Identifying factors affecting happiness in urban public space (Case Study: Pedestrian Zone of Historic Part of Tehran)

The topic of happiness has attracted the attention of urban experts in the last decade. Cities such as Copenhagen and Bogotá are creating literature based on their experiences in this area. The quality of the city and urban spaces is a significant factor affecting happiness. The amount of happiness in urban spaces can be a reflection of the quality of these spaces. Similar to vitality, hence, happiness can also be seen as a quality of urban spaces. Happiness has become a key concept in recent urban studies. Happiness literature considers the role of place, local communities, social cohesion and sense of belonging. Unveiling the concept of “urban happiness”, Enrique Penalosa, the mayor of Bogota, revealed the potential for happiness and wellbeing in government policies, planning, and decision making. Penalosa’s policies and decision makers in the “wellbeing infrastructure” emphasize the crucial role of planners and decision-makers in improving citizens’ quality of life and happiness. The global data indicates Iran’s inadequate status in the field of happiness, part being due to the poor quality of urban spaces that cannot provide the grounds for happiness. As one of the first researches in the field of urban happiness in Iran, this research seeks to analyze the factors affecting happiness in Tehran’s urban spaces. Reviewing the global and domestic studies based on the content analysis method, a specific conceptual model was developed. The model presents the factors affecting the macro-to-micro level happiness in urban spaces. As pedestrian spaces and walkways are important due to the presence of citizens, these spaces were selected in Tehran center based on the analysis of the case study in order to provide a realistic understanding of the factors affecting happiness in urban spaces. Purposeful questionnaires were developed based on field study, preliminary discussions and conceptual model. To find hidden relationships between variables, SEM method was used to analyze the data extracted from the questionnaires. The Veenhoven index was used as one of the most reliable indicators for assessing the overall state of happiness in this area. This research seeks to find the factors affecting happiness in urban spaces based on a comprehensive survey that analyzes citizens’ mental and objective perceptions of space. Providing such a comprehensive outlook on factors affecting happiness in urban spaces in Iran, especially in Tehran, can be a suitable basis for formulating policies and strategies for organizing and improving the quality of urban spaces in order to promote the status of happiness in the city. Also, based on the impact of cultural and social conditions on the overall state of happiness, the results of this study can provide an understanding of the dimensions of happiness based on the status of urban spaces in Iran. The findings show that the average level of happiness among citizens on the basis of Veenhoven index is 5.90 out of 10. The results of the analysis indicate that physical aspects, urban space qualities, subjective dimensions, and community characteristics are the most important factors affecting happiness, and physical characteristics have the highest impact on happiness. Also, the citizens’ happiness in pedestrian zones of Tehran’s historical center is more affected by the quality of urban space, especially its physical properties, than the macro aspects of community.