Assessing the drivers of place attachment and their impact on the quality of urban life: A prospective study in the historical area of Urmia city

Today, the approach to the quality of urban life, following the concepts of welfare and social justice and highlighting the social aspects of development, has acquired more importance in the field of urban planning. In the present research, while using documentary-library and survey methods, the quality of urban life has been assessed by emphasizing the components of place attachment in the four zones of the historical context of Urmia city. The statistical population and sample size of the study consist of two groups of experts, thinkers and managers in the field of urban sciences (N = 60) and residents in the historical context under study (N = 379 using Cochran’s method and emphasizing the latest population statistics). In quantitative analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Spearman correlation, Shannon entropy and Cocoso methods were used. Findings indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between spatial attachment variables and quality of urban life. In addition, the existence of open and public spaces was identified as the component of highest importance, whereas cheerfulness and empathy were considered the components of lowest importance. According to the cocoso method in ranking the option, zones 3, 4, 1 and 2 are located in the most appropriate and favorable conditions in terms of quality of urban life, respectively.