Statement of the problem: The efforts of urban designers and landscape architects to improve the aesthetic quality of neighborhoods without considering the priorities of residents and their lived experience will not lead to satisfaction and a sense of belonging and loyalty to the neighborhoods.
Research objective: The objective is to explain the priorities of intervention in improving the aesthetic quality in the central context of Shahrood city with an emphasis on physical characteristics, and to analyze the gap between the importance and perceived performance of indicators in order to make realistic decisions that are in line with the demands of residents.
Research method: By integrating importance-performance analysis (IPA) with structural equation modeling (SEM) and interpretive analysis, data were collected from 384 residents through a structured questionnaire that evaluates 15 aesthetic indicators in three dimensions of formal aesthetics, sensory aesthetics, and symbolic aesthetics.
Findings: SEM findings show that perceived importance predicts perceived performance (β = 0.475). Performance significantly influences satisfaction (β = 0.496) and directly influences loyalty (β = 0.271). Satisfaction emerges as the strongest predictor of loyalty (β = 0.690). Mediation analysis confirms a sequential path with significant indirect effects. IPA reveals strengths in subjective perception, especially urban identity and psychological well-being, which indicate the emotional resilience of residents despite shortcomings in access to public spaces and functional diversity. Interpretive analysis showed that the inconsistency between the valuable historical-economic structure of the context and new interventions such as high-rise buildings blocking the skyline, visual pollution, material deterioration, as well as the allocation of resources to low-priority indicators, has disrupted the causal chain.
Conclusion: Improving the quality of materials, reducing visual pollution, and improving the skyline are among the intervention priorities in the research sample for aesthetic enhancement based on perception and its impact on increasing satisfaction, promoting loyalty, and realizing sustainable urban neighborhoods are among the research results.