Land Use Evaluation with an Emphasis on Increasing Societal Security in Residential Neighborhoods: (The Case: Fatemieh Neighborhood of Mashhad)

Security has always been an important issue throughout history. Regarding the importance of the subject, the effect of land use in residential neighborhoods on societal security and crime prevention has been analyzed in this study using descriptive-analysis method. Data collection has been conducted through studying library resources, documentation, and field surveys. Our sample size was calculated 383 using PASS software. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS software using Mann-Whitney, Spearman correlation coefficients and Friedman tests. The VIKOR model was used for evaluating the options. The results illustrated that societal security in Fatemiyeh neighborhood is low and land uses affect the security level. There are also incompatible land uses around and inside the neighborhood that have affected societal security. Among existing land uses, religious, educational and health uses have had the greatest impact on improving societal security in Fatemiyeh neighborhood. Finally, some suggestions for improving societal security in order to optimize land use are proposed.