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Evaluation Effects of Attachment to Place in Improving Quality of Life in Mahabad City

    Authors

    1 Department of Architecture, Ahar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran

    2 Department of Urban Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tarbiat Dabir Shahid Rajaei University, Tehran, Iran

,

Document Type : original Article

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Many studies have explored place attachment as a key factor affecting quality of life in urban environments. These works mainly focus on their core components—place identity, dependence, and commitment—and influencing factors such as social ties and environmental qualities. However, most of this research is theoretical or conducted at broad scales, lacking detailed, empirical analysis in specific local contexts. Particularly, the relationship between place attachment and quality of life has rarely been investigated in small to medium-sized cities with distinct cultural identities, such as Mahabad. This indicates a research gap in understanding how place attachment functions in urban settings. The present study addresses this gap by examining how different dimensions of place attachment impact residents’ perceived quality of life in Mahabad. The aim is to identify which aspects of attachment most strongly contribute to improving life quality, offering insights that can support culturally responsive urban planning and policy-making.
Methodology: This study is descriptive and survey-based, and its objective is practical, as the findings can be used to solve real-world issues. The statistical population includes the residents of Mahabad city, with a total of 168,393 individuals, and the sample size was determined to be 383 through Cochran's formula. Data collection was done using in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The questionnaire, based on a 5-point Likert scale, was validated with expert opinions. Reliability was assessed using composite reliability, with the reliability coefficient exceeding 0.7, indicating high reliability. To analyze the data, the normality of the data was checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and after confirming the normality, Pearson correlation and second-order confirmatory factor analysis were employed. All calculations were performed using SPSS and Amos software.
Findings and Discussion: Second-order factor analysis reveals that all factors of place attachment have factor loadings greater than 0.4 and are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The social dimension has the highest influence on place attachment in terms of urban quality of life in Mahabad, with a factor loading of 0.89. This is followed by the environmental-spatial dimension with a factor loading of 0.81 and the cognitive-perceptual dimension with a factor loading of 0.75. Among the sub-indices of social-cultural factors, social interaction has the highest influence with a factor loading of 0.95, while participation has the lowest with a factor loading of 0.79. Therefore, greater attention should be paid to the participation sub-index to improve urban quality of life. In the environmental-spatial dimension, accessibility has the highest influence with a factor loading of 0.88, while shape has the lowest with a factor loading of 0.68. In the cognitive-perceptual dimension, identity has the highest influence with a factor loading of 0.89, and readability has the lowest with a factor loading of 0.63. Therefore, more attention should be given to readability and participation sub-indices to improve urban quality of life. The final structural model shows that the social-cultural dimension has the greatest influence on place attachment and urban quality of life in Mahabad.
Conclusion: The findings of the research showed that the socio-cultural dimensions have the greatest impact on creating place attachment in relation to improving the quality of urban life in Mahabad city. The least influence was observed in the cognitive-perceptual dimension. Therefore, all the dimensions examined have an impact on the formation of place attachment in relation to improving the urban quality of life for the residents of Mahabad city. Consequently, creating place attachment in Mahabad for achieving a better quality of life faces socio-cultural, security, semantic, visual aesthetics, identity, spatial, environmental, and functional challenges. Special attention must be given to the interaction between humans and their environment, and all components should be prioritized to foster and strengthen place attachment, which in turn leads to the enhancement of life quality and urban quality of life.
 

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References
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Sustainable Development of Geographical Environment
Volume 7, Issue 12 - Serial Number 12
Spring
March 2025
Pages 78-93
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