A Comparative Study on Social Sustainability Indexes in Urban Fabrics (Three Neighborhoods in Shiraz, Iran)

This research looks at the issue of "social sustainability" from the origin of urban development and at the scale of "neighborhood" and tries to compare the indicators of social sustainability in different urban areas. The most important question posed in this research is  that; What are the indicators of social sustainability in urban neighborhoods with different forms? In the following, during the research process, we try to answer this question and achieve the goals of the research.

The present research is practical in terms of its purpose and has used a quantitative approach and a comparative study with the help of survey and questionnaire tools to achieve its goals. The studied samples are three neighborhoods "Doctors' Cove", "Qaani" and "Ishaq Beyk", which are located in the new, middle and old contexts of Shiraz city, respectively. In order to conduct the survey, a questionnaire was developed based on the theoretical framework of the research, whose indicators can be seen in Table No. 2. In this selection, an attempt was made to select the most frequent and appropriate indicators according to the conditions of the investigated areas. For each index, two to three items were set and the survey was conducted in the months of October and November 2018 in the number of 150 people and a total of 450 people in each neighborhood. In the survey and sampling process, for each urban block, according to the area, the share of the desired questionnaire was determined and distributed and collected in the same proportion. In order to ensure the validity of the questionnaire, three professors of urban planning reviewed the questionnaire and compared it with the investigated indicators, and their opinions were applied in editing the questionnaire. In order to measure the reliability of the questionnaire, with the help of a pre-test with 30 samples, Cronbach's alpha test was used, and the result of this test was 0.846, confirming the reliability of the questionnaire. The data obtained from the questionnaire after being entered into SPSS software have been analyzed with the help of t-test and one-way variance statistical tests.

The findings from the data at this stage show that the level of "social interactions" in Ishaqbek neighborhood is higher than the other two neighborhoods. This neighborhood also has a higher level of social participation according to statistical findings. It seems that the  organic texture and the age of residence in the neighborhood have had an impact on the promotion of these two factors of social stability. On the other hand, according to the findings of this survey, this neighborhood does not have a good situation in terms of "security".Doctors neighborhood has the highest level of security among the three neighborhoods. Also, the situation of "social justice" and especially the fair access to services in Doctors' Coy is better than the other two neighborhoods. In the case of the "spirit of the local - community" factor, even though the doctors have a higher level, there is no significant difference in the statistical findings between the three areas. The "good residence" factor, which indicates stability and residential satisfaction, is higher in the doctors' neighborhood than in the two neighborhoods of Qaani and Ishaq Beyk. In total, the result and the average of the factors obtained from the descriptive findings show that Doctors' Quarter has a higher level of social sustainability factors than the other two neighborhoods. Picture number 2 also compares social sustainability factors in three neighborhoods in the form of a diagram. In the graph (number 2), the average factors affecting social sustainability are shown separately by locality. in four factors; "Sense of security", "social justice", "local community spirit" and "good living", doctors' coy was significantly better than the other two neighborhoods. In the two factors of "social participation" and "social interactions", the condition of Ishaq Beyg and then Qaani is better than that of doctors.

The results of the data analysis in this research show that more compact and organic structures, with a long history of construction and a longer history of residence and a higher population density, have better opportunities for friendship and communication with neighbors in the form of "social interactions" as well as the desire to participate in local events. And it provides the desire to solve neighborhood problems in the form of "social participation" factor. The presence of traditional cooperative groups such as religious groups or ethnic groups as well as uses such as mosques and hosseiniyehs in these neighborhoods leads to the improvement of both indicators of interactions and social participation. But the wear and tear of these tissues and the lack of variety of urban uses have challenged the feeling of security at different hours of the day and night. Also, the establishment of extra-local services in some of these contexts and the low level of local services in them has reduced access to services. The problem of access to public transportation has also fueled this issue and has overall reduced the index of "social justice" in these neighborhoods. In addition to that, the feeling of satisfaction with life in these neighborhoods has declined due to livelihood and economic problems and "good living" which is one of the effective factors in promoting social stability has decreased in this category of tissues. The establishment of local uses and night uses, as well as the expansion of public transportation, can improve the access situation and "social justice", and also improve the feeling of security in these contexts. Also, improving the physical condition of housing and establishing open and leisure spaces in these contexts can also increase residential satisfaction and improve the "good residence" factor, as well as improve the sense of belonging to the neighborhood and the "spirit of the local community" factor, and in general, improve social sustainability in these tissues help a lot.