An Analysis of the Attractions of Suburbanization and its Relationship with Urban Shrinkage in Mashhad: A Case Study of Abouzar Town in Mashhad

The city which is developing is a successful city and the one which is not, is considered to be an ailing and shrinking city. In the past, cities faced many demographic changes caused by wars, natural disasters and epidemics. Nowadays, cities experience huge demographic changes, too. In this regard, urban shrinkage is defined as long-term population loss which leads to decline in a city or a city center. Urban suburbs also have a significant effect on transitioning the population from cities to suburbs; this study aims to analyze the attractions of Abouzar town in Mashhad as a suburb and study its relationship with urban shrinkage. This study uses a descriptive and analytical method and data were gathered through scientific sources and using a questionnaire. The population of the study consists of the inhabitants of Abouzar town who had left Mashhad and taken residence in this town. Using PASS software package, a sample size of 350 was determined. The questionnaire data were analyzed suing the SPSS22 software package and Smart PLS was used for modeling. Analysis of the attractions of Abouzar town revealed that social status, with 5 indices, has the most influence on the attraction of Abouzar town. Moreover, Spearman's test showed that a significant positive relationship exists between the attractions of Abouzar town and leaving it.