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Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Historic urban spaces play a central role in shaping social interaction, environmental comfort, and collective identity in cities with deep cultural heritage. Despite this importance, empirical assessments of their performance in terms of Quality of Life (QoL) from the perspective of contemporary users remain limited, particularly in the context of Baghdad. This study examines Quality of Life indicators within a historic urban space through a case study of Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa, one of Baghdad's most prominent historic educational complexes. A descriptive–analytical approach was adopted, integrating a structured questionnaire survey, systematic on-site observation, and spatial analysis based on Space Syntax techniques. The evaluation framework addressed six QoL domains: accessibility and orientation, environmental comfort, safety and security perception, uses and activities, sociability, and sense of place. The results indicate that the Madrasa continues to function effectively as an urban space, achieving moderate to high levels of perceived quality of life. Sociability and place attachment recorded the highest mean values, reflecting strong social interaction and emotional connection, while correlation analysis revealed that accessibility, spatial legibility, and environmental comfort were most strongly associated with overall QoL perception. Spatial analysis further identified the central courtyard as the most integrated, connected, and visually accessible element, providing a spatial explanation for observed patterns of use and user perception. The study demonstrates that historic urban spaces can sustain positive quality-of-life performance when their internal spatial structure remains coherent and adaptable, even under contemporary social and temporal conditions. These findings support the integration of Quality-of-Life indicators into conservation and management strategies for historic urban environments.

Keywords

Quality of life, Historic urban spaces, Place attachment, Space syntax, Urban heritage, User perception, Baghdad

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