Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of social capital in the urban development in Sardasht. The sample was chosen among young people aged over 18 in Sardasht and for this purpose, 375 participants were selected using the number of statistical population and Morgan table. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. To determine the validity of the questionnaires, opinions of 7 teachers and experts in urban planning were used and cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the reliability of variables. To analyze the data, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between social capital and urban development. The findings suggested that there is a significant and positive relationship between the dimensions of social capital (social trust, social participation, social cohesion, social knowledge, piety) and urban development in Sardasht.
INTRODUCTION
One of the important aspects of sustainable social development is to use the concept of capital in its social aspect. Although the term capital is primarily used in the economic sphere, but since past two decades, it is increasingly accepted by the public domain and it is currently proposed as one of the important cases in the development. The type of capital which is called in the economic analysis as physical or productive capital, natural and human capital and the forth type has been added as social capital (Seidaiee et al., 2009).
Discussion of social capital, before 1916, was first introduced in an article by Hani Fan of West Virginia University. However, despite its importance in social studies until 1960 which was used by Jane Jacobs in urban planning was neglected; in 1970, this theory was presented in economy by Lauri Ward. Social capital is an interdisciplinary concept which is applicable in sociology, economics, psychology and other social areas (Renani, 2006).
Generally, social capital is a network of social relations which is measured by norms such as trust and civil and social participation. In other words, social capital is a source of collective interactions which is the linking aspect of social factors and it makes maximum use of physical and human resources for the development and progress of the society. Social capital is measured by indicators such as social participation, social support, social networks, civil participation and reliability and a society in which each of the mentioned indicators are high has a high social capital. Communitys efforts to increase reliability, civil participation and social participation lead to the improvement of social relationships and reliability among individuals and individuals with organizations and governments and this situation helps the communities to use the maximum manpower and material resources to develop. In contrast, societies in which social and civil participation and mutual trust among individuals and individuals with organizations is low and a form of suspicion and distrust exists among them, achieving development is not possible (Gholipour, 2007).
In a society where social capital is lacking, other capitals are left truncation and have low efficiency. Thus, social capital is considered as a guiding principle to achieve development and those managers are successful who can have a proper understanding of the importance and function of social capital. Thus, social capital which is in fact provided by the values and norms of society, strengthening mutual obligations among individuals, groups and to a large extent social participation will protect the community and social groups in the political, economic, social crises and it can prevent the community from backwardness and advances it towards development. Urban development as a dimension of development is linked to the lifestyle of a society and seeks improvement in the social, economic and cultural situation of the community and the formation and strengthening of social capital is required in this respect (Tabrizi and Mohseni, 2010).
Sardasht is a Kurdish city in Western Azerbaijan province and it is the capital of Sardasht which is located in the southwest of the province and the southern Urmia and it is the neighbor of northern Iraq and Federal Region of Kurdistan. The city’s altitude is 1480 m above sea level. The present study aims to assess and evaluate the social capital through its components and study the relationship between these variables and urban development in Sardasht.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study was conducted by survey method and to study the relason’s correlation coefficient and finally to understand the effects of independent variables on the dependent variable, multiple regression method were used. The study population is residents of Sardasht over 18 years old that based on population estimates in 2011 of Iran Statistical Center, they are 14,925 individuals. Using Morgan table, the sample size of this study was determined as 375 individuals. Samples were selected through simple random sampling. A design-researcher questionnaire is used In this study. To assess the reliability of the questionnaire, face validity was used; for this purpose, the views of 7 teachers and experts in urban planning were used. To obtain the reliability, Cronbach’s alpha is commonly used in survey researches. Cronbach’s alpha of variables is mentioned in Table 1.
| Table 1: | Cronbach’s alpha of variables |
| Table 2: | Mutual correlation coefficients of social capital and urban development |
| N<375: p<0.05 | |
RESULTS
Descriptive results:
| • | Gender: 86% were male and 14% female |
| • | Age: 46% aged between 30 and 40 years, 39% between 41 and 50 years and 24% over 51 years old |
| • | Level of education: 5% diploma degree, 16% associate degree, 58% B.A degree and 21% had a master’s or PhD degree |
Results of hypothesis tests: In this section data are put into the SPSS and then analysis is done using Pearson correlation coefficient. The results of the analysis of assumptions are discussed below. The results listed in Table 2 show that there is a significant and positive relationship between social capital and urban development among youth in Sardasht. The results also show that there is a significant positive relationship between the components of social capital, social trust (p<0.05), social participation (p<0.05), social cohesion (p<0.05), social awareness (p<0.05), piety (p<0.05) and urban development among youth in Sardasht.
