structural equation modeling

The rapid urbanization has turned the development of new cities into a fundamental challenge. In this regard, efficient land use and promotion of sustainable practices to ensure residents' well-being and environmental conservation are essential. One effective approach in this context is the integration of various land uses in cities, creating dynamic and flexible urban spaces. The main objective of this article is to investigate the impact of mixed land use on achieving urban sustainability in social, economic, environmental, and managerial domains. The study is conducted within the scope of the new city of Parand. The research employs a quantitative method and structural equation modeling using the AMOS software. The tool utilized is a citizen questionnaire, with a study sample consisting of 400 residents of Parand. The results indicate that mixed land use significantly affects urban sustainable development, with its effects mediated through access to transportation and services, particularly in the areas of environmental sustainability, management, economy, and social aspects. Overall, the examined model efficiently elucidates the interrelationships among various factors. This information can be valuable in urban decision-making and planning to enhance urban sustainability, playing a fundamental role in improving the quality of life for citizens. Attention to land use mixing, especially in new city areas, can lead towards sustainable urban development.

Achieving lively and dynamic urban centers on the one hand and spreading this dynamism in the direction of continuous change and improving the quality of place on the other hand should be considered one of the most important urban issues in urban centers of Iran. These centers are in two situations in terms of intervention; First, urban centers whose economic dynamics have decreased over time due to various economic, functional and spatial reasons, and second, urban centers whose functional dynamics have not led to the improvement of the quality of the place. Among these approaches, today business improvement district (BID) can sort out overwhelming problems of old city center in the word. The Nazi Abad district of Tehran with its regional land-use, designed for business orders and strong financial foundation can take advantage from opportunities and innovations that a business development district create through interaction among property owners and businesses. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to provide safe and vibrant business centers based on opportunities and innovations which BID provided with the community-based economic development planning in Nazi Abad District, including its residents, business and property owners and local government become profitable. After collecting data through a questionnaire, Confirmatory Factor Analysis method were used to explain the relationships between manifest and hidden variables and Path Analysis to explain the relationships between hidden variables. The Results of the research show that, in order to create a business improvement district in Nazi Abad should first focus on social dimension and component, and then it should emphasize on the economic, transportation and accessibility, physical land-use, and environmental dimensions and components. Moreover, among the sub-dimensions, local business development plays an important role, followed by the participation increasement, security, project financing, pedestrian access and occupational training. In conclusion, in order to implement and institutionalize the Business Improvement Districts in the country's urban planning system, it will be necessary to draft clear and codified local laws and the support of relevant officials and institutions.

Historical contexts in urban literature are valuable foundations that carry the values of previous generations and the country's heritage, which requires a scientific approach to facilitate the development of this part of the city and use new methods and tools. Understanding urban neighborhoods' spatial and physical structure, especially historical and decayed neighborhoods, will help us effectively prepare future urban development plans. Thus, this study aimed to explain the role of physical components and space syntax within historical contexts through a descriptive-analytical approach. To achieve this goal, after studying the relevant theoretical foundations, Autocad, Depthmap, and GIS software were used to generate the maps, and the structural equation model and Amos Graphic 22 software were used to analyze the data. This analytical method reveals the impact of a far greater number of tangible physical, with a regression weight of 0.707. Among the tangible physical variables, the passage width with a regression weight of 0.630, and the enclosure with a regression weight of 0.604 have both achieved the highest ranking. among the variables of the intangible physical component, space syntax with a regression weight of 0.621 has a higher weight than the rest of the factors, and among the factors of this component, "space connection" with a regression weight of 0.878 has a higher weight.  One thing worth noting is that there is a significant relationship between the depth of space and the choice of path and space since the greater the depth of space and its blind spots are, the fewer paths and spaces to choose from. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, the length of passages has little impact on neighborhood dynamics.

Trust is one of the foundations of legitimacy and stability of political systems and affects people's reactions. On the other hand, life satisfaction can also increase the legitimacy of political regimes and strengthen democracy. The global ranking indicates that our country is not in a right place in terms of institutional trust. The amount of this type of trust has faced a significant decrease in ten years (2013-2023). We are also ranked 84th in terms of the global ranking of the quality of life. Therefore, one of the challenges we are facing is a decrease in institutional trust and the citizens' quality of life. Thus, the purpose of the current research is to explain the relationship between institutional trust and quality of life. The data of this study was collected from the world value survey (wave 7) and data processing was done using the structural equation method. The results indicate that the research hypothesis based on the effect of institutional trust on the citizens' quality of life is confirmed and institutional trust explains 22.9% of the variance of the quality of life variable.

