Evaluation of Private Green Space Development with Participatory Planning approach (Case study: Mehrabad neighborhood in Isfahan City)

The reduction of urban green space and its importance makes it necessary to adopt comprehensive strategies. In addition to physical development, the main issue in this discussion is the category of human development, which means the participation of local people and their control over the development process. According to the survey conducted and according to the per capita green space obtained in the research, the per capita green space in Mehrabad district of Isfahan is 4.4 square meters, which is why it faces the challenge of lack of green space. The present study was conducted with the aim of measuring the desire for the quantitative and qualitative development of private green space in the Mehrabad neighborhood by using participatory planning and measuring the effects of this development on the lives of residents.

To achieve this goal, first, dimensions, criteria, sub-criteria and indicators of participatory planning and private green space development were identified. Then, these indicators were set in a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale, and this questionnaire was distributed among 30 residents of  the Mehrabad neighborhood using Cochran's formula. After measuring validity and reliability, the questionnaire was distributed among 375 residents. Then, using SPSS software and a step-by-step regression model, an inferential analysis of criteria and indicators was done.

In the inferential analysis of criteria and indicators, two stepwise regression analyzes were performed. In order to analyze in step-by-step regression, a table was prepared under the title of average scores of dimensions of participatory planning, desire to develop private green space and dimensions of the effects of private green space development on the lives of neighborhood residents. A total of 61 indicators were considered. Because the data used in regression must be distance or relative, so the average of each dimension is considered. In the first step-by-step regression analysis, the effects of economic, social and cultural aspects of participatory planning on citizens' willingness to quantitatively and qualitatively develop private green spaces were examined. It can be said that among the dimensions of participatory planning, only the economic dimension is effective and the cultural and social dimensions are not effective on the neighborhood residents' desire to develop private green spaces. In the second analysis, stepwise regression was used. In this analysis, the desire for quantitative and qualitative development of private green space was considered as an independent variable, and each of the dimensions of the effects of private green space development were considered as a dependent variable. From the second analysis, it can be concluded that the quantitative and qualitative development of private green space has an impact on the physical, cultural and environmental dimensions of the residents of the neighborhood and does not affect the social and economic dimensions.

The analysis of the obtained information shows that among the social, economic and cultural dimensions of participatory planning, residents have a social and cultural desire to develop private green spaces. Among these dimensions, the problem of the residents is in the economic dimension and lack of land and cost for green space. Also, the development of private green space does not have a favorable effect on the physical, environmental and cultural dimensions of the residents of the neighborhood, and does not have a favorable effect on the social and economic dimensions.