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Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran
Accepted Manuscript Title: Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran Authors: Mohsen Rastegar, Hossein Hatami, Raziehsadat Mirjafari PII: DOI: Reference:
S2210-6707(16)30742-9 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.scs.2017.05.024 SCS 672
To appear in: Received date: Revised date: Accepted date:
18-12-2016 6-5-2017 25-5-2017
Please cite this article as: Rastegar, Mohsen., Hatami, Hossein., & Mirjafari, Raziehsadat., Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran.Sustainable Cities and Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.05.024 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran Mohsen Rastegar, PhD Candidate in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. Hossein Hatami1. MSc. in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. Raziehsadat Mirjafari, MSc. in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. Abstract One of the main objectives of the development is the improvement of life quality. In Developing countries, lack of urban management planners' attention to social aspects and human resources caused many problems for improving citizens' quality of life and their environment. In this regard, social capital is closely related to the quality of life. Considering the unique features of Mashhad metropolis in terms of pilgrimage and tourism, the city with a population over 3 million faces a higher degree of rapid population growth. This metropolis has been encountering problems such as poverty, low employment rates, lack of unity and social cohesion, gender inequality and low quality of life indicator for many years. Therefore, solving or at least mitigating these problems is not possible without paying attention to attitudes and social capital. In this study, the data required have been obtained by the questionnaire of 380 civilians and 36 members of municipal managers. The results of the present study showed that institutions governing the city, especially municipality and city council, do not care about the opinions and views of people in planning, and thus public participation is very low. Therefore, there is a difference between the views of managers and citizens about the role of social capital in improving the quality of life. Keywords: Social capital, Quality of life, Social justice, Mashhad city, Iran.
1
. Corresponding author: [email protected]
1
pilgrimage and tourism aspects, Mashhad metropolis experiences higher level of population growth and faces numerous problems and issues annually; therefore, solving or at least reducing these problems is not possible without considering people's attitudes (Shaddel & Kharazmi, 2016) Rapid growth resulting from population increase, migrations increase due to the lack of moderation in spatial, social and economic planning, and government's decision on focusing or creating economic and social activities, facilities and other tourist attractions in specific locations had the greatest impact on physical and social dimensions of cities and metropolises, and thus caused considerable and yet inevitable effects on urban life. These effects caused wide ranges of social, economic, cultural and physical problems. Focusing on the development of towns and neglecting of social goals make cities faced with a negative cycle of social, economic and environmental imbalances and endangered social health of cities. Polarization of spatial structures in Mashhad Metropolis in facilities absorption made utility and spatial readability of this city changed dramatically and also made achieving social justice impossible. To achieve a fair spatial distribution and reducing inequality and improving physical qualities, considering social aspects, especially social capital in the city is essential. According to physical, environmental, economic religious, etc. indicators, 16.7 percent in Mashhad areas are very deprived areas, 25 percent poor, 3.8% moderate, 25% affluent, and 25 percent were very affluent. Therefore, 7.41% of total urban areas were less than moderate level (Khakpour & Mafi , 2009; Shaddel & Kharazmi, 2016). There is a weak
1.Introduction Increase in social capital results in the reduction in poverty and improvement of life quality (Abdul- Hakimi, AbdulRazak, & IsmaiL, 2010; Noghani, Asgharpour, & Kerman, 2008). Social capital can have a great effect on the quality of both urban life and environment, both subjectively (due to the individual and psychological effects of social capital) and objectively (due to facilitating the process of shaping social, economic and physical environment of the city) (Mahdizadeh, 2003; Higgins & Campanera, 2011) Introducing social capital concept into urban planning entails understanding its impact on various aspects of urban planning and generally on the city (Barati & Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Sedaghatnia, 2013; Zivelva & J, 2008) Cities and metropolises in Developing countries are facing problems such as lack of participation, residents' reluctance, cynicism about executive authorities, lack of citizens' trust in governmental and management institutions relating to the city, low rate of citizens' participation in the implementation of urban development plans, low rate of awareness among citizens about rules, laws, and their rights and duties, poverty, drug addiction, unemployment, urban sprawl, and long intervals between planning and implementation of projects (Navabakhsh & Ground, 2012) Mashhad metropolis is one of the largest metropolises in Iran which, like other third world megacities, has been encountering problems and shortcomings in the process of its comprehensive development (physical, economic and social) during the past few decades (Bahrami, 2012; Afsharzadeh, 2011). Due to having unique features in 2
