Examining the role of public participation in the formation of good urban management (case study : Dugonbadan city)

Abstract

Nowadays, two-way interaction between citizens and administrative institutions through the active participation of citizens in urban planning can lead to enhanced efficiency in urban management. Accordingly, the present study aims to examine the role of public participation in shaping effective urban management in the city of Dogonbadan.The research is applied in terms of its objective and descriptive–analytical in terms of its methodology. The statistical population of this study includes two groups: citizens and managers and experts relevant to the topic. From the first group, 384 individuals were selected based on Cochran’s formula at a 95% confidence level, while from the second group, 35 individuals were selected due to the limited number of relevant officials and specialists. The sampling method was simple random sampling for the citizen group and purposive sampling for the experts group. SPSS and AMOS software were used for statistical data analysis.The findings indicate that public participation in the current urban management of Dogonbadan is not at a satisfactory level in the economic, socio-cultural, and physical dimensions, with mean scores of 2.14, 2.40, and 2.41, respectively, which are below the average threshold. Furthermore, according to experts and specialists, the enhancement of citizens’ economic and social status significantly influences the empowerment of public participation in shaping effective urban management, with mean scores of 3.48 and 3.59, respectively.Additionally, the results of second-order factor analysis revealed that the socio-cultural index (factor loading = 0.74), the physical-structural index (factor loading = 0.57), and the economic index (factor loading = 0.22) ranked first to third in terms of the importance of citizen participation indicators for effective urban management.Therefore, the validation of the study findings suggests that policy focus on strengthening social and cultural capital and improving physical infrastructure can serve as the most effective strategy to achieve desirable urban management and meaningful citizen participation.