Explaining the Effect of Education on Citizen Participation (Case Study: Abshar and Hemmatabad Neighborhoods of Isfahan)

In recent decades, the dominant paradigm in urban planning has shifted from planning for the people to planning with the people and even by the people, and the concept of citizen participation has become increasingly important. Thus, many countries have used formal school and university education to institutionalize skills that lead to increased citizen participation in society. In order to explain the effectiveness of such trainings in Iran, the present article attempted to address the question: "Will a high level of education (greater benefit from formal trainings) increase citizen participation?". The hypothesis of the article was that people with higher education had greater involvement in urban affairs. The present study was descriptive-analytical in nature and applied in terms of purpose. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, Hemmatabad and Abshar neighborhoods of Isfahan, which are adjacent to each other but have significant differences in terms of education of residents, were comparatively studied. A questionnaire was also used to obtain additional information. The statistical population of this study was selected using Cochran's formula with an error coefficient of 5% for Abshar neighborhood with 372 residents and Hemmatabad neighborhood of 374 residents. For data analysis, Spearman’s correlation coefficient, linear regression and Mann-Whitney test were used. The findings showed that there was no significant relationship between education and citizen participation. In other words, the article hypothesis was rejected. As a result, it can be said that formal trainings are not sufficiently effective in increasing citizen participation and are therefore criticized.