Assessing the Situation of Ardabil Neighborhoods in Terms of Child-Friendly City Components

With the global surge of urbanization and population growth, the well-being of children within modern urban developments has been largely overlooked, necessitating an urgent need for attentiveness towards their needs in cities. Consequently, the assessment of urban neighborhoods in terms of child-friendly city components becomes an essential area of research. This study employs a survey method to evaluate the dimensions and components associated with a child-friendly city. Utilizing a cluster-spatial sampling approach, ten neighborhoods from five regions of Ardabil are selected as representative samples (two neighborhoods per region). A total of 400 researcher-developed questionnaires are then distributed proportionally based on the population of each selected neighborhood. The collected data is subsequently analyzed using one-sample t-statistics in SPSS software, as well as multi-criteria decision-making models to prioritize the neighborhoods according to the research criteria. The findings reveal distinctive characteristics of child-friendly city dimensions and components across the various neighborhoods of Ardabil. Interestingly, when comparing the dimensions, the environmental-physical and organizational-managerial dimensions emerge as the most problematic areas within the studied neighborhoods. Additionally, it is noteworthy that despite the inherent spatial disparities between neighborhoods, Neighborhood No. 1 in District 4 and Neighborhood No. 3 in District 2 of Ardabil Municipality exhibit greater challenges compared to other neighborhoods under investigation.