Document Type : Research
Authors
1
PhD student in Economic Sociology and Development, Department of Sociology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Azadshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Azadshahr, Iran
3
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
This research aims to design a social sustainability model in urban environments and conduct a comparative analysis in the cities of Tehran and Zahedan. It is an applied-developmental study that uses exploratory mixed research. In the qualitative stage, semi-structured interviews with experts and thematic analysis techniques were used. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 academic and executive experts in the field of urban management who were selected using purposive sampling. In the quantitative stage, the structural equation modeling method and Amos software were used to validate the model. To do so, 136 senior managers of Tehran and Zahedan municipalities, who were selected by simple random sampling method, were surveyed by filling out a questionnaire. Based on the findings of thematic analysis, seven components including education, poverty, unemployment, Internet, health, population growth, and economic inequality along with 78 indicators were identified for social sustainability. The findings of the quantitative section also confirmed the identified variables and the research model. Moreover, a comparative study of social sustainability in the cities of Tehran and Zahedan using statistical analysis suggested that education status exhibited the largest gap whereas poverty and economic inequality had the smallest gap. The results of the study indicated that social sustainability in urban environments is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon the realization of which calls for addressing a set of variables. In addition, as suggested by the findings of the study, the status of social sustainability in the cities of Tehran and Zahedan, as representatives of Iranian cities, is not desirable, and these two cities largely differ in many indicators.
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