Measuring urban spatial segregation in the city of Qom and its relation with the urban spatial structure

Segregation of social groups leads to the increase of social and physical distance between diverse groups of people and results in social exclusion and other negative consequences. Increasing understanding of the relationship between the urban spatial structure and segregation patterns can help with the realization of plans and the success of the city management, so the objective of the present study is to analyze the segregation of different classes in the city of Qom and its relation with the urban spatial structure. Quantitative method and descriptive analytical approach have been applied. For this purpose, multigroup segregation of high, middle and low classes of the city was examined which indicated that there was a medium segregation in the city. Also, when examining the indicators of the deliberation of spatial structure including distribution, clustering and concentration, based on the population and activity statistic data of 1390 consisting 758 statistic districts in the city of Qom, it is revealed that Qom has a centered and clustered structure. To find out the relation between the amount of the segregation and the distribution of population and activity, Moran's bivariate correlation has been applied and the results suggest that there is a direct positive relation between the local segregation entropy of the low class in the city and the entropy of population and activity and the Moran’s indicator was (36%), and there is a negative and reversal relation between the segregation of high and middle class and the distribution of population and activity and the Moran’s indicators were respectively (-36%) and (-24%). Applying the spatial regression to find the class most effective in making the spatial structure of the city of Qom, it has been indicated that the high class of the city has been the most effective (R^2= 0.27) following which came the low and middle classes.