URBAN STUDIES
Year:2013 | Volume:2 | Issue:5|Papers Count:7

Apparently, a lack of sociological and psychological understanding of the complex social and individual needs of contemporary humans constitutes a major problem in developmental policies and programs. One of the developmental programs that have been implemented in recent years was the building of Maskan-e mehr project. Since life satisfaction is very important in society’s stability, welfare, and the reduction of social problems, studying this issue and its role in social planning becomes necessary. Hence, this article aims to measure the level of life satisfaction among Maskan-e Mehr residents. This is a quantitative study that utilized a questionnaire and its research population consisted of all the residents of Maskan-e mehr project of Foolad-shar in the province of Esfahan. Using Lin’s table with a 5 percent margin of error, 384 individuals were selected as the sample. Findings indicate that the level of life satisfaction of 22.4 percent of respondents was low, of 51.8 percent was medium, and of 25.8 percent was high. Research findings also show that life satisfaction was positively and significantly related to residential sense of belonging (r=0.593), religiosity (r=0.293), and social capital (r=0.686). The results of regression test showed that the variables like participation, income, residential sense of belonging, education level, household expenditures, previous place of residence, marital status, age, belief orthodoxy and consequential dimensions of religiosity, and social trust would, on the basis of their importance, enter the regression equation and altogether could explain 81 percent of the variance of the dependent variable.

Studying the issue of social solidarity and the theoretical and empirical factors that affect its increase or decrease has had a historical trend. A minimum amount of unity in terms of values and norms should exist if cooperation and conformity among member is to prevail. Social solidarity is not a phenomenon that can be created once and for all but it is something that needs constant recreation and rebuilding. Hence, the purpose of this article is study some of the social factors that are related to social solidarity in the city of Kermanshah. Therefore, a sample of 400 individuals was selected using simple random sampling. Pearson correlation coefficient and regression tests were used to test the relationships among variables. The results showed that a significant and positive relation existed between social trust (r=0.512), institutionalized trust (r=0.300), social participation (r=0.214) and social solidarity. Life satisfaction had no relations to social solidarity. The results of regression analysis indicated that all the independent variables together could explain about 61 percent of the variance of the dependent variable (social solidarity).

The significance and necessity of utilizing citizen participation and participatory development has been reflected in the ideas and theories of scholars and also in the practical efforts of national and international institutions and organizations, especially in third world countries, so much so that it can be found in the area of urban affairs and urban management. This study aims to identify selected social factors that can influence citizen participation in urban affairs. This is a survey study that was done among a sample of 400 residents of the city of Shahre-kord aged 18-65. The questionnaire had face validity and its reliability was measured via Chronbach’s Alpha coefficient that was above 0.70. Research results showed that the variables citizen satisfaction with the municipality (r=0.37), motivational strategies of the municipality (r=0.26), social trust (r=0.41), and municipality type of activity (0.47) were significantly related to citizen participation in urban affairs. The results also showed that of background variables, only age was significantly related to citizens’ satisfaction with the municipality. The overall citizen participation in urban affairs was at the medium level and this was due mainly to the low level of the objective dimension of participation.

One of the major challenges confronting urban management is making a decision concerning the selection of an appropriate plan for the city. Low efficiency of previous plans has been a cause of returning to citizens’ social participation as a means of solving this problem. The aim of this article is to show, by studying different models of city management in various parts of the world, the significance of citizens’ social participation in city management, hence, the method that was utilized in this study was one of documentary method and the analysis of secondary data. Research results showed that in the developed countries, municipalities have been able to make the maximum use of the potentialities of citizen social participation in playing their roles as city managers and have, therefore, been able to transforms themselves from purely service organization to an active social institution. The results also showed that in this country, municipalities are organizations that provide mainly service activities and that if they wish to become social institutions they must meet the following two prerequisites: firstly, while having mutual relationships with the other 5 major institutions of the society, municipalities must maintain certain level of functional independence. Secondly, municipalities need citizens’ social participation as a means of institutionalizing itself in all citizens. At the end, some suggestions are made concerning the institutionalization of social participation among citizens which can help municipalities in their efforts to become a social institution.

The present study investigated the relationship between the consumption of cultural goods and social behaviors and was carried out in the city of Isfahan. The study was a correlation study. The research population consisted of all the residents of Isfahan between the age of 15 to 70 of which, using quota sampling technique, 400 persons were selected as the sample. The research questionnaire consisted of two parts – part one measured the consumption of cultural goods with six questions which were related to usage of radio, television, the internet, written media, the mobile (or cell) phone. Part two of the questionnaire included 38 questions that measured social behaviors which consisted of the preservation of the environment, abiding by law, human relations, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The questionnaire had face validity, and its reliability was measured via Cronbach’s alpha, which was 0.85 for consumption of cultural goods, and 0.82 for social behavior. Research findings indicated that there was a positive correlation between human relations and listening to radio (r=0.12). There were no significant relationships between the use of television and any components of social behavior, Also, the correlation between internet usage and the preservation of cultural heritage were significant (r=0.22). Reading of the printed media was significantly related to human relations (r=0.15), abiding by law (r=0.24), preservation of the environment (r=0.15), and the preservation of cultural heritage (r=0.19). The use of the cell phone was also significantly related to the preservation of cultural heritage (r=0.20). There was also a positive relation between social behaviors (r=0.15), human relations (r=0.23)), the preservation of the environment (r=0.11) and the level of participation in socio-religious activities.

One of the main areas of development planning is to pay attention to the active and full participation of the residents and the factors and processes that encourage that participation. Individuals’ sense of social belonging is a major variable that can promote people’s participation in social, cultural and political affairs of their society, and this is especially important for third world countries that need the support and efforts of their citizens. In this regard, the present article investigates the relationship between citizens’ sense of social belonging and their social, cultural, and political participation. This is a survey research and the research population consisted of all the residents (ages 18 to 55) of District 3 and 12 of the city of Tehran, of which 382 individuals were selected as the sample via a multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The research instrument has face validity and the Cronbach’s coefficients for reliability for all the major variables were above 0.70. The results showed that there a significant and positive relationship between resident’s sense of social belonging and, social participation (r=0.59), cultural participation (0.44), political participation (r=0.46). Research results also indicated that residents’ level of cultural and political participation was more than their social participation, and that women had a stronger sense of social belonging than men. Type of occupation also was significantly related to social and political participation.

The expansion of urbanization on the one hand, the phenomenon of the formation and expansion of urban space and urban social pathologies, on the other hand, have caused congestion and excessive population density and activity in the city. Interconnectedness and the density of the population have increased social anomalies, such as domestic violence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between residential status of slum-dwellers with domestic violence against children. Research population consisted of all high school students' households in the slums of Ahvaz, of which, using multi-stage cluster random sampling technique, 384 persons were chosen as the sample. To gather data on each of the variables in this study, a questionnaire containing Likert type questions were used. Bernstein (1995) Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), was used to collect data on violence against children. To test relationships among variables, Pearson correlation coefficient, the T-test, and regression analysis were used. The results of data analysis showed that violence against children was significantly correlated with residential status (F=7.89), socio- economic status (F=18.81), and parents' addiction (t=8.6). There was no significant relationship slum-dwellers' ethnicity and violence against children. Generally speaking, more serious attention needs to paid by officials and the families to this issue so that it can be controlled, reduced, hopefully prevented altogether.