URBAN STUDIES
Year:2016 | Volume:6 | Issue:20|Papers Count:8

The family, as the most important social institution, has always been the center of attention of sociologists. Childbearing too has been an issue that has attracted much attention. Therefore, the main aim of this research is a sociological typology of family and child- centeredness among Iranian families, based on power, participation, social capital, cultural capital, gender, parent education, child rearing style, and number of children. First of all, we want to know what the situation of children is in these families. Also we want to compare the situation of child- centeredness among different types of families. This study was a survey research and data gathering tool was questionnaire which had validity and reliability. Research population consisted of all 3496892 families in 22 urban regions of Tehran of which, on the basis of Cochran formula, 386 families were chosen through cluster sampling. The results obtained from statistical calculations showed that child centeredness does in fact exist, but this doesn’t mean that man- centeredness has disappeared in the context of Iranian family. It also can be said that the pyramid of power has changed to some extent; but the father is still the main decision maker in most of the affairs of home. The spread of nuclear families and more participation of family member was the most significant factor in predicting child- centeredness.

A striking feature of the concrete historical identity of any city is manifested in the context of its traditional and ancient areas. Naturally, the passages of time, these areas that represent the experiences of the city, are experiencing physical erosion. However, with growing urbanization, new areas of the city take shape with modern characteristics, and their importance grows every day. This becomes even more important now that with changes in the way people live, the presence of elements of modern life and urban life style, become more salient. Lifestyle is a fundamental concept that expresses the ideas of people, their attitudes and ways of thinking. The significance of choice in Iran is manifested most of all in areas of consumption and can readily be seen in the changing faces of the big cities. Therefore, this paper explores the lifestyle of the residents in both old and new parts of the of city of Kashan. This was a survey research that used a questionnaire to gather needed data. A sample of 500 individuals that were evenly distributed between the old and new neighborhoods of the city of Kashan was chosen. The results showed that the lifestyle of the residents of the two areas was indeed different, and that lifestyle was significantly related to socio-economic status, religious commitment, consumerism and traditionalism.

The expansion of E-citizenship ship is an appropriate solution for some of the major problems such as traffic, environmental pollution and high energy consumption in Iranian big cities. But E-citizenship has not been much developed in Iran. According to social trust theorists, the use of E-services by citizens has a close connection with social trust. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social trust and E-citizenship. Research method used is survey. The research population consisted of all the citizens over 18 years old in the city of Yasouj, of which 346 individuals were selected by multistage random sampling method. Research instrument for measuring E-citizenship is a researcher-made questionnaire that had content validity and the reliability was calculated using Kuder- Richardson coefficient. The research tool to measure social trust was the standardized trust questionnaire developed by Saffarinia & Sharif (2013). Research findings showed that there was a positive and significant relationship between social trust and E-citizenship, in which social trust is able to explain. 106 of variance of the E-citizenship. With the insertion of controlled variables sex, marital status and academic education into the model, R-square increased to. 259. The conclusion of this study is that, as social trust increases, then E-citizenship can also increase and thereby help to mitigate some of the social problems of the big cities.

Participation in the Base neighborhood is gaining acceptance in many countries and has been utilized in Iran as well. The establishment of neighborhood social council is one way of promoting citizens' participation in urban affairs. Due to its structure (grassroots basis, the involvement of municipality, organizational structure), programs, and ratified programs, this system appears to follow a new pattern. This study aims to develop a new approach to civic participation on the basis of the situation of the Social Council in the three domains of citizen participation, municipality involvement, and organizational structure. The research methods used were secondary analysis and survey in which Council documents, approvals and regulations were studied and 166 members of the neighborhood social council of Mashhad were interviewed. The results showed that the overall situation was good, such that council organization, council members, inner council situation, grassroots basis of council and local council were satisfactory. Areas of strong performance included the identification of problems, motivating residents to volunteer for membership, promotion of residents’ trust for municipality, providing a sense of belonging and social identity among residents, and easy access to council members.

Urban and local open spaces, through playing a vital role in social development of adolescents, should be a major part of their daily activities specially to address their need of interacting with peers. But in recent years, given the influence of the development of technology on adolescents' leisure-time activities, there is a potential that they have a cyberspace to meet this vital need of themselves without any physical movement or presence in urban spaces. The space that not only can make their leisure passive, individual and private, but also may possibly limit their presence in urban areas and their experience of objective atmosphere and communications. So the present study, using a survey method, examines the place of the internet and urban spaces, and compares the durability and quality of RajaeiShahr's adolescents' presence in each of these spaces. Research sample consisted of 250 adolescents that were chosen through a quota sampling technique. Results showed that 88% of adolescents attended in cyberspace and 47% of them in urban areas in their daily leisure hours. The results also showed that there was a significant relationship between their background variables, socio-economic status, social security and identity, and their presence in these spaces. But there was no significant relationship between their gender, physical safety and financial security and their internet use. In total, 59% of teens were active on cyberspace in the evenings, which is the best part of their leisure time to participate in urban areas, and based on analytical results as adolescents’ presence in cyberspace grows, their presence in urban spaces reduces.

Neighborhoods, as one of the elements of the urban scene, have always played a fundamental role in bonding people with their environment and also with their attachment to place. However, physical, social and economic changes of modern age have eroded attention to place attachment in the contemporary era. In addition, diversity in approaches, definitions and terms used in this field have precluded consensus on its name, definition, or methodological approaches that can best study this field. As many researchers have pointed out, this conceptual confusion has seriously damaged the progress that could be made in the field of place attachment. Therefore, this research, after reviewing the literature on place attachment, aims to of formulate a conceptual framework of place attachment and the factors that affect it by using Analytic Network Process (ANP). In this regard, 28 sub- criteria were evaluated, of which the effect of 21 sub- criteria on place attachment was confirmed. Length of residence, social bonds and memorability, with final weights of 0.08, 0.061 and 0.051, respectively had the most influence on place attachment. Furthermore, an assessment of six components of place attachment (i.e. demographic, spatial, functional, aesthetic, perceptual and environmental) showed that all were influential on place attachment, which confirms the three-dimensional (Cognitive, Affective and Conative) structure of place attachment.

Social contradictions, conflicts, and deprivations can lead to many problems and deviances. The present study has attempted to identify factors affecting the crime prevention (Burglary and drugs) in district three of the city of Sari. Review the studies concerning the effects of different variables (social relations, social cohesion, social trust, social participation and attachment to place) on the prevention of crime (burglary and drugs), can lead to more precise results. This is a survey research that utilized a sample of 381 households in the different areas of District 3 of Sari. The results showed that social factors such as social relationships, social cohesion, social trust, social participation and attachment to place, were related to the prevention of crime. It was also found that there was a significant relationship between social factors (social relationships, social awareness, social trust, and social cohesion) and the reduction of crime rates. As concerns the prevention of crime (burglary), variables like attachment to place, social awareness and social cohesion were significantly related to the prevention of crime (burglary). The overall results showed that, due to population density, particularly immigration and illiteracy, and lack of social awareness, deviance among unmarried individuals in District Three of Sari is on the increase.