negative relationship between social 380 citizens and 36 managers, executives participation and underdevelopment rate in and employees from Mashhad Mashhad urban level. Due to the Municipality were selected as the sample increasing population of the metropolis size of the research, respectively. and the need for citizens enjoying different Sampling was performed based on tastes to accompany and facilitate the systematic method of classification. implementation of urban development Sampling chosen in a way that, besides programs is inevitable. Also paying special covering the entire statistical population, attention to the citizens’ status as well as includes people with different attitudes so social and local elites in facilitating and/or the real role of social capital and its related undermining urban development programs approaches in improving the quality of life are the needs to address this issue. On the in the city of Mashhad can be explained other hand, public participation attraction well with such an approach. Valuation of can be crucial on the path of sustainable the data was performed by using Likert development and achieving social justice. scale. To analyze the views of citizens and Therefore, considering social capital managers and to assess the impact of (participation, trust and knowledge) and social capital on quality of life, Mansurveying its status and their role in Whithney and Spearman tests were used, improving the quality of life in the respectively. SPSS software was also used metropolis is a significant note that makes for data analysis. In this study, based on the necessity of doing this research clear. the theoretical foundations related to the social capital, three main indicators of 2. Method The present study is of practical participation, awareness and trust were developmental type, and research method selected (Table 1). Furthermore, in studies is descriptive - analytical. Libraryrelated to the quality of life, four physical, documentary resources, questionnaire and economic, environmental and cultural field surveys were used to gather the indicators were determined as the main required information. Using Cochran indicators, which are presented in Table 1 formula and according to Morgan table, along with sub-criteria. Table 1 Indicators of life quality and social capital Index Aspects Indicators sources Quality of housing, access to services access to (Lynch, 1981; Ahmadvand, Physical communication and Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) transportation (Badri, Rezvani, & Qrnjik, 2013; Economic Income , Employment Baskha, Kohneshahri, & Indicators Masaeli, 2010) related to (Mousavi, Hasani, & quality of life Manouchehri, 2014; Barati & Environmental Health , Security Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Ahmadvand, Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) Cultural Education , Religion (Mousavi, Hasani, & 3
Participation
Indicators of social capital
Awareness
Trust
Manouchehri, 2014; Barati & Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Ahmadvand, Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004)
Source: Research findings, 2016. 3.Study area Mashhad city as the second largest metropolis of Iran with a population over 3 million (Mashhad Municipality, 2016) is considered Iran's largest religious metropolis (Fig.1). Existence of holy
shrine of Imam Reza causes more than 25 million tourists annually (Mashhad Municipality, 2016) to visit the city. Having a service role, the city has high potential in social and economic sectors.
Fig.1. Geographical position of Mashhad city in Iran and World
4
participation aspect, analyses of the questionnaires showed that citizens were less willing to participate in different fields than the managers. Furthermore, citizens believed that authorities and associations administering the city, especially municipalities and city council, do not pay attention to their views on planning, and that is why public participation is very low. In the case of awareness variable, managers had more awareness than citizens in different fields. Citizens believed that responsible organizations, in particular municipality and city council, showed poor performance in advertising and informing people of their programs and activities (Table 2). In other words, the lower the level of awareness, the lower the level of participation. With respect to trust, it can be said that citizens had less trust compared to the managers in different social aspects, but since the participation shapes in the form of trust, citizens evaluated lower level of trust. In this study, an average of less than 3 is considered unfavorable; 3 to 4 fairly good and over 4 is desirable. According to Table 2, social capital status is assessed by citizens as undesirable and relatively desirable by urban managers
4. Discussion The concept of urban life quality arises when urban planners do not pay attention to social and economic values and care just about physical aspect of the development. Due to the changes occurred in the field of urban planning science in recent years, social theories became very important in the past decade. Social capital is one of the most important theories which is widely used in the literature of planning. In other words, social capital is named as the foundation of economic development of any society. The current research is seeking to study the effect of social capital on quality of life and achievement of social justice. Three indicators of participation, awareness and trust were used to assess the social capital. Furthermore, quality of life was evaluated in aspects of physical (quality of housing, access to services, and access to transportation and communications), economic (employment and income), environment (health and safety), and cultural (religious and education).
