Measuring the Feeling of Social Security and Identifying the Key Drivers Affecting It in Urban Spaces: A Case Study of Ravansar, Kermanshah Province

AbstractStatement of Problem: Security directly and indirectly affects all aspects of citizens' lives. One of the most important aspects of security is the feeling of social security, which includes financial, life, job, and economic, and moral securities, etc. Examining how the state of social security feels and the key drivers that affect it was the main issue of the present study.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the indicators of feeling of social security and identify the key drivers that affect it in urban spaces. This was a case study in Ravansar City in Kermanshah Province.Method: The present quantitative and applied research was done with a combination of descriptive-analytical and exploratory methods. To achieve the research objectives, a combination of the opinions of citizens (364 people) and experts and specialists (30 people) was used. The main tool for data collection was a combination of a researcher-made questionnaire and the Delphi technique. To analyze the collected data SPSS and MicMac software was utilized.Results: The results showed that the average values of 2.692, 2.769, 2.6, 2.66, and 2.507 obtained for the dimensions of financial, occupational, and economic securities, moral, value, and cultural securities, and family security were significantly lower than the average base, respectively. Also, the variable of life safety with the value of 3.023 was not significantly different from its mean base. The results of the study of the general state of social security showed that the obtained average value of 2.788 was significantly lower than its average base. The results showed that the key drivers of social security affecting the feeling of social security were as follows: life satisfaction, good urban governance, income, trust, police performance, quality of physical environment, social cohesion, access to essential services and welfare, and performance of responsible institutions.Innovation: Identifying urban management as the link and main element of providing citizens’ sense of social security, which depends on their conscious participation in the selection of urban managers, was the innovation of the present study. IntroductionSecurity is one of the basic human needs. Human’s peace of mind is weakened and anxiety and restlessness replace it by reducing it. Many human needs depend on security. Although security plays an important and key role in the individual and social life of human beings and its absence or disruption has worrying consequences, the effects and damages of feeling insecure are worse than insecurity itself. Therefore, security can be considered as the main axis of human needs. However, today, the expansion of urbanization and the growing population of urban areas have complicated the problems of urban spaces as a result of insecurity. Lack of security and the sense of insecurity are the main challenges of urban spaces in this century.Ravansar City with a population of 24,527 people and 7,122 households is one of the urban spaces located in Kermanshah Province. It is one of the small and sparsely populated cities of this province in terms of population. Due to the spatial location of this city (being located in the main intercity traffic route and as the communication axis of Kermanshah to Javanrood, Paveh, Tazehabad, and Kamyaran to Oramanat region, it has experienced significant poverty, unemployment, etc. triggered by high traffic and congestion of population over the past years. Moreover, it has experienced an increasing trend of numerous crimes, including car theft, theft due to public property, theft from homes, etc. Since the citizens’ sense of security could be mentioned as a symbol of sustainable development of urban spaces, examining the their sense of security and identifying the factors affecting it in the form of key drivers was necessary. The general state of the feeling of social security in the current situation and identifying the factors affecting it could provide the ground for improving its level. MethodologyAccording to the objectives of the present study, this research was done in two parts. In general, it was a quantitative research that was done by combining descriptive-analytical and exploratory methods, through which the documentary data, including articles, reports, and data of the Statistics Center of Iran, and the field data consisting of the citizens and experts’ opinions could be collected. The first part of the research was dedicated to the purpose of assessing and measuring the citizens’ sense of social security and its components and the second part was related to identifying the key drivers affecting their sense of social security. In the first part of the research, the statistical population included 7122 heads of households in Ravansar City, from among whom 364 people were selected as the statistical sample by using Cochran's formula. The main tool for collecting the field data was a researcher-made questionnaire, which was evaluated for its (formal) validity by using the urban planning experts and specialists’ opinions, as well as those of the university professors. To assess the reliability of the questionnaire, a pre-test method was applied for completing 30 questionnaires. The obtained Cronbach's alpha coefficient was more than 0.7. Results and discussionThe results of the study of