Causal Modeling and Gender Differences for Alienation Feeling in Urban Spaces: A study in Ahvaz

The feeling of material and spiritual separation of a person from the space of a city determines his alienation from the urban space. The feeling of alienation in the urban space can be a result of place attachment, urban vitality and even the safety and livability of the city.

In this quantitative research, the causal structure of the feeling of alienation in the urban space and the difference of this feeling in the gender of men and women were investigated with a sample of 480 people collected from Ahvaz. Structural equation modeling and multi-group differences modeling have been used for data analysis.

urban vibrancy, urban security and livability are the most important factors that directly and indirectly affect the feeling of alienation in the urban space, although this causality is moderated by place attachment. The causal structural model of the feeling of alienation in the urban space works differently between men and women.

The effectiveness of women's feeling of alienation in urban space is more than men's from all three factors of livability, security and vitality of the city. Physiological structure of women, their feelings and abilities, male policies of the city, lack of fit of urban spaces with women's gender, abandoned and anxiety-provoking spaces have played an important role in intensifying this relationship. Also, from the point of view of the Ahvaz citizens, the spaces that induce the greatest alienation feeling are located in the center, west and southwest areas and the least in the north area of Ahvaz.  For this reason, urban designers' attention to spaces, the space function, the ability and limitations of people, and most importantly their gender, can reduce the alienation feeling in the urban space.