4.1. Social capital indicator
Three important components of social capital (participation, awareness and trust) were studied in this study. Regarding Table 2 Mean values related to the answers of citizens and managers based on social capital variables Variables
Citizens
Managers
Participation
2/61
3/31
Awareness
2/85
3/67
Trust
2/43
3/34
Source: Research findings, 2016. The findings of the present research showed that there was a significant relationship among the three main
components of social capital (participation, awareness and trust) in Mashhad city. Spearman correlation coefficient was used 5
to examine the relationship among these three variables (Table.3). The analyses showed that there was a significant relationship among these three variables at the level of 99%. Therefore, assessment of participation and awareness showed correlation coefficient of 0.543, suggesting that the level of participation rises along with the increase in the level of awareness.
Moreover, in the first row, participation was evaluated with trust, which had the correlation coefficient of 0.483, suggesting that as participation increases, trust increases as well. In the second row, awareness and trust had the correlation coefficient of 0.543, showing that as awareness rises, participation increases as well and vice versa.
Table 3 Relationship between the three main components of social capital in the city of Mashhad Correlations
Participation
Awareness
Correlation 1.000 .543** Coefficient Participation Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 N 380 380 Spearman's rho Correlation .543** 1.000 Coefficient Awareness Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . N 380 380 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Source: Research findings, 2016.
Trust .483** .000 380 .513**
variables (education and religion) in cultural sector were investigated. 4.3. Physical indicator In the aspect of housing quality, urban managers evaluated the quality of housing in more appropriate level compared to citizens (Table 4). Furthermore, status of access to transportation and Service Availability received higher scores in the views of managers compared to citizens.
4.2. Quality of life In this study, four main indicators of life quality (physical, economic, environmental and cultural) were studied. Three variables (quality of housing, access to services, access to transportation and communications) in physical sector, two variables (income and employment) in economic sector, two variables (safety and health) in environment sector, and two
Table 4 Average values related to citizens and managers on physical dimensions Variables Citizens Managers Quality of housing 3/56 4/01 Service Availability Communication and transportation access
.000 380
3/30
3/70
2/88
3/48 6
Source: Research findings, 2016. 4.4. Economic indicator Based on the results obtained from when compared to citizens, while citizen analyses, income and employment did not evaluate the employment high. received higher scores in the views of managers Table 5 Average values related to citizens and managers on economic indicator Variables Citizens Managers Income 2/80 3/69 Employment 2/30 3/37 Source: Research findings, 2016.
was a difference of views between managers and citizens, with managers evaluating the situation appropriate in comparison with citizen.
4.5. Environmental indicator As shown in Table 6, health variable in managers' views evaluated appropriate which are in contrast with the views of citizens. In relation to security item, there
Table 6 Average values related to citizens and managers on environmental indicator Variables Citizens Managers Health Security Source: Research findings, 2016.
2/58 3/19
3/65 3/50
said that when citizens feel that their quality of life is not fair compared to the life of other groups, they show less tendency to participate in different fields. Providing equality, economic prosperity and political freedoms, providing the required conditions for political participation of people, developing individual personality, tackling social discrimination and providing grounds for participation of community groups in terms of fighting poverty and improving the quality of people's lives are some cases that can be achieved only with the help of social capital and people in Mashhad city.
4.6. Cultural indicator In cultural Indicator, managers evaluated the status of education and religious better than citizens (Table 7). The results of the present research indicated the low social capital in the city of Mashhad. Although the relationship between these two indicators cannot be emphasized statistically, the results are important for urban planners. It means this relationship is totally mutual; strengthening physical services and improving housing and communications, which are objective concepts, can lead to the achievement of subjective aspects such as participation, awareness and trust. In general, it can be
7
Table 7 Average values related to citizens and managers on Cultural indicator Variables Citizens Education Religion Source: Research findings, 2016.
