Modeling of Urban Livability Indicators with an Emphasis on Sustainable Urban Transportation: The Case Study of Ahvaz City

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tehran Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2024.374294.1921

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Livability is one of the biggest ideas of urban planning in the contemporary era, and it seems to be a worrying issue in third-world cities due to the rapid growth rate of the metropolitan population. Along with the issue of livability, urban livability and sustainable urban transportation as a new approach in urban planning can answer many urban problems. Since all urban trips are related to urban transportation, for this purpose, in order to live better and increase efficiency, it must comply with livability indicators. In this regard, the main goal of the current research is to investigate the effects of urban livability indicators with an emphasis on sustainable urban transportation in Ahvaz city. The statistical population of the present study was selected and studied using Cochran's formula of 384 people as a statistical sample. Data analysis has been done through correlation analysis and pattern finding of structural equations using SPSS and Smart PLS software. The results of structural equation modeling showed that according to the conceptual model of the test, a strong and significant relationship was observed between the indicators of urban livability and sustainable urban transportation (p < 0.05), and the fit indices of the model also showed appropriateness. With the conceptual model and as a result the model is confirmed. Also, the results of the T-Tech test showed that the most significant impact on urban livability is related to the housing index; in sustainable urban transportation, the social index has the greatest impact, and finally, among the aspects of urban transportation livability, the mental index has the highest score
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In the last few decades, the world has witnessed a huge wave of urbanization, so it is predicted that by 2030, approximately 5 billion people, which includes 67% of the current world population, will live in different urban landscapes, and this has caused the issue of increasing Rapid urbanization and its destructive socio-economic and environmental effects on the quality of society's life become a global phenomenon. Harmful consequences such as pollution, traffic, psychological problems, etc., can be discussed following these criteria. Hence, the need to pay attention to livability was brought up, especially in big cities. In fact, livability is the connection between the past and the future. On the one hand, it respects the historical signs, and on the other hand, it respects what has been born so far. Along with livability, urban livability has emerged as an important concept in urban policies and practical discourses around the world, including for cities that are rapidly expanding or planning from scratch. Along with these changes and factors, it can be said that several factors affect urban livability, among which we can mention transportation, presence of people, mix of uses, housing, safety and security, sense of belonging, efficiency, environmental cleanliness, etc. The topic of transportation is potentially a reflection of transportation's importance in everyday life. As mentioned, one of the important topics in urban livability is transportation, which can and should be discussed as a tool to achieve sustainable development. The importance of the transportation network in today's societies' social, economic, and even political and military structures is such that experts consider it the foundation of sustainable development in any society.
Studies show that, on the one hand, the necessity and importance of dealing with urban livability in connection with the new tasks of planning in responding to the needs of the post-industrial society, which is desperately looking for facilities and quality of life, has increased greatly, and on the other hand, livability is The direction of threats to the advancement of urban life today has gained double importance, and despite the importance of the sustainable urban transportation system as one of the principles of urban livability in Iran's metropolises, written strategic planning that guides the development of this system and urban livability is less important. Can be seen for this purpose, the city of Ahvaz, as one of the metropolises of Iran and due to its proximity to Iraq, annually hosts a large number of domestic and foreign immigrants, and of course, the existence of suitable urban livability conditions is essential, especially in terms of transportation, and this issue causes the managers' concerns. Ahvaz has become a city regarding urban transportation in metropolises.
 
Methodology
The present research is quantitative in nature, according to the purpose of applied research, and correlational descriptive in data collection, which has used the covariance-variance analysis method among the correlation methods. The area of research is Ahvaz, and the statistical population is about 1,302,000 Ahvaz citizens who are over 20 years old. Related software such as SPSS and Smart-PLS have been used for data analysis.
 
Results and discussion
Urban livability and urban transportation are among the most important issues in Iran's metropolises, and despite the importance of this system, written strategic planning that guides the development of this system is less visible. Issues such as population density, housing quality, access to places and educational facilities, number of general practitioners, distance from medical centers, social support, air quality, water and community livability, justice and equality, access to public transportation stations and their quality is an important indicator that considering them can strengthen the living environment and the quality of urban life in terms of the viability of sustainable urban transportation. Then, an attempt was made to identify the concerns and needs of these people in the urban space to improve the livability of society and sustainable transportation through interviews conducted with university professors, specialists familiar with this field and experts. The existence of housing, education, attention to the economic and social dimensions of sustainable transportation, and the quality of access and infrastructure have been mentioned to improve the viability of urban sustainable transportation. It is confirmed that the indicators of urban livability and sustainable urban transportation have a positive correlation, and at a confidence level of at least 95%, these relationships are confirmed. The direction of all obtained relations is positive, which shows that the increase of each indicator of sustainable urban transportation is associated with the increase of indicators of urban livability and vice versa. A comparison of correlation coefficients shows that urban livability has the strongest relationship with the objective index (r = 1.030).
 
Conclusion
The results of structural equation modeling showed that according to the conceptual model of the test, a strong and significant relationship between the research indicators and sustainable urban transportation had been observed (p<0.05), and the fit indices of the model also show the appropriateness and fit of the data with Conceptual model and therefore model validation. Also, the results of the T-Tech test showed that the most significant impact on urban livability is related to the housing index; in sustainable urban transportation, the social index has the greatest impact, and finally, among the dimensions of urban transportation livability, the mental index has the most significant impact.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Keywords

References

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Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR)
Volume 12, Issue 2
August 2024
Pages 25-43

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