An Analysis of Residents’ Satisfaction in the City of Yazd, Iran

City of Yazd has experienced various forms of expansion and development in recent years. In general, various forms of urban expansion and development in the city of Yazd can be divided into three areas: the inner area ()central-historical zone)(, the middle area development occurred in the late Qajar and Pahlavi I and II eras)( and the peripheral area development in the last 40 years)(. These three areas generally include different physical-environmental characteristics that can form their own environmental quality. The purpose of this study is explaining the factors effecting on the living environment quality as well as the satisfaction of the residents. There for, the main factors that can affect the environmental quality have been, identified and the quality of residential environment has been evaluated in each area. The methodology of the study is based on Analytical – Exploratory method, using factors and cluster analysis technique. The research hypothesis stated as follows: “the quality of residential environment and satisfaction of residents in the inner city of Yazd are the worst among the other parts of the city, while they are better in the peripheral”. To achieve the factors affecting the quality of residential environment, 28 indicators have been defined. For evaluation and analyzing these indicators, first of all two neighborhoods were selected from each area for applying a multi-stage sampling technique and a simple random sampling method has been used too. Then a number of samples have been selected for the field research and interview, based on simple random sampling (proportional allocation) of the total households in each neighborhood. Dispersion of the selected samples covered the entire neighborhood area. Findings of the study showed that the indicators of the quality of residential environment and satisfaction could be divided into five factors, including (with the order of importance) “qualitative – quantitative potentials of living environment”, “easy movement and displacement”, “quality of public space”, “access to essential services” and “social – economical diversity of residents”. In fact, it could be said that the mentioned factors had important key roles in increasing satisfaction of the citizens of Yazd city. Cluster analysis of the data showed that ()among three areas of Yazd city- inner, middle and outer areas)(, the inner or central historical zone faced the lowest satisfaction of residents from environment quality point of view, and the middle zone faced the most satisfaction. Furthermore, the rate of outer zone of the city is between inner and middle section. Indeed, the conflict between current needs of residents and physical conditions of the historical zone is the main reason that satisfaction of the residents in this zone has been at the lowest level. While the middle zone of the city satisfies its residents because of the environment quality, through a rational and slow growth, adapting traditional criteria and efficient plan and design. Accessibility of the middle zone of the city to the existing services and facilities available in the CBD has been the most important factor in increasing people’s satisfaction, making it the best and most suitable area as a residential environment. However, the rate of resident’s satisfaction in the outer zone of the city has been less than the middle zone, because of its inaccessibility to the services.