2/88 3/34
Managers 3/20 3/83
5.Results In this study, two communities of residents and urban managers were assessed by using the questionnaire to state their views on social capital and quality of life in the city of Mashhad. After reviewing the questionnaires, it was determined that there was significant difference between the views of citizens and managers on both social capital and quality of life. In other words, managers, compared to citizens, assessed the status of Mashhad city appropriate in terms of all these indicators. Moreover, citizens believed that managers in the city of Mashhad do not include people in planning and type of planning is top-down, and that is the reason for low public participation. In terms of awareness, citizens stated that organizations responsible for city management, especially the municipality and council of the city, showed poor performance in informing people of their programs and activities; thus it can be said that lower level of awareness led to lower level of participation. The results of this study in Mashhad indicated low social capital is the city of Mashhad that the mental aspects such as participation, awareness and confidence can be strengthened by strengthening physical services, housing improvement and communication access that are manifestations of objective concepts.
6. solutions According to the data presented above for the role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in the city of Mashhad, the following solutions are recommended: - Making aware the citizens and residents of area of the activities and programs by the mayor and council of the city of Mashhad. - Increased income and job security as the most important factor in the quality of life for the citizens of Mashhad. -Encouraging people's active participation in voluntary associations to strengthen social capital within the group. - Including citizens in urban designs of Mashhad city by municipality. -Gathering of the representatives of people and city officials in order to inform residents of urban projects related to their residential area, which can enhance the level of trust among citizens and effective leaders. -Making more intimate relationship between social institutions and residents of Mashhad in order to gain the confidence and rising. - Notifying the citizens and residents of the activities and programs by municipality and city council of Mashhad. - Strengthening mutual communication and trust between the residents of the neighborhood by Neighborhood Social Council so that residents spend a lot of 8
time on the affair of their neighborhood and communicate with each other. - Improving the structure of servicing system, considering that per capita service spaces of Mashhad city are low. - Promoting public education and strengthening public participation and public groups supporting sustainable development and historical and cultural.
Barati, K., & Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, M. (2011). Examining the relationship of social capital and quality of life in the city: A case study of the new city campus. Society of Cultural Research in Humanities and Cultural Studies, 25-49. Baskha, M., Kohneshahri, L., & Masaeli, A. (2010). ranking the quality of life in the provinces. Journal of Social Welfare, No. 37, 95-112. Social Welfare, 95-112. Grootaert, C., Narayan, D., Jones, V., & Woolcock, M. (2004). Measuring Social Capital. Working paper No.18. U.S.A: World Bank. Higgins, P., & Campanera, J. (2011). quality of life in English city locations. Cities, 290–299. Khakpour , B., & Mafi , I. (2009). The role of social capital in local sustainable development (dormitory of Sajadia Mashhad). Geography Regional Development, 56-81. Lynch, K. (1981). (1981). A Theory of Good City Form. MA: MIT Press. Milton: Cambridge. Mahdizadeh, J. (2003). Strategic planning of urban development recent world experiences and its position in Iran. Tehran: Center of Studies and Researches of architecture and urban planning. Mashhad Municipality. (2016). Mashhad Municipality statistics (2016), Department of Planning and Development. Mashhad, No.3,12-15. Mashhad: Department of Planning and Developmen. Mousavi, M., Hasani, M., & Manouchehri, A. (2014). Analysis of Social Capital and its Impacts on Quality of Life of Citizens Case Study: Neighborhood of Miyandoab City. Human Geography Research Quarterly, 25-28. Navabakhsh, F., & Ground, J. (2012). Effect of Sunni and Shiite citizens' sense of social justice on people's national identity (A Case Study of Qorveh),.