Today, the importance of livability is due to the increasing awareness of the unstable patterns of urban life and consumption, which are neither healthy nor sustainable and will reduce the quality of the urban environment in the long run. One of the influencing factors on urban livability is municipal solid waste management, which, in addition to economic, environmental, and social benefits for urban communities, is known as one of the environmental components to achieve sustainable development. According to this, the current research was carried out to explain the pattern of urban livability with an emphasis on municipal solid waste management in Islamshahr. This research is a descriptive-correlation study that was conducted through a survey method. The statistical population was the citizens of Islamshahr. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula and 384 people were selected through random stratified sampling. The main tool used in this study is a researcher-made questionnaire, and in order to investigate the impact of the variable of waste management on urban livability, the approach of structural equation modeling by the partial least squares method was used. The findings showed that municipal solid waste management with a path coefficient of 0.693 has a positive and significant effect on the economic dimension of livability, with a path coefficient of 0.598 on the social and cultural dimension of livability and a path coefficient of 0.642 on the environmental dimension of livability, and the improvement of municipal solid waste management leads to the improvement of urban livability in Islamshahr. Finally, according to the results of the research, it is recommended to create a culture for the participation of citizens in waste reduction and separation, as well as the participation of the private sector to invest in waste recycling

Many urban planners and designers have considered the topic of the quality of the emotional relationship between man and their place of residence, or place attachment, in recent years. In the past, the relationships between neighborhood residents who knew each other and were aware of each other’s circumstances contributed to healthy, familiar emotional relationships among them. In other words, neighborhoods, being familiar social units, involved profound cultural roots, pursued certain traditions and customs, and even continued the rites and ways of life and the norms and customs inherited from the past. In modern cities, however, kinship, shared religious beliefs, and moral values ​​give way to anonymity and individualism as the emotional bonds of the local community weaken. Over time, neighborhood connections have lost some of their function. Lack of familiarity with people in the neighborhoods, lack of joint activities, and lack of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and cultural ties as firm as before have reduced people’s levels of emotional connection, i.e. their senses of place attachment with their residential neighborhoods. Therefore, this article aimed to provide structural modeling to investigate the aspects effective on attachment to residential areas.
Theoretical Framework
In recent years, many researchers have examined the aspects of place attachment through structural equation modeling, providing a framework for their classification. Understanding the dimensions of place attachment through structural equation modeling allows researchers to better explore the potentials of this concept and its complexity, which makes up the objective of this study along with identification of the dimensions. The construct of spatial attachment consists of spatial identity, spatial dependence, spatial social bonding, and spatial emotion.

The development of a valid, trustworthy method to measure and evaluate the dimensions of place attachment has been the focus of numerous studies in recent years, with quantity-oriented academics highlighting the multidimensionality of the construct. However, no one, simple scale of measuring is agreed upon by academics and researchers in the field due to the diversity of the methodologies used in the operationalization of the idea and the levels of relevant multi-dimensionality. Because of this significance, this research sought to investigate the dimensions affecting the level of residents’ place attachment. Since this was not easily possible, the indexing technique was used for examination. In this technique, indicators were considered to identify the dimensions, and questions were asked in the questionnaire to measure them. For assessment of the respondents’ opinions about the research topic, their responses were measured with a 5-point Likert scale. Moreover, a simple random sampling method was used to select the sample in the Haft Chenar neighborhood. The sample size was 687, and data analysis was made using the SPSS software version 22. For this purpose, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used.

The findings demonstrated that the level of attachment of the Haft Chenar neighborhood residents is high. On the other hand, the results of the analysis of the structural model of the research supported the hypothesis that place attachment is a quadratic component consisting of the four identified dimensions of spatial identity, spatial affect, spatial dependence, and social connection with the place. It is noteworthy that among all these four dimensions, social connection with the place was identified as the most powerful predictor of place attachment in the research, indicating that the level of social connection in a neighborhood is high, which can directly increase the level of residents’ attachment to the place. Meanwhile, spatial identity received the lowest score for the Haft Chenar neighborhood. Therefore, it seems that residents’ identity to place can be expected to increase due to the experiences formed in the context given that this factor has won the lowest score among the residents, who can realize this by planning and designing an active node and center in the context of these residential neighborhoods and by creating attractive, pleasant places for socializing and embedding community places in the long run. Moreover, a number of solutions were provided for urban planners and designers to increase attachment in the Haft Chenar neighborhood given that these four dimensions of convergent narrative for the structure indicated spatial attachment.