DISCUSSION
Achieving development and progress requires the optimal deployment and utilization of different types of capital. Natural, financial, economic, social and human capitals are different kinds of capitals that are energy resources in the community. With scientific study and careful understanding of social capital among different walks of life, this concept can be used to analyze the social-cultural issues as a predictor variable as well as capacities and resources (human and material) in the cultural and social aspect (Seidaiee et al., 2009).
Social capital is a hidden possession that emerges from psychological readiness of the community to avoid personal interests and involving in collective actions. Social capital is a form of capital that exists potentially in all human societies and to flourish and activate, it requires gathering a few factors and realizing specific circumstances which are rarely obtained. If it is identified timely and it is truly guided it is able to cause a dramatic change and create a qualitative development (Ketabi et al., 2004).
The purpose of this study was examining the relationship between social capital and urban development in Sardasht. The results of the main hypothesis analysis showed that there was a significant positive relationship between social capital and urban development and this was consistent with the findings of other researchers (Farzaneh and Ramezani, 2012; Tabrizi and Mohseni, 2010; Bakhsh and Fadavi, 2009; Grewe, 2003). Then, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and seek to strengthen social capital among citizens of Sardasht.
The data analysis results also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between social trust and urban development and this is consistent with the findings of other researchers (Farzaneh and Ramezani, 2012; Tabrizi and Mohseni, 2010). Trust is considered as the heart of social capital, while it is the means of creating social capital, it is also considered as one of its goals as well. Trust causes the feeling of safety, comfort and willingness to participate. Confidence and trust are considered as social lubrication that lubricates the wheels of social and economic exchanges; if not, the daily interactions will be very costly and difficult. Therefore, various dimensions of trust show different ways of accessing to resources (Shafia and Shafia, 2012). Then, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and they seek to strengthen social capital among citizens of Sardasht.
The third hypothesis analysis results also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between social trust and urban development and this is consistent with the findings of other researchers (Farzaneh and Ramezani, 2012; Tabrizi and Mohseni, 2010). Generally, a plurality of networks of social participation in any group, organization or society is indicative of the level of its social capital. So, the wider the network of participation in a group, organization or community, the richer is the social capital. Then, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and they seek to strengthen social capital among citizens of Sardasht.
The fourth hypothesis analysis results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between social cohesion and urban development and these findings are coordinated with Farzaneh and Ramazani (2012) findings and are not coordinated with Tabrizi and Mohseni (2010) findings. Social cohesion is important to maintain trust in administrative reform and citizens need to know that short-term reform damages are far less than long-term damages. If the level of trust in a society is low and the communication is weak, community may be divided into several groups with completely opposite goals, that in this case, the interaction is somewhat more difficult. The relatively well-organized parts of the society may perform successfully in the effectiveness of economic policy to their advantage and disadvantage of other groups and even the whole society. In the absence of social capital, other capital may lose their effectiveness and without social capital, paving the way of economic and cultural development is uneven and difficult (Manzour and Yadipour, 2008). Thus, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and they seek to strengthen social capital among citizens of Sardasht.
The fifth hypothesis analysis results also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between social awareness and urban development and these findings are coordinated with Farzaneh and Ramazani (2012) findings and are not coordinated with Tabrizi and Mohseni (2010) findings. Thus, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and they seek to strengthen social capital among citizens of Sardasht.
The sixth hypothesis analysis results also showed that there is a significant positive relationship between piety and urban development and this is consistent with the findings of other researchers (Farzaneh and Ramezani, 2012; Tabrizi and Mohseni, 2010). Thus, officials and managers of Sardasht have to pay particular attention to this fact and seek to strengthen piety among citizens of Sardasht.
Therefore, the more the social capital and its components and elements i.e. social trust, social participation, social cohesion and social awareness and piety among citizens in Sardasht and strengthening the items would be provided; the more urban development will be realized.