References Abdul- Hakimi, R. A.-R. (2010). (2010). Dose Social Capital reduse poverty? A Case Study of Rural households in Terengganu, Malaysia. European journal Scinces, 555-566. Noghani, M. A. (2008). The quality of life and its relation with social capital in the city of Mashhad. Social Sciences, 111140. Abdul- Hakimi, R., Abdul- Razak, N., & IsmaiL, R. (2010). Dose Social Capital reduse poverty? A Case Study of Rural households in Terengganu, Malaysia. European journal Scinces, 555-566. Afsharzadeh, R. (2011). Evaluation of ereadiness to implement electronic city (Case study:. Mashhad: ferdowsi university. Ahmadvand, M., Hedayatnia, S., & Abdullah, K. (2012). An Investigation of the Effects of Well-being and Social Capital on Quality of Life (QoL) in Rural Areas of Boyer-Ahmad County. Research and Rural Planning, 19-22. Badri, S., Rezvani, M., & Qrnjik, M. (2013). The Quality of Life Measurement in Rural Areas Based on Subjective Indicators Case Study: Sothern Jafarby Dehestan, Torkman County. Geography and En vironmental Planning, 52-73. Bahrami, R. (2012). the trend using indices of social justice in Iran over the past two decades. Quarterly geographical perspectives, 85-99.
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cultural studies and communication, 144181. Noghani, M., Asgharpour, S., & Kerman, M. (2008). The quality of life and its relation with social capital in the city of Mashhad. Social Sciences, 111-140. Putnam, R. (2003). Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital. Democracy, 65-78. Sedaghatnia, S. (2013). An Evaluation of Residents‟ Quality of Life through Neighborhood Satisfaction in Malaysia. Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, 114-125. Shaddel, L., & Kharazmi, O. (2016). Evaluating the Effective Factors in Accepting the Electronic. Geography and Urban Space Development, 23-28. Zivelva, I., & J, J. (2008). Analysis of life quality development in the Administrative districts of South Moravia. Agric. Econ. – Czech, 431-439.
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S2210-6707(16)30742-9 http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.scs.2017.05.024 SCS 672
To appear in: Received date: Revised date: Accepted date:
18-12-2016 6-5-2017 25-5-2017
Please cite this article as: Rastegar, Mohsen., Hatami, Hossein., & Mirjafari, Raziehsadat., Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran.Sustainable Cities and Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2017.05.024 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in Mashhad, Iran Mohsen Rastegar, PhD Candidate in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. Hossein Hatami1. MSc. in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. Raziehsadat Mirjafari, MSc. in Geography and Urban Planning, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. Abstract One of the main objectives of the development is the improvement of life quality. In Developing countries, lack of urban management planners' attention to social aspects and human resources caused many problems for improving citizens' quality of life and their environment. In this regard, social capital is closely related to the quality of life. Considering the unique features of Mashhad metropolis in terms of pilgrimage and tourism, the city with a population over 3 million faces a higher degree of rapid population growth. This metropolis has been encountering problems such as poverty, low employment rates, lack of unity and social cohesion, gender inequality and low quality of life indicator for many years. Therefore, solving or at least mitigating these problems is not possible without paying attention to attitudes and social capital. In this study, the data required have been obtained by the questionnaire of 380 civilians and 36 members of municipal managers. The results of the present study showed that institutions governing the city, especially municipality and city council, do not care about the opinions and views of people in planning, and thus public participation is very low. Therefore, there is a difference between the views of managers and citizens about the role of social capital in improving the quality of life. Keywords: Social capital, Quality of life, Social justice, Mashhad city, Iran.