The spatial attachment model was experimentally tested given spatial attachment as a secondary component and the claim of this research that spatial dependence, spatial identity, spatial affection, and social connection with place constitute different primary dimensions of place attachment. Hence, the validation factor analysis method confirmed the validity of the spatial attachment structure as a quadratic component consisting of four dimensions. As demonstrated by the fitness indices of the model, it is suitable for research data. 

Social cohesion includes interpersonal dynamics and a sense of connection between people. Increasing social cohesion can bring various physical and mental health benefits. The main purposes of this research are to investigate and analyze the components of environmental quality with vitality and social cohesion, and also to determine the relationship between these variables at the level of the neighborhoods of Sanandaj city, which have different textures and typologies in terms of the qualities of the structural environment. The data of this research were prepared through two methods of library studies and questionnaire. The statistical population of this research is 300 residents of 28 different neighborhoods of Sanandaj city. Structural equation modeling and AMOS were used to analyze and test the conceptual model of research, and determine the relationships between variables. Two components of urban vitality and social cohesion were considered as hidden variables and the artificial environment was used as an obvious variable. The general results have shown that at the level of neighborhoods in Sanandaj city, urban vitality has a positive relationship with artificial environment variables, such as distance from the city center, neighborhood density, access to local facilities, access to public transportation, and green space. However, access to local facilities and green spaces, play the biggest role in the vitality of the neighborhoods of this city. In terms of the social cohesion of Sanandaj’s neighborhoods, some variables of the artificial environment, such as the distance from the city center, and the density of the neighborhood, have negatively related to the cohesion of the neighborhoods of the city. Finally, policies and executive strategies were presented to improve the quality of the environment in order to increase vitality and social cohesion.

Frequent signs have been revealed in the context of the development of the neoliberal capitalist city model with the branding strategy and competition of fragmented regions and cities - which has led to the consumerism of the urban community and the consumption of the city for whatever the city consumes and earns large profits; including the commodification of the city, the development of urban commercial services to consume more and the allocation of the best urban land for consumption. In this regard, the paper aims to provide the definition, recognition, identification, and adaptation / non-adaptation in a theoretical and experimental framework. However, the main question is “to what extent is the emergence of a postmodern culture of consumption in the city?  While recognizing the spatial characteristics of a consumer city, the paper aims to investigate how the general trends of urban consumerism are represented in conditions of middle cities in Iran. The research method is applied in terms of purpose and due to its bond to economic, social, and cultural factors and its physical representation, is considered explanatory. CFA is used to extract the spatial characteristics of consumer culture in the city. The initial model obtained in four middle cities of the country is tested with a total population of 1835,000 samples. In the case of Cochran's formula, the minimum required sample size for this statistical population is 385, while the questionnaires distributed among residents were 403.   Referencing the theoretical literature, indicators, and criteria of the consumer city were extracted and then the conceptual model was drawn. The model was validated using confirmatory factor analysis.  The findings show that, however, the spatial features of consumer culture are: large-scale designs, department stores, shopping malls, discount stores, and soft infrastructure. The resulted goodness of fit confirms the desirability of the model and the t-values, which are between first and second-order variables, show that the relationship is significant. Moreover, the path, type, and frequency of the relationship between the above-mentioned latent variables and the latent variable of the consumer city are plotted using structural equations.  Accordingly, the independent variable of department stores with (ß) path coefficient of 0.83 had the highest; and the independent variable of large-scale designs with a path coefficient of 0.14, had the lowest relationship with the consumer city.   The answer to the research question, can be discussed with the help of the spatial model of the consumer city. However, by proving the spatial model of the research in four study samples, it can be said with more confirmation that the consumer city has crossed the border of necessary and middle consumption and entered the scope of luxury consumption; and its spatial representations can be seen at least in the components of large-scale designs, department stores, arcades or shopping malls, discount stores, and soft infrastructure. The results show that the consumption of space in the cities of the country has appeared in different forms and has manifested itself in the levels of body, appearance, and face of the city.

