressed area of the city, and several old passages with narrow alleys, which are characteristic of the historic fabric of a city. As the city has grown, some neighborhoods have thrived further, and others have lost their prosperity. As a result, viability and quality of life vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. The present research is a cognitive-heuristic in terms of purpose, involving a quantitative-qualitative study in terms of data and pursuing a descriptive-analytical approach in terms of nature and methodology. To achieve the purposes, the research was conducted in two parts: a documentary and a field study (questionnaire). The unit of analysis included the inhabitants of the central district of Boroujerd. Estimated sample size was calculated using the Cochran formula as 230 people aged between 15 and 70 years. GIS and SPSS (one-sample t test, ANOVA, and Friedman test) were used for data analysis, and Amos structural equation modeling for diagramming the analytical models of the structures. The research findings demonstrated that the aspects and indices of viability in the central district of Boroujerd are highly desirable. Furthermore, a comparison of the neighborhoods in the central district in terms of index and aspect mean indicated that the most viable neighborhood was Soufiyan, while the Dodange neighborhood exhibited the lowest amount of viability. According to Friedman’s prioritization, the aspects of urban services, activities, and amenities were ranked first, and urban economy was ranked last. In the structural equation model diagrammed in Amos, the aspect of urban economy exhibited the greatest impact on the environmental factors.

Keywords

• Urban Viability
• Central District
• Boroujerd
• Structural Equations

Main Subjects

• Urban Planning