1
. Corresponding author: [email protected]
1
pilgrimage and tourism aspects, Mashhad metropolis experiences higher level of population growth and faces numerous problems and issues annually; therefore, solving or at least reducing these problems is not possible without considering people's attitudes (Shaddel & Kharazmi, 2016) Rapid growth resulting from population increase, migrations increase due to the lack of moderation in spatial, social and economic planning, and government's decision on focusing or creating economic and social activities, facilities and other tourist attractions in specific locations had the greatest impact on physical and social dimensions of cities and metropolises, and thus caused considerable and yet inevitable effects on urban life. These effects caused wide ranges of social, economic, cultural and physical problems. Focusing on the development of towns and neglecting of social goals make cities faced with a negative cycle of social, economic and environmental imbalances and endangered social health of cities. Polarization of spatial structures in Mashhad Metropolis in facilities absorption made utility and spatial readability of this city changed dramatically and also made achieving social justice impossible. To achieve a fair spatial distribution and reducing inequality and improving physical qualities, considering social aspects, especially social capital in the city is essential. According to physical, environmental, economic religious, etc. indicators, 16.7 percent in Mashhad areas are very deprived areas, 25 percent poor, 3.8% moderate, 25% affluent, and 25 percent were very affluent. Therefore, 7.41% of total urban areas were less than moderate level (Khakpour & Mafi , 2009; Shaddel & Kharazmi, 2016). There is a weak
1.Introduction Increase in social capital results in the reduction in poverty and improvement of life quality (Abdul- Hakimi, AbdulRazak, & IsmaiL, 2010; Noghani, Asgharpour, & Kerman, 2008). Social capital can have a great effect on the quality of both urban life and environment, both subjectively (due to the individual and psychological effects of social capital) and objectively (due to facilitating the process of shaping social, economic and physical environment of the city) (Mahdizadeh, 2003; Higgins & Campanera, 2011) Introducing social capital concept into urban planning entails understanding its impact on various aspects of urban planning and generally on the city (Barati & Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Sedaghatnia, 2013; Zivelva & J, 2008) Cities and metropolises in Developing countries are facing problems such as lack of participation, residents' reluctance, cynicism about executive authorities, lack of citizens' trust in governmental and management institutions relating to the city, low rate of citizens' participation in the implementation of urban development plans, low rate of awareness among citizens about rules, laws, and their rights and duties, poverty, drug addiction, unemployment, urban sprawl, and long intervals between planning and implementation of projects (Navabakhsh & Ground, 2012) Mashhad metropolis is one of the largest metropolises in Iran which, like other third world megacities, has been encountering problems and shortcomings in the process of its comprehensive development (physical, economic and social) during the past few decades (Bahrami, 2012; Afsharzadeh, 2011). Due to having unique features in 2
negative relationship between social 380 citizens and 36 managers, executives participation and underdevelopment rate in and employees from Mashhad Mashhad urban level. Due to the Municipality were selected as the sample increasing population of the metropolis size of the research, respectively. and the need for citizens enjoying different Sampling was performed based on tastes to accompany and facilitate the systematic method of classification. implementation of urban development Sampling chosen in a way that, besides programs is inevitable. Also paying special covering the entire statistical population, attention to the citizens’ status as well as includes people with different attitudes so social and local elites in facilitating and/or the real role of social capital and its related undermining urban development programs approaches in improving the quality of life are the needs to address this issue. On the in the city of Mashhad can be explained other hand, public participation attraction well with such an approach. Valuation of can be crucial on the path of sustainable the data was performed by using Likert development and achieving social justice. scale. To analyze the views of citizens and Therefore, considering social capital managers and to assess the impact of (participation, trust and knowledge) and social capital on quality of life, Mansurveying its status and their role in Whithney and Spearman tests were used, improving the quality of life in the respectively. SPSS software was also used metropolis is a significant note that makes for data analysis. In this study, based on the necessity of doing this research clear. the theoretical foundations related to the social capital, three main indicators of 2. Method The present study is of practical participation, awareness and trust were developmental type, and research method selected (Table 1). Furthermore, in studies is descriptive - analytical. Libraryrelated to the quality of life, four physical, documentary resources, questionnaire and economic, environmental and cultural field surveys were used to gather the indicators were determined as the main required information. Using Cochran indicators, which are presented in Table 1 formula and according to Morgan table, along with sub-criteria. Table 1 Indicators of life quality and social capital Index Aspects Indicators sources Quality of housing, access to services access to (Lynch, 1981; Ahmadvand, Physical communication and Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) transportation (Badri, Rezvani, & Qrnjik, 2013; Economic Income , Employment Baskha, Kohneshahri, & Indicators Masaeli, 2010) related to (Mousavi, Hasani, & quality of life Manouchehri, 2014; Barati & Environmental Health , Security Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Ahmadvand, Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) Cultural Education , Religion (Mousavi, Hasani, & 3
Participation
Indicators of social capital
Awareness
Trust
Manouchehri, 2014; Barati & Yazdanpanah Shahabadi, 2011; Ahmadvand, Hedayatnia, & Abdullah, 2012) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004) (Putnam, 2003; Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004)
Source: Research findings, 2016. 3.Study area Mashhad city as the second largest metropolis of Iran with a population over 3 million (Mashhad Municipality, 2016) is considered Iran's largest religious metropolis (Fig.1). Existence of holy
shrine of Imam Reza causes more than 25 million tourists annually (Mashhad Municipality, 2016) to visit the city. Having a service role, the city has high potential in social and economic sectors.
