An Analysis of the Desirability of Social Functions of Urban Spaces: A Case Study on District 12 of Tehran Metropolis

Urban spaces have a variety of functions, one of the most important of which is social function. The social function of space is one of the most important functions of urban spaces that creates the possibility of engaging in meaningful interactions with society, forming a sense of place and the opportunity to gather and enjoy the experience with others as citizens. Therefore, considering the importance of the social function of urban spaces, the purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the desirability of these functions in District 12 of Tehran Metropolis. The research method was applied in terms of purpose and analytical-exploratory in nature. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling method was used in AMOS Software. The statistical population of the study also included the citizens of District 12 of Tehran, and the sample size was 384 based on Cochran's formula and a simple random sampling method. Findings show that the degrees of desirability of social functions of urban spaces in District 12 of Tehran, i.e., social interaction, commitment, social belonging (integration with space) and social accountability have been obtained to be 0.62, 0.49 and 0.41, respectively based on the structural equation modeling. Also, the results of the partial index of critical and P values in the structural model show that the status of social interaction variables in District 12 was desirable at 95% confidence level with the critical value of 2.37 (i.e., above 1.96). Moreover, social response variable with a critical value of 1.52 (i.e., less than 1.96) was unfavorable and social responsiveness with a critical value of 1.99 was relatively desirable.