PRIORITIZING STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE FOR IMPROVEMENT OF NEGHBORHOOD ATTACHMENT USING QFD PROCCESS, CASE STUDY: GOLSAR DISTRICT, RASHT CITY

Recent researches have shown that children’s first experiences in neighborhood can extremely affect their attitudes toward neighbors, neighborhood and the city. Due to the criticality of this issue, this article is dedicated to find and prioritize strategic alternatives for enhancing place attachment among children residents of Golsar neighborhood in Rasht city. it is necessary to hear children’s voice about their attachments to the neighborhood. Lack of attention to the needs of stakeholders can lead to the waste of money without attaining expected results. This study has utilized a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods in achieving its goals; that includes of integration of Resident Employed Photography (REP) into the Quality Function Deployment(QFD) Process. Therefore, needs and interest of stakeholders should be identified and applied as the input of the process. This step is done by application of REP and in-depth interviews with children. These needs should be rated by children and their parents in next step. To ensure statistical significance, 400 Stakeholders are surveyed for each need using a 5-point scale. Information of the detailed plan of the region and Nominal Group Technique is applied for development of strategic alternatives. Relationships between strategies and need are determined in relationship matrix which shows that how each strategy affects each need. Finally, strategies are prioritized and described. Results show that those strategies that facilitate children’s play in neighborhood, or form their relationship with the nature, or engage them in cultural events and creative works, would be the most efficient ones.