Urmia University Geography and Regional Future Studies 2981-118X 3 4 2026 02 20 Spatial analysis of Happy City indicators and their determinants in urban areas (Case study: Mashhad Metropolis) Spatial analysis of Happy City indicators and their determinants in urban areas (Case study: Mashhad Metropolis) 91 105 121821 10.30466/grfs.2025.56065.1098 FA Ahmad Hajarian Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Geography and Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. 0000-0003-4487-3586 Journal Article 2025 03 17 To realize citizenship rights and sustainable development of urban spaces, in recent years, numerous concepts have been proposed by urban and regional theorists and planners. Healthy city, child-friendly city, green city, electronic city, happy city, etc., are key concepts. Among these concepts, Happy City holds special importance and significance due to its inclusion of numerous indicators and variables. In a way, a happy city ensures the mental and physical health of its citizens. The purpose of this research is to spatially analyze the indicators of a happy city in the 13 regions of the Mashhad metropolis. The present research is of an applied type in terms of purpose and a descriptive-analytical study in terms of nature and method, and the data collection method is documentary (library) and field (questionnaire). The statistical sample size includes citizens living in the 13 regions of the Mashhad metropolis, which is estimated to be 171 questionnaires based on the population of 3,062,242 in 2016 and distributed according to the population of each region. SPSS and multi-criteria decision-making methods such as MEREC and COCOSO, and the structural equation method (Smart PLS) were used to analyze the data and information. The results of the study show that regions 9, 1, and 4 have the highest, and regions 3, 12, and 10 have the lowest levels of happy city indicators in Mashhad. Based on the results of the structural equation testing, the economic factors variable, which has a total impact coefficient of 1.523, had the greatest impact on the happy city, followed by the physical factors with a coefficient of 0.687 and the social factors with a coefficient of 0.622. To realize citizenship rights and sustainable development of urban spaces, in recent years, numerous concepts have been proposed by urban and regional theorists and planners. Healthy city, child-friendly city, green city, electronic city, happy city, etc., are key concepts. Among these concepts, Happy City holds special importance and significance due to its inclusion of numerous indicators and variables. In a way, a happy city ensures the mental and physical health of its citizens. The purpose of this research is to spatially analyze the indicators of a happy city in the 13 regions of the Mashhad metropolis. The present research is of an applied type in terms of purpose and a descriptive-analytical study in terms of nature and method, and the data collection method is documentary (library) and field (questionnaire). The statistical sample size includes citizens living in the 13 regions of the Mashhad metropolis, which is estimated to be 171 questionnaires based on the population of 3,062,242 in 2016 and distributed according to the population of each region. SPSS and multi-criteria decision-making methods such as MEREC and COCOSO, and the structural equation method (Smart PLS) were used to analyze the data and information. The results of the study show that regions 9, 1, and 4 have the highest, and regions 3, 12, and 10 have the lowest levels of happy city indicators in Mashhad. Based on the results of the structural equation testing, the economic factors variable, which has a total impact coefficient of 1.523, had the greatest impact on the happy city, followed by the physical factors with a coefficient of 0.687 and the social factors with a coefficient of 0.622. https://grfs.urmia.ac.ir/article_121821_5258fca39822945e2440dc6eef5d618a.pdf