Evaluating the Status of Affordable Housing in Parand City with a Social Sustainability Approach

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze and rank the factors affecting the status of affordable housing in Parand City with an emphasis on the social sustainability approach and to identify the most influential criteria affecting residents’ quality of life and residential satisfaction. This research was applied in terms of purpose and adopted a mixed-methods approach. Initially, the dimensions and indicators related to affordable housing and social sustainability were extracted through documentary studies and literature review. The statistical population consisted of housing experts, urban planners, municipal managers, and university scholars related to urban planning, who were selected purposively through snowball sampling. Data were collected using a closed-ended questionnaire based on a 1–9 scoring scale. The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model was employed to analyze and rank the influential criteria affecting the social sustainability of affordable housing in Parand City. The TOPSIS results indicated that the criterion “residents’ access to educational, healthcare, recreational, and service land uses” ranked first with a closeness coefficient of 0.716296. The criterion “security throughout all hours of the day and night” ranked second with a coefficient of 0.680962, while “housing ownership or rental costs” ranked third with a coefficient of 0.66590. Indicators such as green space quality, transportation network expansion, managerial coordination, and residents’ participation in local decision-making were ranked lower, reflecting weaknesses in the managerial and social dimensions of achieving social sustainability in affordable housing projects in Parand City. The findings demonstrated that achieving social sustainability in affordable housing projects cannot be realized solely through the physical provision of housing units. Economic, social, environmental, service-related, and managerial dimensions must be considered simultaneously. Inadequate access to urban services, employment opportunities, public spaces, and weak managerial coordination have caused many Mehr Housing projects in Parand City to function merely as dormitory settlements. Therefore, improving quality of life and achieving social sustainability in Parand require strengthening service infrastructures, enhancing security, expanding employment opportunities, improving urban governance, and increasing residents’ participation in decision-making processes.