The concept of tenure security in spontaneous settlements is largely linked to the right to live for the inhabitants of these areas and is defined as living in a place without fear of losing it. In other words, tenure security is the right of all individuals and groups to have adequate support against forced eviction. The fact is that securing shelter is a basic and necessary principle for improving the living conditions of the poor that are living in these settlements. Also, it is the best way to reduce poverty and considered as the first step in reducing the vulnerability and constraints facing urban poor. Now this question arises that what factors affect the formation of tenure security in spontaneous settlements. The purpose of this study is to explain the factors affecting the formation of tenure security in Tehran Metropolitan Area. For this purpose, based on theoretical foundations, including important theories and significant researches in association with framework of mentioned objective, a two-level approach to explain the tenure security has been proposed. According to this approach, the merging and combining of factors that create security tenure in legal, de facto, and social dimensions in minds of individuals, make them perceive security. In order to measure the aforementioned model, which was determined by 13 criteria and 48 indicators, the settlements of Eslam-Abad, Khat-e Chahar-e Hesar, Hesar-e Amir, Emamzadeh Ali and Mian-Abad (located in Tehran's metropolitan area) were selected as case studies. The research method of this study is causal-analytic and used the survey include administration and completion of 473 questionnaires which to gather the required information. In order to measure the performance of the proposed model, the techniques of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling in the AMOS software have been used. The results of research indicate that the model fit is acceptable and about 90% of the security of tenure variance at the 99.9% confidence level is explained by the model. The effect of criteria on the perception of tenure security indicates that the existence of supportive networks (with coefficient of 0.947), cohesion and social solidarity (with coefficient of 0.753), and the criterion of the type of possession and ownership document (with coefficient of 0.650) had the greatest impact on tenure security. Altogether, the legal, de facto, and social dimensions of tenure security, with effect of 15.4, 61.3 and 23.3 percent, have been able to influence the perception of residents security status. According to the findings of this research, it can be said that establishment of any attitude, drawing of vision regarding the tenure security and, at the same time, planning and action to improve it in spontaneous settlements due to simultaneous attention to legal, de facto, social and perceived tenure security will be possible. Accordingly, the promotion of tenure security should be part of interconnected actions such as: respect for the right to live, strengthening of support networks, promotion of local capital, creation of employment opportunities, provision of vital infrastructure, local and urban services, provision of social services and appropriate legal options to meet the needs of residents.

 Sustainable neighborhood development is a perspective that believes that solving the current problems of cities depends on returning to the concept of neighborhood. The neighborhood is the most fundamental unit of urban development, and the minor scale of attention to various aspects of sustainability as an urban unit with greater control over the city and as a good level for testing new ideas and ways to achieve sustainable urban development has received increasing attention. However, no extensive studies have been conducted on this concept on a micro-scale, and its implementation and quantifying the relationships between the various components of sustainability is also an important issue that has been neglected. 

 The present study aims to assess the impact of physical - spatial, economic, socio-cultural, transportation and communications, environmental, governance - management on the sustainability of neighborhoods in Javadiyeh Neighbourhood District 16 of Tehran sample was formed. Accordingly, after reviewing the literature related to the issue of sustainability, a conceptual model of the research was formed. Then a questionnaire was surveyed from the residents of the study neighborhood. It should be noted that according to the Cochrane formula, the statistical population includes 381 people. In this study, data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling method and Smartpls software. 

 The results showed that the three paths "governance-management →economic → socio-cultural", "governance-management → economic → sustainability of neighborhoods" and "economic → socio-cultural → environment" With the coefficients of 4/898, 3/208, and 1/988, respectively, were the essential paths influencing citizens' perception of sustainability of neighborhoods and in general, the governance-management component was recognized as the most effective component in determining the sustainability of neighborhoods.

 To improve sustainability in different areas, we can emphasize the need to use a strategic plan for sustainable urban development in which special attention is paid to the impact of different components of sustainability on each other.

Prioritization of Environmental quality indicators were done by structural equation modelling (SEM) method. Smart PLS software was used in order to analyzing data. Environmental quality indicators of coastal areas were investigated based on users’ opinions. Permeability is the most efficient factor in desirability of coastal areas.

Human societies have always been interested in beaches and their surrounding areas. This can be attributed to the existence of two territories of land and water in these areas, which lead to the creation of competitive advantages in social, economic, physical, and other aspects. The considerable demand of the population for exploitation of coastal areas has caused systematic problems and disruptions in these areas. As explained by Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Planning and Supervision, these problems have a variety of dimensions, such as environmental, land use, political and security, and regulatory and legal aspects. Therefore, these areas require the adoption of an integrated planning and management approach. Hence, the comprehensive integrated coastal zone management plan has begun to link planning at the national, regional, and local levels since the early 90’s around the world and after less than a decade later in Iran (in the late 90’s).

