An Analysis of the Quality of Urban Parks based on Users' Opinions (Case Study: Kuhestan Park in Kermanshah City)

Urban parks are among the environments that directly affect the quality of life of citizens. Therefore, the improvement of the quality of these spaces can become the basis for the satisfaction of the citizens and, as a result, their more use of these urban spaces. Basically, the present study has attempted to evaluate citizens' satisfaction with Kuhestan Park in Kermanshah. The present research method is descriptive-analytical and based on documentary studies and field survey. The quality indicators of urban parks have been extracted from reliable domestic and foreign sources and have been questioned by the users of Kuhestan Park with the help of a questionnaire. The statistical population includes people who used Kuhestan Park and a random sample was selected from among them. The sample size is 200 people, which is more than 4 times the number of indicators (47 indicators). After completing the questionnaires, the data were entered into SPSS software and evaluated with the help of exploratory factor analysis model. In the following, the output of the factor analysis model was entered into the Smart PLS software, and based on structural equation analysis, the weight of various environmental quality factors on user satisfaction was calculated. According to the findings, the quality of Kuhestan Park in Kermanshah city is affected by ten factors including "spatial structure", "inclusiveness", "furniture", "variety of activities", "psychological comfort", "service infrastructure", "welfare facilities", "Environmental Ecosystem", "Elements of Identity" and "Accessibility"; among which three factors "Psychological Comfort", "Furniture" and "Spatial Structure" played the greatest role in citizens' satisfaction with this park. Also, indicators such as safety, security, furniture and nuisance from other users are considered as priority indicators for improving the park, and related suggestions are presented at the end of the article.