Measuring satisfaction of sidewalk services as an urban space by using factor analysis methods and structural equations (case study: Valiasr sidewalk in Tabriz)

Pedestrian service level is one of the most important components for evaluating facilities and services provided on the sidewalks. However, current research shows that qualitative characteristics can also help to estimate the level of service provided as perceived by pedestrians. Pedestrians' perceptions and expectations about the service level of walkways and sidewalks are very important, because it affects the level of satisfaction of pedestrians. This study investigates the most important influencing factors on the perceived level of service on sidewalks in Valiasr street, Tabriz city. The research method is descriptive-analytical and survey. The statistical population of the research is pedestrians in Valiasr sidewalks street, and the sample size is 384 people which were randomly selected (snowball method). This is one of the first studies in Iran and the city of Tabriz, which uses the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to evaluate the satisfaction of pedestrians and, as a result, the level of services provided in terms of quality on sidewalks. The results identified four exogenous latent structures named "safety", "security", "mobility and infrastructure" and "welfare and comfort" which represent the main aspects of the level of service provided on sidewalks, among which factors security has shown the highest loading (γ=0.60). This study determined that parameters such as police patrolling, street lighting, cleaner sidewalks, sidewalk barriers and surface have an obvious impact on the level of sidewalk services. Also, the results of this study provide significant information to interpret aspects of the walking environment that mainly affect the level of services provided. This information can help urban planners to prepare new strategies that will increase the quality of sidewalks and walkways and thus make the city more walkable.