Fig.1. Geographical position of Mashhad city in Iran and World
4
participation aspect, analyses of the questionnaires showed that citizens were less willing to participate in different fields than the managers. Furthermore, citizens believed that authorities and associations administering the city, especially municipalities and city council, do not pay attention to their views on planning, and that is why public participation is very low. In the case of awareness variable, managers had more awareness than citizens in different fields. Citizens believed that responsible organizations, in particular municipality and city council, showed poor performance in advertising and informing people of their programs and activities (Table 2). In other words, the lower the level of awareness, the lower the level of participation. With respect to trust, it can be said that citizens had less trust compared to the managers in different social aspects, but since the participation shapes in the form of trust, citizens evaluated lower level of trust. In this study, an average of less than 3 is considered unfavorable; 3 to 4 fairly good and over 4 is desirable. According to Table 2, social capital status is assessed by citizens as undesirable and relatively desirable by urban managers
4. Discussion The concept of urban life quality arises when urban planners do not pay attention to social and economic values and care just about physical aspect of the development. Due to the changes occurred in the field of urban planning science in recent years, social theories became very important in the past decade. Social capital is one of the most important theories which is widely used in the literature of planning. In other words, social capital is named as the foundation of economic development of any society. The current research is seeking to study the effect of social capital on quality of life and achievement of social justice. Three indicators of participation, awareness and trust were used to assess the social capital. Furthermore, quality of life was evaluated in aspects of physical (quality of housing, access to services, and access to transportation and communications), economic (employment and income), environment (health and safety), and cultural (religious and education).
4.1. Social capital indicator
Three important components of social capital (participation, awareness and trust) were studied in this study. Regarding Table 2 Mean values related to the answers of citizens and managers based on social capital variables Variables
Citizens
Managers
Participation
2/61
3/31
Awareness
2/85
3/67
Trust
2/43
3/34
Source: Research findings, 2016. The findings of the present research showed that there was a significant relationship among the three main
components of social capital (participation, awareness and trust) in Mashhad city. Spearman correlation coefficient was used 5
to examine the relationship among these three variables (Table.3). The analyses showed that there was a significant relationship among these three variables at the level of 99%. Therefore, assessment of participation and awareness showed correlation coefficient of 0.543, suggesting that the level of participation rises along with the increase in the level of awareness.
Moreover, in the first row, participation was evaluated with trust, which had the correlation coefficient of 0.483, suggesting that as participation increases, trust increases as well. In the second row, awareness and trust had the correlation coefficient of 0.543, showing that as awareness rises, participation increases as well and vice versa.
Table 3 Relationship between the three main components of social capital in the city of Mashhad Correlations
Participation
Awareness
Correlation 1.000 .543** Coefficient Participation Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 N 380 380 Spearman's rho Correlation .543** 1.000 Coefficient Awareness Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . N 380 380 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Source: Research findings, 2016.
Trust .483** .000 380 .513**
variables (education and religion) in cultural sector were investigated. 4.3. Physical indicator In the aspect of housing quality, urban managers evaluated the quality of housing in more appropriate level compared to citizens (Table 4). Furthermore, status of access to transportation and Service Availability received higher scores in the views of managers compared to citizens.
