کیفیت مکان سوم و نقش آن در بهزیستی ذهنی و اصالت وجودی مطالعه موردی: فضای عمومی ارگ کریم‌خان شیراز

ABSTRACT
The characteristics of modern lifestyle require that people, in addition to the first and second places, have other places, called third places, to spend time, relieve the tensions of daily life, and strengthen social relationships. Public urban spaces are important third places that, in addition to enhancing subjective and emotional well-being, seem to improve the quality of the self-discovery experience. The present study is an applied, descriptive-analytical research that examined the quality of the third place and its effect on subjective well-being and existential authenticity, using questionnaire data from a sample of 390 people. The study's statistical population comprises people aged 18 and older living in the city of Shiraz who have been in the public space around the Karim Khan Citadel at least once, to benefit from the functions of the third place. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software and included correlation coefficients, multiple regression analysis, One-way ANOVA, and One-sample T-test. The findings of the study showed that the quality of the third place in each of its three dimensions is higher than the average level. The levels of subjective well-being and existential authenticity were also evaluated as higher than the average. The results of the regression analysis showed that the quality of the third place has a significant and positive effect on both subjective well-being and existential authenticity, accounting for more than 58% of the variance in subjective well-being and 46% of the variance in existential authenticity.
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The characteristics of modern lifestyle require that people have other places to spend time, relieve the tensions of daily life, and strengthen social relationships, in addition to the first place (home) and the second place (workplace). Such places are called third-places and include a wide range. For example, parks, coffee shops, sports clubs, entertainment centers, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. Public urban spaces are important third-places that, while simple and unpretentious, are affordable for leisure time and open to all citizens. In addition to improving the level of subjective and emotional well-being, third-places can enhance the quality of the experience of self-discovery, which has been conceptualized as “existential authenticity.” It is worth noting that the relationship between third-places and quality of life, welfare, well-being, and related concepts has been less studied. In particular, research on the effects of third-place quality on subjective well-being and existential authenticity is scarce and limited. Given the importance of the subject, the present study has investigated the effect of third-place quality on subjective well-being and existential authenticity, and, in this regard, the public space of the Karim Khan Citadel in Shiraz has been considered a case study.
 
Methodology
The present study is an applied and descriptive-analytical research that investigates the quality of the public space of the Citadel of Karim Khan in Shiraz, focusing on its role in subjective well-being and existential authenticity. In order to collect the required data, in addition to library studies, the field method -questionnaire- was conducted. The study's statistical population comprises people aged 18 and older living in Shiraz who have been in the public space around the Citadel of Karim Khan at least once, with the aim of benefiting from the functions of the third-place. The questionnaire was completed at the Citadel of Karim Khan using a simple random sampling method. Overall, 410 questionnaires were completed, of which 390 were valid and usable. The research questionnaire included questions about the general characteristics of the individuals and their views on the items related to the main variables of the research, including the quality of the third-place, subjective well-being, and existential authenticity. In this study, the "quality of the third-place" was conceptualized as a three-dimensional construct including "physical and functional attributes", "sociability and pedestrianism", and "beauty and meaning", each of which was operationally defined through 7, 5, and 4 items, respectively. The variables "subjective well-being" and "existential authenticity" were also defined based on 6 and 5 items, respectively. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and statistical tests, including correlation coefficients, multiple regression analysis, One-way ANOVA, and One-sample T-test.
 
Results and discussion
The findings of the study showed that the quality of the third-place in each of its three dimensions is higher than the average level. The levels of subjective well-being and existential authenticity were also found to be higher than the average. The effect of third-place quality on subjective well-being and existential authenticity was examined using multiple regression analysis. The results of the regression analysis showed that the quality of the third-place, with a regression coefficient of 0.767 and an adjusted coefficient of determination of 0.585, has a significant and positive effect on subjective well-being, and the variance of the quality of the third-place can explain 58.5% of the variance of subjective well-being. It is worth noting that among the three dimensions of the quality of the third-place, “physical and functional attributes,” with a standard beta coefficient of 0.558 - has the most significant effect on subjective well-being. The findings also showed that the quality of the third-place, with a regression coefficient of 0.681, has a significant, positive effect on existential authenticity, explaining 46% of its variance. According to the results, there is no statistically significant difference between the effect coefficients of the independent variables, i.e., the three dimensions of the quality of the third-place. The result of One-way ANOVA showed that there is a significant relationship between the frequency of presence in the place and subjective well-being, so that the level of subjective well-being in the group that has experienced presence in the environment of the Karim Khan Citadel more than ten times is significantly different from other groups, higher than them. Regarding the existential authenticity variable, the results showed that there is a significant difference between the group of people who have visited the Karim Khan Citadel more than ten times and the groups who have visited once and three to five times, so that the average value of the existential authenticity variable in the group who have visited more than ten times is higher than the other two groups.
 
Conclusion
As an interesting example of a third-place, the area around the Karim Khan Citadel in Shiraz was studied, and its effect on subjective well-being and existential authenticity was confirmed. As mentioned, third-places include a wide range of places with different scales and functions. The management system of some third-places is personal and private, such as shopping malls, cafes, clubs, restaurants, and the like. In contrast, a group of third-places are public urban spaces whose management is attributed to public institutions such as municipalities. The degree of inclusion of users of these public spaces is much wider than that of other third-places mentioned, so that people from different socio-economic statuses can easily use them without any special restrictions and often without paying any fees. Such spaces are particularly valuable for improving the quality of life and advancing social justice. According to this study's findings, it is recommended to improve environmental quality and access to public urban spaces, including the area around the Citadel of Karim Khan in Shiraz.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.