Sustainable city

Sustainable city

Spatial analysis of the realization of the idea of the right to the city in small cities in the case study of Western cities of Mazandaran province

Document Type : Article extracted From phd dissertation

Authors
Reza Sultan Maleki 1
Massoud Elahi 2
Zohre Dauvdpour 3
1 Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran
2 , Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran
3 , Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran Email: zdavoudpour@gmail.com
10.22034/jsc.2023.375853.1671
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
The present research was carried out with the aim of spatial analysis of the realization of the idea of the right to the city in the small cities of the west of Mazandaran province. In terms of its purpose, this research is among applied research and the method of collecting information includes library and survey methods including questionnaires. The statistical population in this research consists of citizens of the three studied cities and urban experts. Considering the size of the population of three cities, which according to the census of 2015 is equal to 7240 people (including 970 people in Balade, 3120 people in Kajur and 3150 people in Pul), based on Cochran's formula, 365 samples have been chosen and by sample method Classified random sampling has been distributed and collected among citizens. Data analysis was done in the form of Friedman and one-sample t tests in SPSS software, and Arc GIS was used to draw the map. The results of the ranking showed that considering that the significance level of the test is less than 0.05 (equal to 0.001), that in the socio-cultural dimension, Balde city has the highest rank with an average rank of 2.14, and in the economic dimension, the city of Kejur has the highest rank with an average rank of 2.34. among the cities in the west of Mazandaran province and also in the physical-biological dimension, considering that the significance level of the test is more than 0.05 (equal to 0.302), the cities of Kejur, Belde and Pol, although they have different average ranks, but because this The difference is not significant, they have equal rank
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In recent years, along with the loss of efficiency of the city's economic, political, cultural and social structures, urban crises have appeared with citizens' demands, and there is talk of "the right to the city". The right to the city provides a suitable conceptual tool for criticizing the current state of cities. The right to the city is both the issue of the existing city, the city that is and the issue of the desired city, the city that should be. In fact, in recent decades, the increasing growth and expansion of cities, on the one hand, and the importance of studying urban life and the methods of achieving citizenship rights, on the other hand, have led to the necessary grounds for discussing the concept of the right to the city, a concept that Henry Lefebvre first expressed.
 
Methodology
The present research is applied and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and method, respectively. Library and field methods were used, and the tool of information collection in this research was a questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire have been checked and confirmed according to the opinion of 30 experts (Cronbach's alpha value for the reliability of the questionnaire was equal to 0.89, which indicated the acceptability of the questionnaire). The statistical population in this research consists of citizens of the three studied cities and urban experts. Considering the size of the population of three cities, which according to the 2016 census was equal to 7240 people (including 970 people in Baladeh, 3120 people in Kojour and 3150 people in Pul), 365 samples were chosen based on Cochran's formula, which has been distributed and collected among the citizens by stratified probability sampling method. The sample size for Baladeh is equal to 49 people, Kojour is equal to 157 people, and Pul is equal to 159 people. Data processing and database construction were done in Arc GIS software, and the final results were prepared for comparison and analysis in SPSS software.
 
Results and discussion
In evaluating the status of socio-cultural dimensions in order to realize the right to the city in the small cities of the west of Mazandaran province, i.e. the cities of Baladeh, Kojour and Pul, it was found that the value of the t statistic at the significance level is equal to 0.00, which is less than 0.05. It was equal to -36,890 in Kojour city, -28,179 in Baladeh city and -38,490 in Pol city, which showed that the socio-cultural dimension situation in order to realize the right to the city in the small cities of western Mazandaran province is in an unfavorable situation. Also, according to the value of t concerning the economic dimension in the cities of Kojour, Baladeh and Pul, which were equal to -55.039, -47.492 and -59.790, respectively, it was found that the status of these cities in terms of the economic dimension is also at the unacceptable level. In relation to the environmental dimension, it is also said that the value of t-statistic was calculated as -11.315 in Kojour city, -11.958 in Baladeh city and -11.812 in Pul city, which means that these cities are also weak in terms of environmental dimension.
 
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of spatial analysis of the realization of the right to the city in the small cities of the west of Mazandaran province. Moreover, survey studies show that the level of citizens' participation in urban affairs, which is one of the basic foundations of the right to the city and the builder of a sustainable city, needs to be stronger. Furthermore, there is no serious effort towards empowering the people (especially women) to organize the existing situation from the city managers, and the level of accountability of city managers to the citizens is also low. This issue is more acute in another dimension that covers citizens' access to urban facilities and services. In such a way that as homogeneous conditions for all three cities, the degree of access to various urban land-uses and services, including health and medical services, green space and leisure, education, variety of service centers, etc., with restrictions for citizens, has caused dissatisfaction.
This issue is far more complicated in the economic aspect; despite the urbanization of these settlements, they see many gaps in the field of economic issues. In such a way, the status of work and employment, access to secondary financial resources (bank credits, resources) to increase livelihood opportunities, land prices, and economic integration with the regional economy all have had an undesirable situation. In addition, city managers have not been able to improve the conditions in this field, and even their satisfaction is low due to the lack of financial transparency in the preparation and implementation of city projects and the lack of public and private investment. Moreover, no specific innovation in improving the situation involves planning and business continuity for these cities.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent 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
Right to the City
Small Towns
Citizen Participation
West of Mazandaran Province
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Sustainable city
Volume 7, Issue 1
Spring 2024
Pages 79-96