Preipheral Urban Spaces Development

Preipheral Urban Spaces Development

Designing a Model for Assessing the Impact of the Facilitation Approach on the urban and suburban Neighborhoods Regeneration Process in Mashhad City

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hossein Aghajani 1
Sajedeh Baghban khiabani 2
Hamid Masoudi 3
1 Assistant Professor of Urban and regional sustainable development group, Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran.
2 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
10.22034/jpusd.2025.524980.1345
Abstract
Introduction
" Approximately 5,000 hectares of Mashhad City have been designated as targeted areas for regeneration. This zone includes 35 neighborhoods within the city, and by 2021, 32 neighborhood development offices had been established as part of the regeneration efforts. However, it appears that a lack of awareness among municipal managers and related organizations regarding the nature and mechanisms of regeneration and facilitation offices—coupled with varying expectations about the activities and performance of these offices—has led to delays and disruptions in the regeneration process. This situation poses significant challenges to effective interaction and coordination in the implementation of regeneration programs.
Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop a model that assesses the impact of the facilitation approach on the urban and peri-urban neighborhood regeneration process in Mashhad, utilizing structural equation modeling. In this study, after defining the variables and components and gathering insights from members of Mashhad's municipal council, the opinions of managers were evaluated and subsequently modeled to identify the most influential variables and components that shape the facilitation approach within the regeneration process.
 
Methodology
The approach adopted in this research is descriptive-analytical. In the first stage, necessary data were collected through a researcher-designed questionnaire, while in the second stage, data analysis and modeling were performed. The statistical population consisted of members of the Mashhad Municipality’s administrative council, from which 100 individuals were selected via simple cluster sampling to complete the questionnaire. To assess the validity and content validity of the questionnaire, factor analysis was employed, confirming validity at a 95% confidence level. The reliability of the instrument and its components was also established using Cronbach’s alpha, which was calculated at 0.948. After collecting the opinions of the council members regarding the various components, the relationships among the variables were modeled using structural equation modeling in SmartPLS software. During the modeling process, key statistical indicators such as factor loadings, t-statistics, R² coefficients, and correlation coefficients were evaluated to validate the relationships.
 
Results and discussion
Analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire reveals that the selected sample of managers and experts from Mashhad Municipality’s Administrative Council exhibits a moderate level of familiarity with the various processes and activities related to facilitation. The respondents generally evaluate the performance of facilitation offices across different domains as average. However, they believe that the connection between these offices and the municipality is predominantly effective in addressing citizens’ issues. Additionally, while their overall assessment of neighborhood development—both economically and physically—is moderate, they rate the offices’ success in the realm of social development as high. The influence of facilitation offices on the municipality’s regeneration efforts, as well as their responsiveness to municipal initiatives, are both considered moderate. Overall, the Mashhad Municipality’s Administrative Council expresses a moderate level of satisfaction with the performance of facilitation offices across various fields. Although their confidence in this planning approach and their willingness to pursue such initiatives are moderate, there is considerable support for the establishment and continued operation of these offices..
 
Conclusion
The results derived from the developed model in this section of the research indicate that the level of familiarity of the Administrative Council with the facilitation process, as an independent variable, has a stronger effect on their performance evaluation of the facilitation offices, which serve as a mediating variable. Additionally, the influence and receptiveness of the facilitation offices, as dependent variables, are significantly affected by the performance evaluations conducted by the Administrative Council. Based on the correlation coefficients and R² values obtained, familiarity with the facilitation approach explains 51.2% of the variance in the managers' performance evaluations. However, familiarity does not predict the level of agreement among them. Conversely, the mediating variables can predict 51.6% of the influence and receptiveness of facilitation offices from the perspective of urban managers, indicating that over half of the influence and receptiveness of the facilitation approach depends on the components examined in this study. An analysis of the factor loadings at a 95% confidence level also reveals that components such as the effectiveness of the municipality’s actions in fostering motivation and interaction between facilitation office management and municipal authorities, familiarity with initiatives for residents' economic empowerment, the continuity of office activities, the offices’ adaptability to demand strategy changes, and their effectiveness in enhancing public trust and citizen participation are the most significant. These components, with the highest factor loadings, sufficiently explain the related variables.
 
Funding
According to the responsible author, this article has no financial support
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.
Keywords
Regeneration
Facilitation
Urban and Peri-urban Neighborhoods
Structural Equation Modeling
Mashhad Municipality Advisory Council.

Subjects

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Preipheral Urban Spaces Development
Volume 7, Issue 4 - Serial Number 18
Winter
Autumn 2025
Pages 55-80