Evaluation of Urban Livability Indictors Based on the Perception of Residents (Case Study: Ahvaz City)

Urban livability reflects an influential discourse in urban development and urban planning and has recently received due attention because of paying increasing attention to urban life quality. The purpose of this study was the evaluation of urban livability indicators in Ahvaz city from its residents’ perspective. This research is an applied one in terms of its purpose and of descriptive-survey type in terms of its method. Based on multi-stage cluster sampling, eight neighborhoods out of eight districts were selected. Using Cochran formula, the sample size was estimated to be 384 and its ratio in each neighborhood was determined. In this study, questionnaire was used as the data elicitation technique. To investigate urban livability, nine indicators (security, education, leisure, participation, attachment to place, income and employment, infrastructure facilities and services, transportation and pollution) with 43 items were used. Shannon entropy method and Copras technique were utilized to weigh the indicators and rank the neighborhoods in terms of urban livability indicators, respectively. In this study, two indicators, namely pollution and security, were considered as negative indicators. The results indicated that the status of urban livability indicators in the districts under study was inappropriate. The results of using Shannon entropy method and Copras technique also showed that Kianpars neighborhood ranked first followed by Zeitoon Karmandi, South Golestan, Khorousi, Pardis 1, Akhar Asphalt, Shalang Abad neighborhoods. Manba Ab neighborhood ranked last and had the worst status in this regard.