Presenting a model for the application of advocacy planning in the sustainable development of small cities(Case study:Small cities in the north of Hamedan province),
Subject Areas : Sustainable urban development
SEYED MOHAMAD JAVAD HOSEINY MORASA
1
,
Amir Hosein Pourjohari
2
,
Kianoosh Zakerhaghighi
3
1 - Ph.D. student of Urban Planning, Technical and Engineering Faculty, Quds City Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Academic staff member, Department of Urban Planning, Technical and Engineering Faculty, Quds City Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Associate Professor,, Hameadn Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran.
Keywords: model, advocacy planning, sustainable development, , small cities,
Abstract :
This study aims to elucidate the capacities of proxy urban planning in small cities and propose a model for their sustainable development. It is an applied and exploratory-explanatory study employing a mixed-methods approach (qualitative-quantitative). In the qualitative phase, expert interviews were conducted with university professors and executive officials of small cities in northern Hamadan Province. A phenomenological strategy and thematic content analysis were utilized, employing MAXQDA 2020 and iMindMap 9 software to extract the components of proxy urban planning and develop a thematic network diagram. In the quantitative phase, the study adopted a descriptive and survey-based approach. To assess content validity and implement the Delphi technique, one-sample T-tests and Kendall’s coefficient were applied using SPSS version 26. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the model’s goodness-of-fit through homogeneity validity, convergent and discriminant validity, composite reliability, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The statistical sample, based on theoretical and saturation sampling, included an expert panel and 384 residents from the small cities of Kabudarahang, Razan, and Damagh. The findings identified seven key components of proxy urban planning in small cities: financial, accountability, participatory, empowerment, justice, decision-making, and educational. Among these, the highest mean score (3.65) was recorded for accountability and educational dimensions, while the lowest mean score (3.42) pertained to decision-making. No significant differences were observed between the perspectives of the general public, experts, and officials regarding the key components of proxy urban planning. The results indicate that the proposed proxy urban planning model demonstrates a strong fit for the sustainable development of small cities and can serve as a foundation for practical policy recommendations in this field.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Small urban settlements are considered as a bridge between big cities, intermediate cities and surrounding villages. For this reason, it seems necessary to recognize and present the operational model and strategies for the sustainable development of these cities.
Sustainable development of cities depends on efficient urban planning and management. One of the most important changes in the process of preparing and implementing urban plans is the role that is given to people's participation in these plans. One of the planning theories that has taken effective steps in this field, is advocacy planning. According to the nature of advocacy planning, which seeks justice and support for disadvantaged groups and citizens in need of rehabilitation, in the essence of this type of planning, it seems that this method of planning can support its target community in small cities; Therefore, in this research, an attempt is made to provide a model of this planning method by clarifying the capacities of advocacy planning in facing the issues of sustainable development of small cities, and taking into account the opinions of the citizens and urban managers of these cities to make this model more effective. Therefore, this research seeks to find an answer to the question, "What are the components of advocacy planning in the sustainable development of small cities?" Providing practical solutions and suggested models for the use of advocacy planning, suitable for small cities.
Methodology
In terms of the result, the present research is a part of applied research, in terms of the goal, it is part of exploratory-explanatory research. In the qualitative part of the current research, the researcher used the phenomenological strategy and the tactic of analyzing the content of the interview (theme analysis). In the quantitative part, research is based on the nature and method of descriptive research (descriptive or non-experimental research includes survey research, correlational research, post-event research, action research, case study, etc.) and is of the type of contextualization. According to the problem and importance of the research, the statistical community of the qualitative part was divided into two parts of the expert panel, which includes university professors, officials and executives related to the economic and social indicators of small cities in the north of Hamedan province, will be identified and discovered using MAXQDA 2020 qualitative analysis software. Also, in order to measure the content validity ratio and perform the steps of the Delphi technique, one-sample T-tests and Kendall's coefficient will be used under SPSS version 26 quantitative software. They were. The size of the statistical population was based on the novelty and non-duplication of the codes extracted from the interviews with the panel of experts. The statistical sample was selected based on the size of the statistical sample with a targeted approach based on theoretical and theoretical saturation based on the extracted codes from the interview with the panel of experts, and 384 citizens, managers, officials and experts, including the cities of Kobudar Ahang, Rezen and Demaq participated in the quantitative part of this research.
Results and discussion
In order to identify the most important components of advocacy planning in the sustainable development of small towns, through interviews with experts, including university professors with urban expertise and relevant officials and executives of small towns in the north of Hamadan province, and with a qualitative analysis approach, thematic analysis method was used with MAXQDA2020 software. Each of the participants stated the components of advocacy planning in the sustainable development of small cities to be examined in the form of open coding (finding conceptual understandings) and central (connection between understandings). These components were presented in different categories and in 43 codes. became The components of advocacy planning have financial central codes with 7 codes, responsibility with 8 codes, partnership with 10 codes, empowerment with 8 codes, justice with 2 codes, decision making with 4 codes, education with 4 codes. Also, the network diagram of the themes of the urban planning components of the mentioned components according to the main question of the research was obtained with iMindMap software version 9 with 7 main topics. In the content validity stage,after completion of the Delphi technique steps in three consecutive stages of the mentioned components were brought in 20 components and corresponding items. In order to check the suitability of the obtained model, structural equation analysis under PLS software was used, and the predictive power of the criterion variable was measured, and the results showed that the advocacy planning model in small cities is 70% strong, and the components of representative urban planning predicts as an endogenous variable or criterion. On the other hand, the Gof test, which is related to the goodness of fit index, showed that the power of the fit to investigate the research question is very strong. Also, the Aston-Geisser Q2 index given for the endogenous variable shows that the quality of the structural model in the research question is evaluated in a very strong way. The statistical analysis of the dimensions of advocacy planning from the perspective of the participants showed that among the dimensions of representative urban planning, the highest average with a value of 3.65 is related to the dimensions of responsibility and education, and the lowest average with a value of 3.42 is related to the decision-making dimension. Also, since the significance level obtained from the Z statistic of the U-Man-Whitney test is more than 0.05, therefore, with a confidence level of 95%, there is no significant difference between advocacy planning in the general public and elites and officials.
Conclusion
By comparing the result of the main question of the research and the backgrounds of the research, it is concluded that the components of aadvocacy planning in small towns include financial,responsibility,partnership,empowerment, justice, decision-making and educational components. And it can be written that by strengthening the internal structure of small cities and creating attractive areas in these cities, the population can be drawn towards this group of cities and in a way, the sustainability in these cities can be strengthened. to the underprivileged and minority groups, to lead small cities towards sustainable growth and development. In the end, based on the results, implementation solutions and suggestions for using supportive planning for the sustainable development of small cities in the face of existing limitations and weaknesses were presented as an application program.
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