Modeling the Impact of Urban Management on the Livability of Mashhad (Case Study: Districts 6 and 9)

Cities are the focal point of many concerns that affect their sustainability. Urban livability is associated with quality of life, sustainability, quality of place and healthy communities.The livability of cities is highly influenced by the actions of urban management as the main custodian of city affairs, and the balance between these two sectors promotes urban livability.

The present study has a practical purpose and descriptive-analytical nature and has been done by quantitative method and by distributing a questionnaire among 384 citizens of the 6th and 9th districts of Mashhad metropoli. The collected data were evaluated and analyzed using SPSS software and t-test as well as structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS software.

Findings show that in the current situation, the livability dimension in Region 9 is at a desirable level with an average of 3.97.  The average dimensions of urban management in region 9, with an average of 3.14 shows a higher than average situation.  The average dimension of livability in region 6, equal to 3.034, the situation is above average and the dimensions of urban management equal to 2.40, which is undesirable. The results showed that in terms of how urban management measures affect livability, in region 6 the index of livability services (access, environment, housing, health) has a high impact and has a direct relationship in region 9 investment index with all five  Resilience index (access, environment, housing, health care, security) has a strong impact and a direct relationship.

There is a need to promote the current situation of both urban management indexes and livability measures in Mashhad. Results also show that urban management can affect many of livability measures and therefore requires a careful considerations.