Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: In the modern world, urban spaces, on the one hand, and contemporary citizens, on the other hand, are heavily influenced by the effects of smart and virtual spaces and technologies. Hence, it is pivotal to establish spaces that would simultaneously meet the health needs of contemporary humans and pay special attention to the smart dimensions of contemporary life. The concepts of a healthy city and a smart city are emerging ideas that were introduced towards the end of the twentieth century, driven by the rapid growth of urban populations and the resulting challenges, along with economic and technological changes brought about by globalization. The concept of healthy cities was developed within an initiative framework by the World Health Organization and was introduced in the wake of the search for promoting health by a general entity of the international sphere (Taylor, 2010). The concept of smart cities was also initiated by technological companies in the private sector and refers to the utilization of innovations and technological sources in urban infrastructure and services. Accordingly, just as there are a large number of innovative approaches, there are common indicators used both in healthy cities and in smart cities. Assuming a general health priority, the subject of smartization in urban space is regarded as a strategic objective, causing the fatality of pandemic and non-pandemic diseases to be fewer and thus helping to create a prosperous and competitive economy. The present study aims to explain the components affecting a smart and healthy urban space and to provide a general conceptual framework in this connection.
Methods: From a goal perspective, the study was applied, and from the nature of information and its analytical perspective, it was qualitative, falling under documentary research. The present study was also considered a mixed research method. In this direction, the dimensions and components of a healthy and smart city, raised by professionals and experts, were first collected and were then coded by using content analysis, leading to the determination of a general healthy and smart city framework. Next, the determined indicators were firstly incorporated and then scored and ranked by ten experts by using the five criteria of urban space scales, health and smartization relevance, easiness of access to information, measurability, and spatial diversity changes via the Goeller scorecard method. Because the five criteria are not equally important, the AHP method and Expert Choice software were used to assign weights to the criteria. To calculate the final score, the score of each indicator was multiplied by the weight of the relevant criterion, and then all the scores resulting from the indicators were added up, leading to a final score of 10. The indicators that received a score of higher than 5 were selected and the “general conceptual framework of a healthy city with a smart city approach” was explained. Finally, to control the quality of the extracted framework, the Cohen’s Kappa Index was used to compare the researcher’s view with an expert’s to finally provide an ID of indicators.
Findings: The explained conceptual framework consisted of 5 economic, social, managerial, physical and environmental dimensions, encompassing 12 components and 52 indicators of a healthy and smart urban space. The economic dimension consists of the component of economic prosperity and the indicators of strengthening local markets, tourism, and business diversity. The social dimension consists of the component of social communications with the indicators of social engagement, social and ethnic plurality, participation in social life, the component of social facilities with the indicators of accessibility and the awareness-raising of cultural events, accessibility and the awareness-raising of recreational events, access to sports amenities, access to welfare services, access to high-speed Internet, wireless coverage, and finally the component of health with the indicators of access to healthy food, promoting bodily exercises, awareness-raising and training health principles, and access to healthcare services. The managerial dimension consists of the component of urban management that involves the indicators of cultural heritage preservation (regeneration), citizens’ satisfaction with urban management performance, administrating the effective programs of garbage collecting and recycling and traffic management. The physical dimension consists of five components titled as accessibility with the indicators of access to public transportation, access to pedestrian zones, access to cycling paths, access to places of rest, access to green spaces, access to clean public spaces, access to washrooms, access to parking lots, safety with the indicators of the safety of cycling paths, the safety of pedestrian zones, traffic safety, the quality of urban pathways, security with the indicators of lighting and illumination of urban spaces, 24-hour land uses, the new generation of rescue police, social monitoring (urban smart cameras), transportation with the indicators of various and diverse options of vehicles, providing the Internet in public transportation, timers indicating the time of arriving at the destination, the applications showing the position of the public vehicles, the quality of public transportation (using sensors to improve public mobility), non-motorized public transportation (EVs, hybrids, and scooters), and environmental design with the indictors of land use diversity, design proportionate to peoples’ needs, diverse greenery, the quality of urban furniture, and place attachment. The environmental dimension consists of two components of energy with the indicator of using renewable sources and the environmental quality with the indicators of air, sound, and visual quality, water quality, and surface water collection and disposal.
Conclusion: According to the scores calculated, the environmental dimension with a score of 9.4 held greater importance than other dimensions and should be paid special attention in urban planning and designing. As all indicators of environmental quality received a score of 9.9, a key requirement for creating a healthy urban space with a smart city approach is to focus on air and water quality, reduce sound and visual pollution, and manage and collect surface waters effectively. The physical dimension with a score of 8.6 ranked second, followed by the social dimension (a score of 8), and economic and managerial dimensions with scores of 7.6 and 6.9, respectively.