4.2. Quality of life In this study, four main indicators of life quality (physical, economic, environmental and cultural) were studied. Three variables (quality of housing, access to services, access to transportation and communications) in physical sector, two variables (income and employment) in economic sector, two variables (safety and health) in environment sector, and two
Table 4 Average values related to citizens and managers on physical dimensions Variables Citizens Managers Quality of housing 3/56 4/01 Service Availability Communication and transportation access
.000 380
3/30
3/70
2/88
3/48 6
Source: Research findings, 2016. 4.4. Economic indicator Based on the results obtained from when compared to citizens, while citizen analyses, income and employment did not evaluate the employment high. received higher scores in the views of managers Table 5 Average values related to citizens and managers on economic indicator Variables Citizens Managers Income 2/80 3/69 Employment 2/30 3/37 Source: Research findings, 2016.
was a difference of views between managers and citizens, with managers evaluating the situation appropriate in comparison with citizen.
4.5. Environmental indicator As shown in Table 6, health variable in managers' views evaluated appropriate which are in contrast with the views of citizens. In relation to security item, there
Table 6 Average values related to citizens and managers on environmental indicator Variables Citizens Managers Health Security Source: Research findings, 2016.
2/58 3/19
3/65 3/50
said that when citizens feel that their quality of life is not fair compared to the life of other groups, they show less tendency to participate in different fields. Providing equality, economic prosperity and political freedoms, providing the required conditions for political participation of people, developing individual personality, tackling social discrimination and providing grounds for participation of community groups in terms of fighting poverty and improving the quality of people's lives are some cases that can be achieved only with the help of social capital and people in Mashhad city.
4.6. Cultural indicator In cultural Indicator, managers evaluated the status of education and religious better than citizens (Table 7). The results of the present research indicated the low social capital in the city of Mashhad. Although the relationship between these two indicators cannot be emphasized statistically, the results are important for urban planners. It means this relationship is totally mutual; strengthening physical services and improving housing and communications, which are objective concepts, can lead to the achievement of subjective aspects such as participation, awareness and trust. In general, it can be
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Table 7 Average values related to citizens and managers on Cultural indicator Variables Citizens Education Religion Source: Research findings, 2016.
2/88 3/34
Managers 3/20 3/83
5.Results In this study, two communities of residents and urban managers were assessed by using the questionnaire to state their views on social capital and quality of life in the city of Mashhad. After reviewing the questionnaires, it was determined that there was significant difference between the views of citizens and managers on both social capital and quality of life. In other words, managers, compared to citizens, assessed the status of Mashhad city appropriate in terms of all these indicators. Moreover, citizens believed that managers in the city of Mashhad do not include people in planning and type of planning is top-down, and that is the reason for low public participation. In terms of awareness, citizens stated that organizations responsible for city management, especially the municipality and council of the city, showed poor performance in informing people of their programs and activities; thus it can be said that lower level of awareness led to lower level of participation. The results of this study in Mashhad indicated low social capital is the city of Mashhad that the mental aspects such as participation, awareness and confidence can be strengthened by strengthening physical services, housing improvement and communication access that are manifestations of objective concepts.
6. solutions According to the data presented above for the role of social capital in improving the quality of life and social justice in the city of Mashhad, the following solutions are recommended: - Making aware the citizens and residents of area of the activities and programs by the mayor and council of the city of Mashhad. - Increased income and job security as the most important factor in the quality of life for the citizens of Mashhad. -Encouraging people's active participation in voluntary associations to strengthen social capital within the group. - Including citizens in urban designs of Mashhad city by municipality. -Gathering of the representatives of people and city officials in order to inform residents of urban projects related to their residential area, which can enhance the level of trust among citizens and effective leaders. -Making more intimate relationship between social institutions and residents of Mashhad in order to gain the confidence and rising. - Notifying the citizens and residents of the activities and programs by municipality and city council of Mashhad. - Strengthening mutual communication and trust between the residents of the neighborhood by Neighborhood Social Council so that residents spend a lot of 8
time on the affair of their neighborhood and communicate with each other. - Improving the structure of servicing system, considering that per capita service spaces of Mashhad city are low. - Promoting public education and strengthening public participation and public groups supporting sustainable development and historical and cultural.
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