Does compact development in midsize cities contribute to quality of life?

ABSTRACT

Compactness of cities has been introduced as one of the policies to ensure a higher level of quality of life (QOL). Although it has been claimed that urban compactness will increase the QOL, the empirical research on the topic, especially in developing counties, is quite limited. this research attempts to find the effects of compactness on subjective Physical-Environmental Quality of Life (PEQOL). For this purpose, three midsize cities in Iran are selected as case studies. By applying Explorative Factor Analysis (EFA), three domains are identified to represent compactness: density-mixed uses, accessibility, and centrality. Moreover, to find PEQOL domains, 1078 questionnaires were administered in three cities. Using EFA, five domains of environment, access to services, access to educational land uses, transportation, and housing were identified as PEQOL underlying domains. Multivariate Regression Analysis (MRA) is used to explore the relationship between compactness and PEQOL. The results of the MRA reveal that there is a significant relationship between compactness and PEQOL. Also, the relationship between PEQOL and factors contributing the most to compactness was explored. The results show that the density-mixed use is the only domain that explains PEQOL variance in all cities studied.

KEYWORDS:

• Compactness
• physical-environmental quality of life
• midsize city
• explorative factor analysis
• multivariate regression analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sara Habibi

Sara Habibi is National Urban Policy Officer and Project Manager in UN-Habitat, based in Tehran, I.R. Iran. She received her Ph.D. in Urban Planning at the school of Urban Planning, University of Tehran. She has both academic and professional experiences. Her research interests include urban and territorial planning, sustainable development, quality of life, and urban form.

Esfandiar Zebardast

Esfandiar Zebardast is a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning, Professor and Vice-Dean for Research at College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. His current research interests include regional spatial planning, metropolitan governance and planning, and the applications of quantitative methods in urban and regional planning.