Factors of Urban Identity in a Cultural City: Findings from a Field Study in the City of Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

The urban identity as the most salient spatial statement of a community’s character has a role in determination of values, norms, and human relations within the physical layout of an urban area. Acquiring the optimum and authentic identity and overcoming the identity crisis, especially in larger cities, are the concerns of Iran’s municipal management. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that are related to the urban identity in cities. The findings of this research can orient the urban managers and programmers to enhance the physical factors that influence urban identity. The method of this research is descriptive-analytical, and the results can turn into the practical aspects. The city of Tabriz in Iran was selected as the case study. The sample size includes 390 subjects being randomly chosen. The questionnaires were filled from public and in busy urban spaces of Tabriz city including Bazaar and Maqsudia districts. The collected data has been analysed on SPSS in terms of purpose by using the factor analysis and also multiple regression analysis. The findings of research show that 26 variables identified can be classified under four general categories including meaning-perception identity, physical-formal identity, social identity, and historical-natural identity. The four extracted factors can determine 65.50% of total changes of indexes studied. The results of multiple regression showed that the extracted factors overall can determine 99.8% of variance of dependent variable urban identity in the city of Tabriz. The factors of meaning-perception, social, physical-formal, and historical-natural factors respectively have the highest affectivity on the extent of urban identity according to the views of the respondents.