The multi-dimensional comparative evaluation of the components of the quality of life of local residents: The case study on cities of Fars and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Department of Human Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2023.345085.1712

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
In recent years, improving the quality of life has become one of the most important goals of urban planners. One of the fields of manifestation of this concept is in the villages-cities. The process of upgrading rural settlements to cities, as one of the main policies to improve the quality of life in rural areas, has caused many villages to be upgraded to cities in the past decades. In this article, a multi-dimensional comparative evaluation of the components of the quality of life of residents has been done with an emphasis on the policy of upgrading the city in the researched areas. A statistical test was used to evaluate the residents' satisfaction with the quality of life in two periods before and after the upgrade. Analyzing the descriptive statistics shows that the upgrading of the settlement has not been able to cause satisfaction in Masiri and Sepidar cities. While Bostan has relative satisfaction and the coupon is in the best condition among the four cities. According to the median test, the two cities of Kopen and Sepidar are in the best and worst conditions in terms of satisfaction with the performance of the municipality. Also, according to the Chi-Square test, Masiri and Sepidar cities before upgrading and Kupan and Sepidar cities after upgrading the settlements have the best and worst conditions in terms of residents. Among the reasons for the weakness in the cities of Masiri and Sepidar, we can mention the weakness in the performance of urban bodies in the field of improving access conditions, lack of proper access, lack of proper transportation system, improper access to gas stations, lack of desirable changes in various economic fields, including employment and residents' income, etc.
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Quality of life is an important element of urban life, which aims to improve the lives of citizens by enhancing their satisfaction. The expansion of this concept has led to different aspects of human life and have an impact in different domains. One of the demonstration fields of this concept is in small towns and villages-cities. Today, the modernization of rural areas into cities is one of the main policies to improve the quality of life in rural areas has caused many villages to become cities. For this reason, in view of the increasing expansion of these settlements and also the great reception that has been accorded to them in Iran, the purpose of the current research is to examine the quality of life in four cities of Kopon, Masiri in Far, and Boostan, and Sepidar in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces. As many rural areas have become towns in recent decades, it is necessary to pay attention to their quality of life and to compare the satisfaction of the inhabitants with their living conditions, before and after regulatory improvement; because in many cases, such action takes place without desirable and satisfactory changes, and often, it is done in order to improve the settlement without any planning. So, in this research, we are looking to verify people's satisfaction, after the improvement of the facility.
 
Methodology
The statistical population of the research includes people who live in these cities. The result of this inquiry was collected in the library and the field research. In the field method to evaluate the views of citizens of two provinces regarding their quality of life. Within the two periods, before and after the improvement of the regulation and their satisfaction with the measures, the researcher's questionnaire was used, which brings us to 360 questionnaires (based on the population of the cities studied, this number was allocated among them and collected) was distributed amongst the citizens of these four towns on the basis of the Cochran model and in a simple random manner. Upon verification of the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the Cronbach alpha method was used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire and each of its indicators based on expert views. Therefore, considering that the Cronbach alpha coefficient in this search is above 0.7, it may be argued that the questionnaire is sufficiently reliable and that the internal correlation between the variables is high. Furthermore, according to the aim of the research, which is to examine the quality of life in the four cities mentioned, and generally, to compare this important issue in two provinces in the two periods, before and after the upgrade to a city, and to investigate the process of change and the level of citizens satisfaction with this measure, using SPSS software and Descriptive Statistics and tests such as the Median Test and Chi-Square, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Spearman correlation, the quality of life in these towns was analyzed.
 
Results & Discussion
The results of the research show that; people in four cities have different levels of satisfaction with their quality of life in two periods before and after improving the facility. In such a way that the analysis of descriptive statistics during the period before the updating of the regulation shows that, satisfaction with the quality of life in the town of Masiri is the best among the four cities, Boostan is also more attractive than Kopon and Sepidar. During the post-improvement period, we observe significant changes in the inhabitants of four cities. Based on the Median Test data, the level of satisfaction with municipal performance differs in four cities; in the city of Kopon is in the most favorable conditions (high median: 71) and the city of Sepidar (high median: 7) is in the lowest sequence. In general, the results of the statistical tests show that the cities of Sepidar and Masiri are in a bad state. In those cities, the situation is not conducive to improving access conditions, and a lack of adequate and appropriate access has resulted in resident dissatisfaction. Also, the lack of transportation system and inappropriate access to fuel stations, lack of quantity and quality of access to various urban installations, and the lack of favorable changes in various economic domains, including the employment and income of residents, are other issues that have caused significant dissatisfaction among the people who inhabit this space. Based on the results of the investigation, measures have been taken in the two districts of Kopon and Boostan that have been able to influence the level of citizen satisfaction before the establishment upgrade. The results of the research show that the measures taken in the cities of Kopon and Boostan following the improvement of the establishment were able to satisfy the residents, in such a way as to classify these cities as first and second respectively, during the period before the regulation upgrade, the conditions were different and the city of Kopon was the worst of the four cities in terms of prioritization, and in the city of Boostan, regardless of the relative gratification, there were also frustrations. This problem demonstrates that the modernization of settlements in these cities has been achieved with better planning and targeting.
 
Conclusion
Research analysis shows that, in the cities of Kopon and Boostan, residents are satisfied with the measures taken to improve the facility and, their quality of life. Among the reasons for the substantial improvement in citizen satisfaction in these two cities, can be the expansion of service and welfare facilities and the appropriate and optimal access of citizens to these services, the existence and sanitary of health and treatment facilities, improved employment through convenient communication in both cities and connection to the main artery. The connection between the south and the southwest of the country; played an important part in the prosperity of employment. Enhancement of the existing economic capabilities of the two cities, Improving and promoting infrastructure, including proper access to fuel stations, roads, and potential capacity to deliver services to the sphere of influence, which played a very important part in the equilibrium of the spatial space network, etc. Whilst in the cities of Sepidar and Misiri, residents are not satisfied with the current situation, as a result of being transformed into a city and the actions taken. One of the reasons for this infirmity is the function of the city in terms of improving access conditions and the lack of appropriate and adequate availability, lack of proper transport system, insufficient access to gas stations, and the limited amount and quality of educational facilities. Lack of favorable changes in various economic fields; including the employment and income of residents, as well as lack of attention to gender, etc. A challenge that has had a significant impact on intra-city migration in recent years.
 




استناد: رمضانی مهریان، مجید. (1401). ارزیابی کیفیت ساختاری شبکه فضای سبز در محیط‌های شهری مطالعه موردی: منطقه 16 شهر تهران. مجله پژوهش‌های جغرافیای برنامه‌ریزی شهری، 10 (1)، 99-81.
 
http://doi.org/10.22059/JURBANGEO.2022.325283.1535
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




 Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 10, Issue 4
February 2023
Pages 1-22

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