Quality of Life and Attitudes Towards Third Place in the Different Social Setting in Tabriz, Iran

Quality of life is a noticeable concept in urban areas. Indeed, assessing the QOL in different social setting can be used as an environmental quality diagnosis of previous policy strategies while it is a required foundation for drafting future spatial and urban planning policies. With the growth of urban population, changes in the work and life pattern, the need for recreation and leisure has gained a further necessity for the urbanites and has turned to one of their major needs. Creating such centers as third places- away from work and life- foster communication and interaction among the people. Oldenburg defined the third place as a location outside of home or work that supports social interaction and emotional support, regardless of levels and social classes, ethnic and racial differences. This study has investigated the relationship between QOL in different social setting and people identification of third place, for spending leisure time. In this research, Tabriz, has been chosen as a sample of this study. Cochran’s formula was used to determine sampling volume while questionnaires were distributed among citizens; after that the required data has been collected and analyzed via SPSS software. The research findings show that: In three districts, four dimensions of subjective and three dimensions of objective QOL are identified and the results show that the respondents’ different levels of education, income, occupation status, etc. are important factors that influence people’s attitudes towards quality of life. In the other way,social classes significantly affect the quality of leisure time; The amount of income and culture area are strong predicting factors which are affecting the choice of third places for spending leisure time.