Journal of Research and Rural Planning -پژوهش و برنامه ریزی روستایی

Purpose- The most common type of marriage in Iran is monogamy, however polygamy is sometimes happening. It seems that the situation of polygamy, as well as the causes and factors involved in it, is varied in different geographic regions and even within the geographical regions of Iran. Also, the phenomenon in different regions will have many physical consequences. So, the basic question is, given the particular geographical situation and ethnic diversity in the region, what are the physical consequences of polygamy on rural settlements in Hirmand County? The purpose of this study was to analyze the situation and spatial consequences of polygamy phenomenon in rural areas of Hirmand County in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran. Design/methodology/approach- The research is descriptive-analytical and based on, field studies and completion households’ questionnaires. The statistical population of the study consisted of 303 villages, which after the consultation with members of the councils, local experts in the study area, 30 villages with prevailing occurrence of polygamy had been selected by proportional allocation method according to their destination to the border. SPSS and ArcGIS soft wares were used for data and statistical analysis and zoning. Findings- The results of the study confirm that the less distance between the villages of Hirmand County from the border of Iran and Afghanistan, the more polygamy cases in villages within a radius of 5 km of the border is more common than other villages. In this regard, the results of Kendall test confirm the significant relationship between this lifestyle and its impact on the physical development of villages. Originality / Value- A review in the literature of research shows that this issue has not been taken into consideration in previous studies related to the field of geography. To this regard, the study, understanding the necessity and importance of this issue, sought to study and analyze the situation of polygamy as well as to analyze its physical consequences on the rural settlements in Hirmand County.

Purpose- Landslides are major hazards to human activities, which often wreak havoc on economic resources, damaging properties and facilities in rural areas. The present study, considering that a prerequisite of any development and planning is the recognition of the geographical features in an area, investigated the risk of landslide due to the expansion of agricultural land uses in rural areas. Design/Methodology/Approach- This is applied research that sought to examine the research background and select the most appropriate methods. Accordingly, it adopted a mixture of quantitative methods (fuzzy Delphi and fuzzy best-worst method), GIS, and remote sensing techniques to achieve the research goal. Findings- According to the research findings, with increasing height, slope, and vicinity to the fault lines, the risk of landslides rises in the study areas. These areas are mostly located in the highlands and the eastern and western regions, where rural areas are chiefly distributed. However, the majority of rural areas are distributed in the middle areas, which have better access to water resources and are in more favorable conditions due to topographic factors. Meanwhile, agricultural lands, due to the use of river water resources, have been distributed in the middle areas, which are classified as low-risk areas in terms of landslides. In contrast, due to the limited flatlands in highlands, agricultural gardens have developed in highlands with a moderate slope, which subsequently poses the risk of landslide. Therefore, the regular monitoring of land use development to increase the safety factor in new housing construction and agricultural lands is one of the planning requirements for land use development in mountainous rural areas.

Purpose- Income distribution inequity in low-income societies spreads poverty faster therefore it is essential to indicate the relation between economic growth and income distribution in low-income societies like rural societies which gain income through agricultural activities. On the other hand, recent studies show that societies amenity or deprivation is effective on the relation between growth and income distribution. So, the aim of this study is to indicate the relation between rural income distribution and Iran agricultural sector growth dividing to regions with amenity or deprived. Design/methodology/approach - Due to economic literature income distribution and economic growth has interactional effect on each other and the relation between them is different in regions with amenity and deprived. To explain the relation between rural income distribution and agricultural sector growth in this study two equations are introduced, the first equation analyzes the effective factors on agricultural sector growth and the second equation examine the factors determining rural income inequality. These equations are estimated by provincial data divided to regions with amenity and deprived during 2008-2016 and simultaneous equations approach of panel data is used. Finding-The results show that, in low amenity and deprived provinces agricultural sector growth reduces the inequality while agricultural sector growth has no significant effect on inequality in provinces with amenity. Also, inequality increase lead to economic growth in deprived regions, but in regions with amenity the effect of inequality on growth is not significant. Besides, the results of estimation imply that government's expenditure in provinces increase rural income inequality and development expenditure only in deprived and low amenity provinces cause rural income inequality decrease and in other rural is not significant on inequality index. Practical implications- Based on the results of this study and in order to reduce rural income inequality and the growth of agricultural sector, it is necessary to consider the distribution of public facilities and infrastructure in order to enjoy deprived and low amenity rural regions.