Since 1976, the concept of environmental quality has been examined in the field of urban studies (urban planning and design), which addresses all the aspects of urban environments and spaces (Rafieian et al., 2013). It has been discussed and developed by many theorists over the past few decades. In terms of content, the previous decade can be regarded as the period of maturity of this notion, but there are still a large number of challenges involved in the implementation and operation. [N1] The need for a comprehensive, integrated approach to coastal areas at the micro and macro scales, as well as the multidimensional concept of environmental quality, has provided an opportunity to view coastal areas from the perspective of this notion, to identify its indicators, and to prioritize them. Based on a review of the literature on coastal areas and environmental quality, the authors found that coastal users can provide one of the most important links between them. Fig. 1. Theoretical framework .

Most of the dimensions that affect citizen satisfaction are determined by the concept of environmental quality. This study sought to prioritize the components of environmental quality based on user opinions. According to the literature, national and international documents, and authors’ views, a questionnaire was made to collect different indicators of the nine components. Moreover, coastal areas have some aspects that have been identified by other studies. Fig. 1 shows the theoretical framework of this study, which involved different aspects of coastal areas and environmental quality. The method of analysis used in this study is based on Structural Equation Model (SEM). The data were analyzed using the SmartPLS 3 software. For testing the model, data were collected from 160 questionnaires based on the Likert spectrum distributed in the coastal area of Bandar Anzali. According to the SmartPLS outputs, space users had an indirect impact on the nine indicators of environmental quality derived from the theoretical framework.

Desirable environmental quality zones have nine features, of which permeability is the most powerful. According to this model, changes in environmental quality affect those in the permeability of the coastal zone by up to 87%. In this study, permeability is defined through four indicators, including absence of space confusion, quality of bike paths and sidewalks, visibility of natural and significant sights, and walkability and cyclability. According to coastal users, therefore, these four features are the most significant in this type of area. In addition to permeability, the flexibility variable is more influential than the others. In this research, flexibility was defined by four indicators: flexibility of outdoor spaces, services for individuals with disabilities, flexibility of buildings, and individuals’ unblocked access to spaces. If environmental quality is there in a coastal zone, therefore, the above four indicators are expected to be in desirable conditions. According to earlier experts’ and researchers’ findings on the indicators of environmental quality and a comparison to the results of the present study, we found that the proportionality indicator has been neglected in the definitions of environmental quality, as well as efficiency. Moreover, the comparison demonstrated that the present study examined a larger number of indicators over Iran, and considered issues such as meaningfulness, proportionality, flexibility, and functional compatibility for the first time.

Coastal areas are one of the most important zones around the world as they have a variety of advantages. Since there are different aspects to be considered in regard to coastal areas, it requires a comprehensive approach to plan and manage this kind of area. Theoretically, environmental quality can be addressed given a range of indicators corresponding to different dimensions of coastal areas. This research considered coastal users as the link between environmental quality and coastal areas, using structural equation modeling to examine the theoretical model. According to the PLS outputs, the indicators of environmental quality in coastal areas are prioritized as follows: permeability, flexibility, functional compatibility, efficiency, meaningfulness, proportionality, variety, presence of different groups of individuals, and sustainability. Thus, permeability is the most significant factor affecting the desirability of this kind of space.

The design of mosques in the history of Iranian architecture seems to be the Climax of Islamic art and architecture. The architecture of mosques seeks inspiration of concepts of the divine world in order to create an atmosphere that connect the material world to the immaterial world and creates a single spiritual space. In this study, the effect of factors affecting the perception of spirituality in the interior of Nasir Al-Molk Mosque in Shiraz has been investigated. In this regard, first the parameters that affect the perception of the sense of spirituality are determined and then 120 questionnaires are collected from architecture and urban planning students of Shiraz University, the validity and reliability of which has been confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha. Then, by modeling the structural equations of partial least squares (PLS-SEM), it is analyzed to determine the relationship between the parameters on each other. Factors affecting the perception of spirituality are social, sensory, somatic and environmental factors that the results show that there is a significant difference in the ranking of indicators. In the following, the indicators are arranged based on the degree of impact on the perception of spirituality from rank 1 meaning the most impact to rank 15 meaning the least impact. Findings show that the greatest impact on the perception of spirituality is related to somatic indicators.

