Exploring and analyzing the drivers affecting the empowerment of informal settlements with an emphasis on the co-creation approach (Case study: informal settlement neighborhoods in Zanjan city)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Zanjan University

2 Academic staff member

10.22034/gp.2025.65242.3346

Abstract

Objective: The co-creation approach to empowerment can help improve the living conditions of residents of informal and marginalized areas and allow them to play an active role in decision-making and service design processes. This approach not only helps strengthen individual and social capacities, but can also lead to the creation of sustainable and effective solutions to existing challenges.

Method: The present study uses a structural-interpretive model to analyze the drivers affecting the empowerment of informal settlements with an emphasis on the co-creation approach in informal settlement neighborhoods of Zanjan. Data collection was carried out through survey and library studies. The statistical population of the study in the form of an elite panel includes 20 professors and doctoral students of urban development, urban planning, and urban management, who were selected using the snowball sampling method. The grounded theory method with the help of MAXQDI software and the equilibrium interaction analysis approach with the help of Scenario Wizard software were used to analyze the data.

Results: The research findings based on the grounded theory model showed that the most important components of empowering informal settlements with an emphasis on the co-creation approach include capacity building, institutional synergy, social participation, education, dialogue, access, flexibility, and information transparency. Also, according to the interactive interaction analysis approach, the most important strategy for empowering informal settlements with an emphasis on the co-creation approach includes the desirability of the street network and the physical texture of the neighborhood with an impact factor of +2; creating opportunities for residents to share ideas with each other on social media with an impact factor of +3; supporting ideas raised by residents with an impact factor of +2; and providing transparent information in a timely manner with an impact factor of +3.

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Journal of Geography and Planning

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 10 September 2025

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