Assessment and Analysis on Quality of Life in Old Textures Neighborhoods, Kuhdasht City1

1. Introduction
The population growth and uncontrolled increase of cities in the recent decades has affected the quality of life for citizens even in the smallest towns. Kuhdasht City contains 107.1 hectares of deteriorated textures (i.e. 29 % of the city) with 29309 residents, equivalent to 34.1 % of the total population of Kuhdasht. Due to differences in economic, social, physical, and other indicators in the neighborhoods with deteriorated texture compared with other neighborhoods and their importance as the old textures of Kuhdasht City, this research investigate the indicators of quality of life in the neighborhoods of the city from viewpoints of citizens. Besides, this article is an attempt to determine the spatial distribution of indicators of quality of life in neighborhoods with deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht City. It also attempt to find out whether the results show that indicators of quality of life and the geographical distribution in neighborhoods with deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht City are fair and equitable or not? Thus, the purpose of this research is to analyze the quality of life in Kuhdasht City and its spatial distribution in the neighborhoods with deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht.
 
2. Materials and Methods
According to the purpose of the study, descriptive-analytical method has been used in this research. The statistical population is all the residents in Kuhdasht city from whom 385 individuals were selected through Cochran formula and utilizing random sampling. Then, according to the population of each neighborhood in 2011, this value was distributed among the neighborhoods. To determine the validity of the questionnaire used in the study, the researcher consulted with 5 professors, scholars and experts and their critical comments and suggestions were applied to the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the indicators of quality of life in the city were calculated about 0.78 and it is acceptable according to Oppenheim. For data analysis, factor analysis models with R and statistical methods of one-sample T-test in the SPSS application were utilized.
 
3. Results and Discussion
Based on the results of the factor analysis, 36 indicators in this study were classified into 6 factors and according to each of the extracted factors, the neighborhoods of the Kuhdasht City were categorized into post developed, developed, semi-developed, underdeveloped and deprived levels. The sum of the scores obtained from the factors was utilized as inputs for cluster analysis and then, using density-based hierarchical clustering method, the neighborhoods with deteriorated textures were classified into five homogenized clusters. Results indicate that out of 11deteriorated textures of  the city, Bu-Ali neighborhood with 69.85 percent has the highest quality of life based on the combined scores of factors. Saheb-Az-Zaman neighborhood with the combined score of 55.76 percent stands in the second place and Ferdowsi with the score of 45.17 percent in the third. Entehaye Bu-Ali, Jihad-e-Shomali and Motahari neighborhoods with the score of -166.71, - 118.72 and -105.21, respectively, have the worst conditions in terms of considered indicators of quality of life. The gap between the neighborhood in the first rank (Bu-Ali neighborhood), and the neighborhood in the 11^th rank (Entehaye Bu-Ali neighborhood), is 227.47 which shows a great injustice in terms of enjoying indicators of quality of life considered in this research among neighborhoods with deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht City.
 
4. Conclusion
Results of factor-based cluster analysis of neighborhoods in Kuhdasht city suggests that Bu-Ali and Saheb-Az-Zaman neighborhoods are in the first cluster and are classified as post developed. Ferdowsi, Sad-e-Salehi, Daraii, and Rudaki neighborhoods are in the second cluster and are classified as developed neighborhoods, Bank-e-Keshavarzi and Moallem are in the third clusters and are classified as semi-developed neighborhoods, Jihad-e-Shomali and Motahari are in the fourth cluster and are considered as underdeveloped neighborhoods and Entehaye Bu-Ali neighborhood is in the lowest level, i.e. the fifth cluster, and is considered as the most deprived neighborhood. Considering one-sample T-test, it can also be said that the neighborhoods with deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht City are in the poor conditions in terms of the economic factor, services, municipal services, social services and environmental conditions, while in the factors of health, safety and educational facilities they are in better conditions with the means of 3.22 and 3.09, respectively. To improve the quality of life in deteriorated textures of Kuhdasht City the following suggestions are presented: (1) education of the authorities and the municipal managers on the benefits and advantages of equitable distribution of facilities and municipal services. (2) Paying attention to the principles of sustainable development and local communities in the physical division in the Kuhdasht City for the equitable and purposeful distribution of municipal services. (3) Improvements in qualitative and quantitative conditions of housing and amendment of separation system and gradation and order of texture for the sake of improving spatial and physical qualities in deteriorated texture. (4) Improvement of buildings in the deteriorated textures of the city and making fortified buildings appropriate to the social and cultural structures and natural environment. (5) Planning for the re-development of the deteriorated and deprived municipal textures in order to reduce the environmental pollution. (6) Providing the necessary municipal land use according to the per capita standard for improvement of functional place of deteriorated textures in Kuhdasht City. (7) Applying development program with giving priority over development of deprived neighborhood in order to reduce the gap in the quality of life among neighborhoods with deteriorated textures.