The role of social capital in the development of social sustainabilityCase study: Rasht border town neighborhoods

Social sustainability as one of the three main dimensions of sustainable development has an important place in urban planning and one of the factors affecting this dimension is social capital. In this regard, a review of planning policies to strengthen social capital is inevitable. This study was conducted to investigate the role of social capital in the development of social sustainability of neighborhoods for the border city of Rasht. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Data collection has been library and field methods. Based on theoretical foundations and conceptual model, social capital research has been measured by indicators of social relations, trust of public institutions, sense of place and awareness based on the opinions of a group of experts. Data analysis was performed using structural equations with the help of Emus software. The results showed that the index of sense of belonging to the place with a coefficient of 0.78 has the greatest effect on social capital, followed by the trust of public institutions with a coefficient of 0.71 and the variable of social relations with a coefficient of 0.58. 0 and awareness with a coefficient of 0.38 are in the next level of effectiveness. In general, social capital in neighborhoods with a coefficient (beta) of 0.84 has a positive effect on sustainable social development of these neighborhoods and the relationship between these two variables is significant. In other words, sustainable social development will be strengthened by strengthening social capital.