Evaluating Methods of Citizenship Participation in Urban Development of Ilam City

Urban managers have always tried to attract public participation in order to realize their goals with regards to urban development and urban management. The participation of citizens in urban affairs is one of the important principles of sustainability and democracy in urban environments. Considering the importance of participating in the urban development and management of a city, the main objective of the current study is to evaluate and investigate the methods for citizenship participation in the urban development of Ilam City using a descriptive-correlative methodology. The statistical population of the study includes all the residents of Ilam City. Based on Cochran’s Formula, a sample of 200 heads of households in four zones of Ilam City were selected using random cluster sampling and they were asked to complete the questionnaire of the study. The questionnaire used here was developed by the researcher; its validity was confirmed by experts in this field and its reliability, based on Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, was 0.83, which is acceptable. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software application. The results of the study show that the level of participation shown by citizens of Ilam City in urban affairs was lower than the average threshold, while its level varies from one area of the city to the other. Moreover, financial participation with a value of 2.514 was ranked as the top participation method was instrumental participation with a value of 2.181 was ranked last. Furthermore, there was a positive and significant relationship between various types of participation (financial, political, physical, instrumental, subjective, and spiritual) and the urban development of Ilam City. Also, financial, political, physical, subjective and spiritual participation in urban development of Ilam City explained 51 percent of the variance in urban development of Ilam City.