On the Acceptability of the Compact City Form Considering the Effect of Social Sustainability

This paper presents an attempt to determine whether implementing the Compact City form in the Iranian city of Qazvin would be accepted by its inhabitants. For this purpose, social sustainability was defined as having six main aspects: dwelling type, travel mode, privacy, social interaction, social equity, and security. Then, four aspects of urban compactness were considered: density, mixed use, reduced use of private transportation, and socialization. The aim was to see how these would be affected by aspects of social sustainability. The data from a questionnaire administered to 400 residents of Qazvin were submitted to factor analysis. The results revealed that all aspects of social sustainability had a significant effect on urban compactness. The strongest impact was found for social interaction. Furthermore, strong correlational relationships were observed between aspects of urban compactness and their relevant social sustainability aspects. The findings confirm the necessity of considering socio-cultural issues when designing orimplementing an urban form.

Keywords:

compact city , acceptability , social equity , sustainability of community