Depending on the findings of the freezer, student learning is influenced by several factors. Among the characteristics of the student and teacher personality, the views and methods of assessment, and the classroom environment. Among these factors, the classroom environment has been more focused and has been studied academically for more than half a century. Therefore, the important influence of the environment on all aspects of learning was shown. Quality of social relationships in a learning environment provides the conditions for the activities that are needed to improve learning.In the educational environment, providing students with the ability to interact and communicate can bring their experiences together and increase the exchange of information and knowledge among students. This is due to the aspects of the students' participation in architecture, because the nature of their profession and their training is based on their creative aspects, and part of the learning of these students, including observational learning and the acquisition of experience, is important Is.herefore, it seems that if the community of architecture architecture as its physical attribute can affect the learning process, it can be used as a strategy for designing an educational education environment. Considering the aspects of architecture students' sharing that can be considered as the same factor in architectural learning environments, partial case studies have not been much considered in this article.The role of the architectural learning environment as an effective model for architectural student`s schema and in educating them as future professional architects is important. The nature of architecture education is such that architectural students spend long hours with each other on classroom activities, so social interactions can be considered as one of the effective factors in improving their learning. Sociopetality as a qualitative feature of the environment can increase the possibility of social interactions in the activity spaces.Therefore, in this study, by assuming the effective role of sociopetality in the physical environment of the architectural education on students' learning, factors affecting sociopetality in the educational environment of architecture were examined. For this purpose, these factors were obtained by means of a descriptive-analytic research method after identifying the variables and collecting the views of previous researchers. Then, they were evaluated using the Delphi-Fuzzy method and with the help of expert opinion (architectural professors). The results of this phase divided the factors affecting sociopetality into six factors (physical, architectural, aesthetic meanings, sense of security, semantic-perceptual, functional-activity) and 22 sub-factors.In the second stage, the research hypothesis was tested. The research method used at this stage was a confirmatory factor analysis method one of structural equation modeling that evaluated the views of the architectural students in the colleges of Guilan. The results of the research, while confirming the results of the previous stage, showed a significant relationship between the sociopetality of architectural learning environment on the architectural students' learning. Therefore, it can be concluded that sociopetality as one of the environmental factors affecting architectual students`learning can be considered as a strategy when designing the educational environment of architecture.

The purpose of this study is to explain the theoretical model of the norms of rural housing formation in cold and mountainous climatic area of Ardabil province. The housing issue is one of the most important issues that human beings have always had to deal with and have long been trying to address and find a decent answer. The study of the renovation and improvement of rural housing in Iran shows that Iran has 5,172,000 rural housing units that require about 63 percent of the rural housing, 3 million and 295,000 units, to be urgently rebuilt. About two percent of them, equivalent to 81,000 units, were rebuilt between 1997 and 2005. Since 2013, the number of rural housing reconstruction has fallen sharply to 200,000 units per year that covers only four percent of all rural housing. Recognizing that new rural buildings and structures are generally supported by government agencies and at the head of the Housing Foundation of the Islamic Revolution or, as practiced by the inhabitants, it has the form and form of urban housing that runs without regard to native architectural values; Values that have become over time and overwhelming test-errors to unwritten rules of construction in the village. Therefore, the strengths of the present study are the consideration of the values governing indigenous housing formed in the context of rural areas that have been discovered and applied by residents for many years. Values that the author call norm. In the present study was used the correlation method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on field studies and exploratory survey research. After explaining the cold and mountainous area of Ardabil province, the settlements of this area with altitude of 1500 to 2150 meters above sea level were identified from 176 villages, 85 villages with a population of more than 200 were randomly selected based on the statistics of the year 1395 at Statistical Center of Iran. Sample size According to Based on Klein's theory, a sample of 250 residents of the above-mentioned villages was selected by purposeful sampling to answer 50 questionnaire questions related to residents' views on housing development. (So, every village is a cluster and the inhabitants are members of those clusters). The reliability of the tool (questionnaire) using Cronbach's alpha was α = 0.905. After analyzing the path and regression, the direct and indirect effects of the variables on the norms of rural housing formation were investigated. The findings showed that the sum of regression coefficients was explained as 0.412 and the components such as: Similarity/Homogeneity in housing setting, Geographical/Climatic, Economic/Livelihood, Scale and Cultural/Traditional are factors that affecting the formation of rural housing in cold and mountainous climates of Ardabil province. Therefore, it can be concluded that the model predictive variables predicted 41% of the criterion changes and 59% were affected by the external variables. The results of this study illustrate three general principles. First, the scale/proportion component has a more important role in shaping rural housing than all components. Secondly, rural housing shaping is a cultural phenomenon. And thirdly, the form of rural housing is a function of the altitude of the high seas.

