Discourse Analysis of the Planning and Decision-Making System of Urban Development Plans with Emphasis on the Role of the Creative Class in Multicultural Cities (Case Study: Shahr-e Kord)
Keywords:
Discourse analysis, urban development plans, creative class, multicultural cities, urban decision‑making, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Shahr‑e KordAbstract
The present study aimed to analyze the discourse of the planning and decision-making system of urban development plans with emphasis on the role of the creative class in multicultural cities and to explain how creativity, cultural diversity, and urban governance influence creative urban development in Shahr-e Kord. This study was conducted using an exploratory mixed-method approach through both qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 planners, decision-makers, and urban experts, as well as 12 executive managers and officials in Shahr-e Kord. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling methods, and the data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti software. In the quantitative phase, the conceptual model extracted from the qualitative findings was validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of employees of urban executive organizations in Shahr-e Kord, from which 364 participants were selected based on the Morgan table. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and AMOS software, and the validity and reliability of the proposed model were examined. The findings indicated that the discourse of the urban decision-making system in Shahr-e Kord was primarily grounded in scientific support, consultants’ professional competence, quality of plan preparation, and the three dimensions of the creative class, namely technology, human talent, and cultural tolerance. In contrast, the discourse of implementation and executive decision-making emphasized governance mechanisms, supervision, transparency, social participation, and quality of implementation. CFA results confirmed that all constructs possessed acceptable validity and reliability, and model fit indices demonstrated satisfactory model fitness (CFI=0.93, RMSEA=0.059, KMO=0.782). Structural equation modeling revealed that the quality of the planning and decision-making system, creative human talent, and cultural tolerance had significant direct effects on the decision-making and implementation system, which together with technology and social participation significantly explained creative urban development outcomes. Furthermore, the findings showed that the gap between the planning system and the implementation system constitutes one of the major barriers to achieving creative urban development in Shahr-e Kord. The findings suggest that achieving creative urban development in multicultural cities requires revising dominant planning and governance discourses and strengthening the linkage between expert-based decision-making and participatory implementation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Armin Amiri (Author); Seyyed Mohammad Rashtian; Mohammad Masoud (Author)
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