Investigating the sustainability of the urban spatial system from the perspective of healthy city indicators (Case study: Khanaqin city)

Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate the sustainability of the urban spatial system from the perspective of healthy city indicators in Khanaqin city. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in nature and has been conducted with a quantitative approach. The main data collection tool in this study was a researcher-made questionnaire based on standard healthy city indicators. After the initial design, its validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was also measured through Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which showed that the research tool had appropriate and acceptable reliability. The statistical population of the study included the citizens of Khanaqin city and the indicators under study were measured in the form of five main dimensions of a healthy city including health, public health and environment, comfort, security and beauty. Descriptive statistics including mean, frequency and percentage were used to describe the status of the variables for data analysis. Also, to test the research hypotheses, a one-sample T-test with a criterion value of 3 (medium level) was used to evaluate the status of each indicator relative to the desired level. In addition, Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationships between different dimensions of a healthy city. The research findings show that the average of health, public health and environment, comfort, security and beauty indices are all lower than the criterion value (3). So that the average of health index is 2.6302, public health and environment index is 2.6605, comfort index is 2.6135, security index is 2.612 and beauty index is 2.652. The results of the one-sample T-test also showed that in all indices the T-statistic value is negative and the significance level is 0.000 (less than 0.05); therefore, the average of all indices is significantly lower than the criterion value and their status is assessed at an undesirable level. In summary, the results of this study indicate that the sustainability of the urban spatial system in Khanaqin city is below the desired level in terms of healthy city indicators and all the indicators under study need improvement. Therefore, achieving the desired state of a healthy city requires comprehensive, integrated, and multidimensional planning in various areas of urban management.