Analyzing spatial inequalities in Quality of Life in Ilam City

Shamai, Ali; Fasihi, Habibollah

doi:10.22034/gsma.2025.714081

Analyzing spatial inequalities in Quality of Life in Ilam City

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ali Shamai

Habibollah Fasihi

Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/gsma.2025.714081

Abstract

Introduction

A search for a good life has always been part of man's ways and means. Good living is constitutive of good living conditions and thus a life wherein man's physical, mental, and spiritual needs are met and satisfied in a desirable manner. While in the endeavor to live better and create good and quality life humans have created cities and these spaces provide better facilities and opportunities for their citizens, with all the prosperity and comfort it has brought, cities have suddenly thrown new challenges in the face of human life.
Quality of life is a method for planning great cities that is fairly recent, probably dating to the 1970s, when considerations regarding the human ecosystem's state drew the research towards this topic. Improving the quality of life in any society is one of the important goals of public policy and is seen as a set of practical strategies to improve policy, practice, and life for individuals and groups of people. Quality of life planning is the end goal of any given development policy and begs evaluation, which is the precondition of all planning. This research aims to assess the quality-of-life status based on 35 indicators addressing quality of life in Ilam city-province capital located in western Iran. Spreading over an area of 1803.3 hectares, the population of 187,809 people as per the national census of Iran in 2016 is identified for Ilam city. Ilam city is situated in a mountain valley, nearly at 1440 meters altitude.

Methodology

In contrast to humans, AI-based tools are more versed with data interpretation. Fifty-six indicators were divided into four dimensions (Environmental, Physical, Social, Economic) for assessing life quality in the studied area. The survey methodology was employed in data collection. Sample respondents were 380 heads of households living in Ilam city, who were requested to express their perceptions of the 35 questionnaire items using a 5-point scale ranging from very low to very high. Respondents' qualitative grades were assigned numerical scores on a 5 to 1 scale and then entered into SPSS software for analysis. The analysis included an application of responses to the one-sample t-test model. Thereafter, the coordinates of each of the completed questionnaires were recorded under the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system, and the data was entered into Arc Map software to form a point layer. The zoning maps for the quality of life were drawn using this layer and using the interpolation tool. This distracts from the statistical calculations and other analytical models carried out on these layers and information.

Results

People in Ilam city generally have an average quality of life. The average of the 35 indicators is a little under the hypothetical mean in t-test statistics, that is, 3. Out of 4, 3 dimensions were in a "moderate" situation, whereas the situation is "unfavorable" for the indicators of the economic dimension. Among the 4 dimensions, the score of the indicators which are set as environmental dimension is higher than those for the other dimensions alone and it is 3.18. The lowest score is also belonging to the indicators that are set in economic dimension as well (2.48). The scores for the two sets of dimensions, i.e., physical and social dimensions, stands at 3.17 and 2.96, respectively.
Among all 35 indicators, 4 have a desirable status, 8 indicators got an undesirable status, and 22 indicators have an average status. The zoning map shows that the quality of life is in better situation in the northwestern parts of Ilam city. On contrary, a somewhat lower quality of life is observed in the eastern fringes. The western suburbs of the city are also demonstrating a relatively better situation. After NW, the western fringes have recorded the second-highest quality of life in the city. Moran's index value (+0.600) suggests a random distribution pattern of the data revealing some spatial clustering between them. Moreover, given the elevated Z score (14.72) and the smaller P-Value (0.00), one can also conclude that there exists a correlation between the data.

Conclusion

In the areas of quality of life in Ilam, where higher indicators were observed, such aspects are partly dependent on the natural state of the environment. While the main areas of weakness in quality of life relate to indicators involving urban infrastructure and services, the economy, and means of livelihood, the enhancement of Ilam's quality of life is therefore correlated to the investment in urban infrastructure and services. Change of land use to any activity directly impacting quality of life should consider the relocation, reallocation, and transfer of some uses, such as the prison, out of the inner city. Also, to maximize the regeneration and renewal of the eroded fabric of the city and informal settlements, an easing of regulations to provide urban management support is required.

Keywords

Quality of life

Evaluation

Spatial inequality

Ilam

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