An Examination of the Effect of Social dimensions on Peoples’ use of Urban Public Spaces (Case study: Chamran Recreational Site of Shiraz Located Between Shahidan Sheikhi and Niayesh Bridge)

Abstract

Space and society are clearly interrelated in such a way that conceiving of the former without the latter as well as understanding society without its spatial components is impossible. Public urban spaces provide the grounds for citizens' social interactions and communication. More importantly, active presence of people in these areas promotes levels of social interaction, sense of cooperation and citizenship. The urban public spaces enjoy favorable social dimensions. The present study initially investigated the distinction between public and private spaces and then examined the effect of social dimensions of public spaces including concepts such as people and regions, territoriality, trust, security, informal monitoring and social network on the degrees of peoples' use of such areas as Chamran promenade located in Shiraz. To collect the necessary data, the library and field methods were employed and 150 subjects were chosen and surveyed as the research statistical sample. Finally, the data were analyzed through logistic regression analysis using SPSS. The results indicated that social dimensions, i.e. territoriality and social networks play a key role in the degrees of peoples' use of public urban areas