Viability Index in Urban Environments (Case Study: The Central Part of Holy City of Qom)

Improvement of living conditions in urban environments not only increases their attractiveness, but it also prepares an appropriate context for achieving to major goals of sustainable development. However, rapid growth of urbanization and other related issues with urban development have caused the problems of these habitants be increased. The situation is well understood in many Iran’s cities suffering from the consequences of rapid growth of urbanization and lack of adequate financial and human resources in the process of management. Thus, this research tries to identify the characteristics of viable urban societies, assess the viability of central part of Qom city, and find the situation of the city regarding viability indexes. Research method is descriptive-analytical as well as documentary, survey, and field studies such as adopted techniques and measures in this research. According to the research findings, policies for decentralization of activities, change in development policy based on automobile, attempt to stabilize old residents of the region (renovation, improve the quality of neighborhood services), and such issues should be adopted in order to improve the quality of life in this part of the city.