Application of Quality of Life Reporting System in Urban Planning of Esfahan

Quality of life (QOL) is a proportional, complicated and multidimensional concept that generalized in terms of notion which relates to all of the aspects of spatial planning (such as economic, social, physical, organizational and environmental features) and the subjective and objective context of life in both individual and plural scales. The system and mechanism of urban planning in Iran is not beneficial with this concept and there is not a sufficient way to apply (QOL) in planning. Although in Esfahan city upgrading the (QOL) has been considered as a goal in the urban planning agendas, it is not clearly detectable in the procedural and substantial aspects of the urban planning and its mechanism. This lake of planning system, affected the following (QOL) upgrading goal in a planning process encounters the (QOL) upgrading goal with limitation that cause the reduction in (QOL) indicators (specially in quality of employment, quality of housing, human resources and social security) during the ten years (2003-2013). This article has triple goals: first) tracing substantial and procedural aspects of Esfahan's urban planning Second) assessing the feasibility of quality of life reporting system (QOLRS)'s implementation, adaptation and application in Esfahan's planning system. Third) discussion on (QOLRS) impacts on Esfahan's planning system in order to upgrading (QOL). In order to attain the triple goal of this paper a descriptive, exploratory and prescriptive process adopted: In the first stage of this process, looks for the what are regarding the theoretical and technical fields of (QOL), (QOL) upgrading and (QOLRS). In second stage assessing the (QOL) in Esfahan by using social survey method basd on Likert scaling and assessing the existence of (QOLRS) and tracing its position in this city will be done. In the third stage of this process, the feasibility of utilization of (QOLRS) in the system and mechanism of urban planning in Esfahan was studied in two substantial and procedural aspects through content analysis of organisational reports and documents of urban plans of Esfahan and also interviewing staff of the city’s organisations. The result of assessments shows that upgrading the (QOL) in Esfahan has direct correlation with devising and formation of (QOLRS) and the mechanism in the agenda of urban planning system. It requires commitments and changes to coordinate the spatial dimensions, substantial and procedural aspects in urban planning system.