Purpose-The implementation of targeted subsidies policy in Iran is among the actions that, have been taken with the aim of reduction of poverty, reducing social class differences between different deciles of society and specially upgrading rural indicators in rural areas. The present study has been conducted with the purpose of evaluating the impacts of targeted subsidies on expansion of inequality in rural areas. Design/methodology/approach -This fundamental-exploratory research has been done by descriptive-analytical method. The required data were collected through both field and documentary methods. In this study, first, the research indicators were investigated during two six-year courses before targeted subsidies (2005-2010) and after targeted subsidies (2011-2016) at the level of all villages in the country and the average of each indicator was compared between the two periods before and after targeted subsidies and then the obtained results of this part were compared with the results of field research in the study sample. In this study, 22 villages of Neishabour county were selected as a sample by systematic random method using Cochran's formula. Finding- Findings of this study show that cash subsidies accounted for 7.56% of a household income portfolio in the case study in 2019. But the Gini coefficient in the period after targeted subsidies was higher than the period before the targeted subsidies, while the ratio of 10% 0f the wealthiest to 10% of the poorest population in the rural areas of the sample in 2018 was equal to 20.67. Also, despite the original goal of targeted subsidy plan, the lower deciles are far more pressured by rising energy prices, and household food expenditures are spent on food groups. However, the average caloric intake of each person in the tenth decile is seven times that of the first decile. Also, in 70% of the households of the first decile, there were no employed people. In general, the villages of the country have faced a worsening situation in seven indicators, both in the macro dimension and in a case study, but an improvement has been observed in case of one indicator.

Purpose- In this applied study, which has been done by descriptive-analytical method, various agricultural and non-agricultural economic activities, and their impacts on the villagers’ livelihood assets are analyzed. Design/methodology/approach- Data collection was both theoretical using documentary method and empirical using interviews, observation, and distribution of questionnaires among 260 heads of households in the villages of the district. The sample size was determined by the Cochran method from a population size of 2736 households. The questionnaires were distributed among random heads of households as well as the sample villages that were selected by a stratified method. Findings- The analysis showed that the created economic diversity was able to increase the villagers’ livelihood capital, and among them, financial capital has had the greatest impact on improving the level of livelihood capital for the villagers. Research limitations/implications- Among the limitations of the study were the dispersion of a large number of villages in the border area, lack of easy access to these villages, lack of cooperation in providing information, and the villagers’ problem with completing questionnaires. Practical implications- The practical solutions of the study can be: prepare for the development and expansion of tourism (rural, commercial, and nature tourism), Making the necessary legal, administrative, and supportive bases for the development of entrepreneurship and domestic & foreign private sector investment (Iraqi Kurdistan region), Development of trade in goods from the border markets, and Support the formation of fundraising from the micro-savings in the villages for investment and launching production activities in the villages of the district. Originality/Value- Today, the predominant approach of rural planning to eliminate poverty as the most important obstacle to rural development is to provide sustainable livelihoods for villagers. In this regard, the main strategy of this approach is to diversify the rural economy and to bring about various agricultural and non-agricultural income resources in rural areas, so that the villagers’ assets will be increased and/or preserved, which is the core of the sustainable livelihood approach and the main factor of sustainable rural livelihood.

Purpose- The aim of this study is to upgrade the capabilities in cultural field to direct the communication of villages with urban system to reinforce the sustainable rural development. In this way, the necessary grounds should be provided in the villages so that the population density and variety of activities and sufficient facilities for education and accumulation of wealth, etc. reach a certain level in order that sustainable rural development is formed through recreating the culture of rural areas in villages. Design/methodology/approach- The present study is conducted with applied purposes using the descriptive-analytical method. For data collection, field survey was performed using a questionnaire tool and data analysis method was performed using SPSS software. Statistical population includes 74 villages of the cities of Khoramabad, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Shadgan and Shiraz. Using Cochran formula, sample size was determined 380 households from selected villages and sample selection method is random. Findings- Data analysis was done through factor analysis and cluster analysis tests and the results of this study, based on the factor analysis method with correlation coefficient of over 5% between the research variables, indicates that, three (socio-cultural, economic and environmental) factors explain 73.629% of variance and show the satisfaction of the factors and the field of research. Using hierarchical clustering analysis (WARD) have been estimated as cluster 1: socio-cultural developed, cluster 2: economic developing, and cluster 3: environmental less developed and ANOVA analysis with a significance level of less than 0.05 indicates the existence of significant relationship between clusters in all four components of cultural regeneration and communication between urban and rural, socio-cultural, economic and environmental criteria. Research limitations/implications- One of the problems ahead of this research was the different cultural levels of people of the study area, which was a kind of requirement for certain conditions and behaviors, without which there would be no misunderstanding.one of the most important limitations of this research is the lack of cooperation of relevant organizations to provide studies on cultural changes affecting rural-urban areas. Practical implications- Among the practical solutions, the following can be mentioned: provide patterns and solutions for cultural development and sustainable development based on culture and socio-cultural attachment for regional development projects. Originality/value- This study encompasses many innovations including careful review of cultural relationships with rural-urban communication patterns and the effects of sustainable rural development on both of them.