Every year, thousands of individuals leave their houses for studying in universities and experiencing a new environment. In the course of such relocation, one of the main challenges of individuals is the lack of adaptation to the new environment. The present study has been carried out with the objective of explaining the relationship between public open spaces in the faculties and the students’ place attachment. Based on the study’s theoretical model, place attachment is an emotional, cognitive and behavioral bond between the students and the faculty. On the other hand, the faculty’s public open spaces have been defined as the resultant of the physical factors. The study’s theoretical model was subjected to test in the fine arts faculty of Tehran University using the survey research method. To gather the data, use was made of a closed-ended questionnaire. Moreover, Structural Equation Modeling was the method of choice for analyzing the answers. In the current research paper, the measurement model of students’ place attachment and the faculty’s public open spaces were seminally tested; their fit indices were subsequently evaluated and the study’s structural model was eventually examined. The study findings indicated that the public open spaces have a significant effect on the students’ attachment to place. Corresponding to the study findings, the favorability of the meeting spaces is the most important factor forming and strengthening the attachment to place in the university students. Favorable meeting spaces set the ground for interaction establishment opportunities so they can enhance the social interactions between the students that can per se effectively influence the students’ attachment to place. Therefore, according to the study results that indicated the main role of social interactions in the formation of attachment to place in the students, the designing of the faculties’ public open spaces should be conducted in such a way that it can result in face-to-face interactions amongst the students to the maximum possible extent. Furthermore, the study results indicated that the favorability of the meeting spaces significantly associated with the existence of artistic or architectural elements and suitability of the green spaces. Artistic or architectural elements play their role by the formation of a distinct and meaningful environmental personality for the students and the green spaces by creating visual fascination.

At present, the most important organizational asset for success in the areas of competitiveness, staffing known. All human resource management processes, identify needs and respond effectively to their staff, improve staff productivity and consequently a major impact on the organization. The typology of the needs of employees in the organization and how to satisfy them is very important. This study “superior relationship with God needs human resources” in Zahedan is the municipal staff. The period of the study in 1393 and were the statistical population of 2032 people. In order to collect the data, the questionnaire was superior excellence of human resources and inventory needs. To determine the validity, content validity and reliability test, Cronbach’s alpha was used for all the components, all of which were higher than 7/0. Sampling, cluster - stratified sample of 324 people is estimated. Data collected through questionnaires, the structural equation modeling using LISREL 8.8 software have been analyzed. The results of the research, positive relationship between the needs of human resource excellence confirms the Premier.

The sense of place expresses a kind of emotional and interactive relationship between the man and the setting. It creates a positive relationship with the bonding between the people and the place. Sense of place is causing the positive qualitative and satisfactory reception of the place for residence. The creation of mentioned concept is important in maintaining the quality of the setting as well as the integrity of human life within it.
Over the past four decades, researchers in environmental and human sciences have been researching and commenting on this concept. Many scholars argued about vague of that concept, relationship between the concept of the sense of place and the psychological and perceptual factors of man, Society and characteristics of the physical setting. The nested interaction of those factors in formation of sense of place has caused complexity in its definition. On the other hand, the lack of consensus of the theorists offer a single definition, and sometimes provide close or alternative definitions of concepts such as "structure of the place", "spirit of place", "place dependence", "place attachment", “place identity” and etc. Therefore, it is difficult to apply theories to the creation of the place by the architects and urban planners and other specialists related to the creation of the place.
Also, a review of the research has shown that researchers are focusing on urban communities, and the laches of research in this area is highly felt in rural settings. As one of the contemporary problems facing rural communities in Iran is migrating and Leaving the village, and the use of factors that increase the linkage of villagers whit their living place can be effective in reducing this trend, thus determining the factors that clearly explain the mechanism of sense of place and making it possible to apply it in the field of rural planning, architecture, landscape design, and the creation of rural places, is the main objective of this research.
The research was carried out in two stages; in the first stage, by the method of articles review, analyzing and gaining of logical argumentation, the main dimensions of the sense of place are defined and the theoretical model of sense of place have been developed. In the second stage, with a survey method and using questionnaires, 391 samples selected in Randomly Cluster Sampling Method from villages that have over 20 households in the East Azerbaijan Province, then with Structural Equation Modeling technique, the theoretical model has been tested and the feature of its factors is determined.
The results show that the main dimensions of the sense of place are explained in three dimensions of environmental-physical, operational-functional and individual-social factors within the human living experience in a given place. The existence of specific qualities of the triple dimensions within a living experience in influencing individual characteristics after passing through the perceptual and cognitive filter of a man, the concept of sense of place is forming. How longer the period of living experience in the place is, due to the deepening of social-cultural links and livelihood and biological affinities of people with various components of the place, more enhance in sense of place and cause dependency, belonging, and the deeper levels of sense of place.
Also, the results of the analysis of Structural Equation Models show that the priority of influencing the sense of place is related to place linkage variables, environmental qualities, performance and activities, place identity and social linkage. The variables of the features of the functions and activities in the selected society, does not have a significant effect on the sense of place motivation. Further on this study, the factors that creating the place sense are explained.
The research findings can be useful for rural architects, landscape designers, rural and urban planners and Specialist in environmental science to place creation.