the general state of social security among the citizens were examined. The results of the frequency distribution table showed that the 27.5, 37.4, and 35.2% of the citizens had very weak and weak, moderate, and high and very high levels of social security, respectively. The results of examining the general state of social security among the citizens by using the mean comparison test showed that the obtained average value of 2.788 was significantly lower than the baseline average value. This was confirmed by the negative t-statistics, deviation from the mean, and upper and lower limits. The reason for this situation could be attributed to the weak status of the research-dependent variables, especially family, moral, job and economic, value and cultural, and financial securities.The findings of this study in connection with the analyses of the impact and effectiveness of the main variables affecting the feeling of social security showed that a total of 9 key variables from among 25 main factors affected the citizens’ feeling of social security in Ravansar City. These variables, in which mostly affected the northwestern half of the region had their most and least impacts on other variables, including the factors of life satisfaction, good urban governance, income, trust, police performance, quality of physical environment, Social cohesion, access to essential services and welfare, and functioning of the responsible institutions. ConclusionThe results of the present field research revealed that with the exception of the component of life security, other components of the feeling of social security in the study area were in an unfavorable situation. The results of the study of the general state of the feeling of social security also showed that the situation of this key indicator of sustainable urban development among the citizens was at an inappropriate level. The main reasons for the unsatisfactory state of social security in the study area were the rising trends of home and car thefts, numerous scams, weakening of trust among the citizens, job insecurity, income instability, increasing divorce rates, and concerns about community membership. There were also concerns about the gradual decline of religious and moral values, transportation of money and valuables, increasing drug use, and so on.In general, it could be said that due to the chain relationship of the components of the sense of social security with the citizens’ economic, social, managerial, cultural, and infrastructure conditions, etc., the residents’ sense of social security could be caused by several factors. Therefore, in continuation of the research, the key drivers affecting the citizens’ sense of social security were examined.In this regard, 9 key variables were identified from among the 25 factors affecting the citizens’ feeling of social security in Ravansar City. These variables had the most and least impacts on the other variables affecting their feeling of social security, which included life satisfaction, good urban governance, income, trust, police performance, quality of physical environment, social cohesion, access to essential services and welfare, and performance of the responsible institutions. According to the results, it could be said that several factors affected the citizens’ sense of social security. Accurate assessment of the nature of these key variables showed that the levels of the other variables affecting their sense of social security and consequently its state could be improved by coherent, integrated, and efficient urban management under the banner of good urban governance. Unfortunately, employment of committed, experienced, and specialized city managers, who were proficient in various urban affairs, was the missing link in the development of a sense of social security in the study area. 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Figures and Tables- Fig. 1: Conceptual model of the research (components of social security and its determinants)- Fig. 2: Location of the study area in Kermanshah Province, Iran- Table 1: The main dimensions of the feeling of social security, number of variables, and calculation of their reliability coefficients- Table 2: The main factors affecting the feeling of social security among the citizens of Ravansar City from the experts and specialists’ perspectives- Table 3: Assessment of the status of the indicators of social security among the citizens by using the mean comparison test- Table 4: Prioritization of the indicators of the feeling of social security among the citizens- Table 5: Assessment of the general state of social security among the citizens by using the frequency distribution table- Table 6: Evaluation of the general state of the feeling of social security among the citizens by using the mean comparison test- Table 7: MDI matrix of the key drivers affecting the feeling of social security among the citizens in Ravansar City- Figure 3: Status of the key drivers of social security among the citizens in Ravansar City- Fig. 4: Ravansar citizens’ direct effects on each other based on the variables of social security (very strong effects)- Fig. 5: Ravansar citizens’ direct effects on each other based on the variables of social security (very weak effects)- Fig. 6: Ravansar citizens’ indirect effects on each other based on the variables of social security (very strong effects)- Figure 7: Ravansar citizens’ direct effects on each other based on social the variables of security (very weak effects)