Explaining the Social Factors Affecting Resident’s Participation in Community-Based Regeneration in Dysfunctional Urban Contexts (Case Study: Vakil Abad Castle Neighborhood in Mashhad City

Local community interaction is an inseparable aspect of social and economic regeneration programs.Ghalah Vakil Abad neighborhood is an inefficient middle and village-based texture in the 12th district of Mashhad, which, despite having an important functional position in the city, has a significant percentage of unstable buildings, impermeable passages, and small parts. The rule of urban poverty, including physical and service poverty and the residents’economic poverty, has eliminated the possibility of spontaneous change in the living environment, whilethe situation of the neighborhood needs to be improvedand recreated i based on resident’s participation. Considering that preparation of the neighborhood renewal plan is on the agenda of the relevant local organizations.Community-oriented regeneration is a suitable method forimproving the residents’qualities of life, but first, it is important to identify the variables that play a role in the people’svoluntary participations. The present study investigated the relationship between social factors, including "social trust", "social cohesion and solidarity", "social interactions", and "sense of belonging",andwillingness to voluntarily participate in the regeneration of Ghalah VakilAbad neighborhood. The currentresearch method was descriptive and causal based onStructural Equivalence Model (SEM). The feeling of belonging, trust in residents, social interactions, trust in government organizations, trust in people-institution organizations, and cohesion and solidarity respectively had the greatest roles in the residents’willingness to participate in the community-oriented regeneration process in this neighborhood. Secondly, according to the residents, the people’ssocial participation was the basic principle in the success of the neighborhood regeneration measures. Therefore, officials and planners should try to increase and stimulate the role of each of these variables in the neighborhood in different ways.