Explaining the Effective Factors on Urban Livability Case Study: Ilam City

The collected statistics by the United Nations in 1991 shows that in the mid-1990 about 45% or 5.4 billion people of the world population lived in the cities or towns. It has been predicted that in 2025 this population reaches 65%. The growth of population along with the increasing proportion of urbanization and its continued growth lead to the detrimental consequences and create problems for the cities. Various studies show that the necessity to deal with the urban livability in relation to the new duties of planning to response the needs of the post-industrial society, which is seriously seeking facilities and quality of life, has significantly increased on the one hand and the livability has gained a twofold importance, due to the threats facing urban life, on the other hand. According to the livability of the cities is different based on the local and indigenous conditions and characteristics of each city, it is necessary to evaluate and explain the livability of cities, which is the result of the plans and policies, etc. in them. In the meanwhile, Ilam, apart from its appropriate capacities for livability, is far from its parameters due to problems such as environmental pollutions, ethnocentrism, the decrease of the feeling of belonging to the place, being surrounded by the mountains, bourgeoisie, shortage of the land, weariness of the urban texture, unplanned immigration from the villages and suburbs to Ilam and so on. Due to the convergence of the problems and the difficulties, attempts to revive the sustainability and livability of Ilam seem necessary that the scientific recognition of this phenomenon is prerequisite.

The present study, with the consideration of its nature and goal, is an applied research and a descriptive-analytical one by its methodology. The statistical society of the research includes all over 18 male and female citizens living in Ilam. Based on Cochran formula the number of the subjects of the sample to be studied in entire Ilam, with an error of 0.05, was 383 who are distributed with the consideration of the population of the subjects of 18 or higher in each neighborhood. Ilam has been composed of four districts. Three neighborhoods have been selected randomly from each district. The research measurement instrument was the questionnaire along with interview. For this purpose, the livability inventory, containing 48 items, has been evaluated whose reliability has been confirmed based on researches were done. The indices of livability with three main economic, social, and environmental dimensions in Likert level have been measured by the standardized livability inventory. In this research, the effect of these indices (as the dependent variable) on independent variables (views on the cultural atmosphere, the feeling of urban well-being, view on the city’s management, and the feeling of security) have been taken into consideration.

Based on an 18-90 scale, the average of satisfaction with economic livability among the respondents was 49.10 which implies their moderate satisfaction. On the satisfaction with social livability, the average was 55.00 of 19 to 95 which shows their moderate satisfaction. The last dimension was the environmental livability. The average satisfaction with environmental livability was 32.66. as the range of this scale was between 11 to 55, the statistical findings show that the respondents are highly satisfied with environmental livability. The data of regression test show that the value of adjusted R equals 0.211. So, it can be said that the analytical model used has calculated 21.9% change in social livability. In other words, 21.9% of the changes in social livability is predictable based on the variables of views on urban management performance, the feeling of urban well-being, feeling of security, and approaches to the cultural atmosphere. The data od Beta in table 7 shows that the level of the direct effects of independent variables on the feeling of social livability in assessment of well-being feeling was 0.092%, approach to cultural atmosphere was 0.342%, the feeling of urban security was 0.168%, and view on the performance of urban management was 0.092%.

The findings of the research on the satisfaction level with the different aspects of livability indicate that the citizens are moderately satisfied with the city’s economic livability. A review of the indices of economic livability shows that habitation and its quality have the worst quality from among other variables to which the main reason of dissatisfaction refers. The weaknesses of urban transportation infrastructures and inappropriate conditions of employment and low income are the other sources of low satisfaction with economic livability. The average satisfaction with social livability by Ilam citizens has been reported moderate. Satisfaction with social livability can be evaluated in the shadow of its elements. Social cohesiveness as one of the elements of social livability is in a good position under the influence of intellectual backgrounds, beliefs, and the identity elements remained from the traditions and the past. Of the other elements of social livability is the city’s hygienic conditions. Regarding environmental livability as the last aspect of the urban livability, with which the citizens are relatively satisfied, it can be said that during the past years Ilam has been confronting several problems resulting from population growth and the spread of the area of the city, the low per capita of the green space and its unequal distribution, negligence of the indices of environmental sustainability. In the explanatory findings section, the relationship and direct effect of independent research variables on urban livability in all its dimensions were confirmed, that is, the higher the feeling of urban security and the feeling of urban well-being, the higher the positive approach to the cultural atmosphere and to the performance of the urban management.