The Structural Modeling of the Factors Affecting Urban Livability of Kermanshah Metropolis

Creating a livable city is an important goal to achieving sustainable urban development. Understanding the situation of residents' satisfaction with urban livability and its indicators is important for urban planning and policy-making. The present study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting urban livability and the relationships between them in the Kermanshah metropolis. The present research is applied-developmental in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in content. The statistical population was the citizens of Kermanshah with a population of 946651 people who have settled in eight urban areas. The sampling method was randomly classified, the sample size was 385, and the research tool was a questionnaire. The Smart PLS software and the structural equation model with partial least squares approach were used to investigate the relationships between dimensions and livability indicators. Structural modeling is a point of view in which the hypothetical patterns of direct and indirect relationships between a set of observed and hidden variables are investigated. The results showed that the socio-cultural dimension - with a path coefficient of 0.666 - had the highest impact, and the environmental dimension with a value of 0.249 had the lowest impact on the livability of Kermanshah. Also, except for the participation and solidarity index, the relationships between other indicators with the dimensions of livability are significant. The index of medical and health considerations with a path coefficient of 0.314 had the strongest relationship with the socio-cultural dimension. The housing index with 0.378 had the highest impact on the economic dimension, and the green and barren space index with 0.635 had the highest impact on the environmental dimension. Therefore, proper planning to use open and barren spaces in strengthening and developing urban green spaces in order to improve the quality of the urban environment can be effective in improving the livability of the Kermanshah metropolis.