The role of creative tourism in enhancing urban sustainability indicators (Case study: Ahvaz city)

Karimi Hatami, Jamileh; Ramesht, Mohammad Hossein; Nojavan Besnighan, Mohammad Reza

The role of creative tourism in enhancing urban sustainability indicators (Case study: Ahvaz city)

Document Type : Article extracted from thesis

Authors

Jamileh Karimi Hatami ¹ ^¶

Mohammad Hossein Ramesht ²

Mohammad Reza Nojavan Besnighan ³

¹ . PhD Student, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

² Professor, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

³ Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Maybod Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran.

Abstract

Background and Objective: In today's world, for the realization of sustainable urban development, creative tourism is considered as a key variable that plays an important role in improving urban sustainability indicators. The present study, focusing on the city of Ahvaz, examines the necessity of how creative tourism can play a role as a powerful tool in improving urban sustainability indicators. By identifying the cultural and artistic potential of the city, it seeks to provide practical solutions to solve environmental, social and economic challenges, and in this way, it draws a path to achieving a sustainable and dynamic city.
Materials and Methods: The statistical population was 1,184,788 citizens of Ahvaz, of whom 384 were selected as a statistical sample using the Cochran formula and studied. Data analysis was performed through correlation analysis and structural equation modeling using SPSS and Smart PLS software.
Findings and Results: The results showed that the research measurement tool has high validity and reliability. The average variance extracted (AVE) values for all constructs are above 0.5 and the composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach's alpha values are also above 0.7, indicating the convergent validity and sufficient internal consistency of the instrument. In confirmatory factor analysis, the factor loadings showed that each sub-index is a strong and valid indicator for its respective construct, as almost all factor loadings were above 0.7. The highest factor loading was related to the "Creativity" sub-index (0.914) and the lowest was related to "Green Space" (0.631). These results confirm that the measurement model has high accuracy and validity.

Keywords

Sustainable city

tourism

creative tourism

PLS structural modeling

Ahvaz city

Subjects

Urban Planning

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