City’s competitiveness and attractiveness depend on effective management of the city’s image. Leading cities in the world have always used different approaches in order to improve their image. One of these modern approaches is city branding. Many cities in countries ranging from India and China to Russia and England have employed this approach in order to improve their image. In a world where cities and regions aggressively compete for investment from public and private sectors, brand reputation is critical. The motivation for cities to engage in city branding frequently stems from a feeling that existing perceptions of the city have become outdated and need to be updated in order to reflect the contemporary reality of the city. Repositioning the city brand is often seen as necessary and urgent. Indeed, a brand is the DNA of a place, i.e., its material and essence which pass from one generation to another. Today, many cities attempt to use city branding concepts to find a niche in the competition for resources and wealth.
Like many other cities in Iran, Urmia City doesn’t project a strong and clear image to its dwellers and beyond. Most of its cultural, historical and natural features have been neglected. Anonymity of these features causes Urmia City to encounter problems in attracting investment and tourists, losing the competition to cities with stronger image. The main purpose of this paper is to model an image for the Urmia City based on the concepts pertaining to city branding. Since a city brand needs to be rooted in reality, the starting point for an effective and inclusive branding strategy, would be a search for the elements which the city has to offer to its current and potential residents, as well as the visitors and investors. It also needs to tap its unique assets and strengths and to address its flaws and weaknesses. Here after a review of the theories associated with city branding and its relation to city image, a theoretical was developed. This framework provided us with nine components and 46 criteria to be used in the analysis of the Urmia City’s image. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used in order to identify the components and the criteria which influence the City’s image the most. Finally, priority of actions in Urmia City branding is determined and suggestions are presented. Results show that, Urmia city needs strategies which can upgrade its urban facilities and infrastructure along other measures that deal with its unique history, culture as well as its location on the border with Turkey to the west. In addition, the City’s strong environmental quality and natural features need to be emphasized in the strategies and action plans for the sake of the City’s image. In our findings, we can also note that the City's dwellers have a negative view of its economy and job opportunities, while the life style and social Issues are not much of an issue in formation of the City’s image.

Among all the challenges of sustainable development, two obstacles seem to be the most wide-ranging: poverty and environmental degradation. These two obstacles, in addition to their negative impact on sustainable development, have a complex relationship. It should be noted that environmental degradation is a complex issue per-se, and other influencing factors that may have an impact on it include history, geography, culture and traditions, new technologies, national programs and strategies. Therefore, the existence of a systematic thinking that encompasses all aspects of this issue seems necessary, especially since environmental degradation and global poverty, have been generally studied as separate matters.
The aim of this study is to design a model to explain the patterns of rural poverty and environmental instability. The research relies on structural equation modeling to illustrate the environmental instability and poverty in rural areas. The sample consists of heads of households in rural areas of the Charmahal Bakhtiari province. Based on Cochran formula, a sample of 383 individuals was selected through stratified random sampling. The sample members were then interviewed by questionnaires. The findings of this study indicate the severe impact of economic, social, and political factors on rural poverty. On the other hand, the instability of the rural environment is manifest in the features that include the water resources, soil quality, the resilience of pastures and plants. Furthermore, the results of this study reveals a direct correlation between rural poverty and environmental instability; The poor rural population are more prone to excessive use of natural resources and would henceforth create more environmental instability, which in turn has a negative impact on their livelihood.