علی اکبر عنابستانی

Purpose- The present study aims at examining the adaptability of physical features to feeling of security among the residents of the rural area of Toos. The achievements are supposed to be used in quality improvement of rural guidance plans in line with increasing security potentials of rural areas. Design/methodology/approach- The methodology of this study is correlative, and data collection was performed through library and field studies. The extracted physical indices were obtained from the studies and rural guidance maps, while feeling of security index was obtained through 386 researcher-made questionnaires filled by the residents of 13 villages in the countryside of Mashhad in Toos rural area. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed through an expert board and their reliability in the security feeling variable was confirmed by Cronbach alpha 0.8. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Finding- The findings of the study indicated a significant negative correlation between many of the form and morphology indices of feeling of security. The correlation between the size of the village and feeling of security is significant and equals to -0.804. Moreover, a significant inverse correlation was found between population density and feeling of security which was equal to 0.592. Among the functional status indices, we can refer to an inverse moderate correlation between the distribution of services and the scale of land uses. Accessibility index indicates a strong inverse relationship of impenetrability (with correlation coefficient of 0.670) and the design of dead-end and narrow streets with feeling of security. Research limitations/implications- The limitation of this study includes the bureaucracy of the administrative network, lack of official data and the time-consuming data collection. Practical implications- Generally, the confirmation of the strong relationship among most of the variables indicates that it is required to develop principles of secured places and to give more consideration to the physical security in rural guidance plans, which are the most important related documents in the country. Originality/value- The relationship between them has been ignored in rural areas in spite of the extended volume of rural guidance plans based on their physical context, as well as insecurity of the rural areas at the urban fringe.

Purpose - The study of social capital in the context of location/space is a new approach that is dominated by the science of geography, and is seen as a way of distinguishing it from other sciences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital in rural areas of Bojnourd County. Design/methodology/approach - This study was a fundamental research, conducted in a descriptive-analytical method. Documentary methods and field works have been employed to collect the data. The population consisted of 22 villages with more than 20 households in Bojnourd County, selected from various population classes and distances from Bojnourd. Using Cochran formula and random sampling method, 298 households were selected from a total of 4849 households in the rural areas of the study area. Partial least squares technique and Smart PLS software were used to test the conceptual model of the research and the impact of livelihood capitals on social capital. Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) was used to evaluate the model efficiency at Bojnourd County level. Findings - According to the results, the coefficients of T among the main variables of the study were above 2.58, which means the relationship is significant and direct. Thus, local-spatial factors have a significant and positive effect on social capital. Based on total coefficients, human capital with the coefficient of 0.348 and physical capital with the coefficient of 0.136 respectively had the most and the least effect on social capital. The results of spatial analysis using GWR showed that the impact coefficient of livelihood capitals on social capital was highest in the villages of Atrabad Olia and Gharajeh, and in total about 45% of villages in the study area had an impact coefficient of 0.90 to 0.91. Research limitations/implications - As the study of livelihood capitals and analysis of their relationship with social capital is a fundamental challenge in achieving sustainable rural development that is missing in current studies, it is recommended that future studies pay more attention to social capital and the impact of livelihood capitals on its creation and rural development. Practical implications - Rural areas suffer from the lack of social capital, which is one of the most important types of development capital required to achieve sustainable rural development. Thus, enhancing the social capital and informing the villagers about the value and importance of local-spatial factors and the material and non-material capitals available in rural areas should be on the agenda of rural development researchers and planners.