سمیرا محمودی

Purpose- Among the most important challenges in the agricultural sector are lack of optimal use of production factors, multiplicity of parcels and dispersion of agricultural lands. Land consolidation is one of the effective solutions which can change the size of fields and organize them to increase production, especially in paddy fields, which facilities agricultural development and ultimately achieves a sustainable livelihood in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the success rate of paddy field consolidation project through the study of a group of farmers who are included in the land consolidation project. Design/Method/Approach- The population of the study consisted of 285 farmers from 11 villages of Choobar rural district in Shaft County who have been selected by regular sampling method. To collect the data, library and survey methods (observation and questionnaires) have been used. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the reliability of the research tools, and in the analytical part, single-sample t-test was used to evaluate the success rate of the project in Choobar rural district; To investigate the relationship between land consolidation project and improvement in economic indicators of rural households, initially Spearman correlation coefficient was used, then simple regression test and coefficient of determination R2 were used to measure the effectiveness of the project on economic indicators. Finding- The research findings on the level of economic and social dimensions and the assessment of the success rate of the project in Choobar rural district showed the project was moderately to highly successful in the study area. The effects of the project in improving the socio-economic indicators of rural households in Choobar rural district are such that the highest correlations were found between the project and economic indicators in the use of machinery, land infrastructure, productivity, household employment, ease of access to machinery and manpower, income, and investment; At the level of social indicators the highest correlations were respectively found in interpersonal and generalized trust, objective participation, sense of physical security, insurance services, formal participation, conflict reduction and institutional trust. From farmers’ perspective, among the socio-economic indicators, the infrastructure indicator which is created by the government and the use of machinery after the implementation of the project, and the ease of access to machinery and manpower, interpersonal and generalized trust have had the greatest impact on the implementation of the project.

Purpose- Place attachment is not just dependent on the place of birth and, as phenomenologists have acknowledged, "experience," is the most significant element of the perception of concepts and meaning of a place; accordingly, meaning in a place is directly related to the way of human perception and its related categories. The main objective of the present study is to investigate and analyze the spatial-geographic factors affecting place attachment of the Kurdish immigrants in Rudbar, Guilan province. Design/methodology/approach- This study is quantitative in terms of the nature of the research and is descriptive-analytical in terms of data analysis. Data collection was done using library and documentary as well as field and survey methods. The statistical population of the study consisted of the Kurdish villages of Guilan province in Rudbar with 12 villages and a total population of 2,955 people. Using Morgan's table, the number of samples was determined as 340 people. To increase the level of confidence and reduce the error in data, the number of samples was increased and 355 questionnaires were finally completed. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a number of professors in the geography department of Guilan University. Moreover, to determine the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha was run. The value of 0.874 was obtained for the coefficient. Findings- The results of the study showed that there was a negative relationship between the location of the villages and the level of education and place attachment of the villagers in the way that the more the distance between the villages and districts, towns, and cities, the lower the sense of place attachment of the villagers would be. Based on the coefficient of determination (R2), 4.5% of the variance of place in the rural households under study was explained by these indicators. Also, with the increase in the education level of the villagers, place attachment is reduced. On the other hand, there was a direct and positive relationship between the duration of residence in the village and place attachment to the village, which means that people who had lived longer in the village had also more sense of place. The obtained results showed the effect of spatial-geographic factors on place attachment of rural households. Based on the coefficient of determination (R2), 99.1% of the variance of place attachment was explained by spatial, economic, and socio-political factors. Research limitations/implications- A limitation of this study was the lack of easy access to the Kurdish villagers in the above-mentioned villages. Originality/value- By providing the ideal conditions for living in different spatial (geographical) dimensions, one can strengthen place attachment in the villagers and significantly reduce its harmful consequences. For instance, despite the great ethnic and cultural differences with the host society within a long period of residence, the immigrant Kurds in Rudbar have been able to have pleasant feelings towards their place of life and somehow attach to it due to the existence of certain desirable spatial, social, and economic features and potentials such as proper and safe physical environment, intergroup and intragroup interactions, as well as desirable areas for earning money and employment.