درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose- sustainable rural housing can be considered as an important index in rural development. Hence, preparing plans in the area of sustainable rural housing requires different aspects and components of sustainable housing to be identified and analyzed. Designing and employing sustainable housing indices is especially important in rural planning as an essential instrument to express physical, socioeconomic, and environmental aspects of sustainable housing. The present study aims at identifying and explaining appropriate indices and criteria to evaluate housing sustainability and to operate the indices in the country villages. This is done by emphasizing Ghouchan Atigh rural district and presenting a modern methodological framework through a survey among the scientific elites by Delphi method. The present study is seeking to find out which indices are more valid and valuable for evaluating housing sustainability in Ghouchan Atigh rural district; and how is the process of designing appropriate indices and criteria to evaluate sustainable housing in rural areas. Design/methodology/approach- the methodology of the present study is based on descriptive-analytic methods as well as quantitative-qualitative mixed method. Findings- the findings of the study indicate that among 128 designed indices, 70 key indices were appropriate to rural housing structure especially in Ghouchan Atigh rural district. They include 28 indices to evaluate physical-infrastructural sustainability, 23 indices to evaluate social sustainability, 15 indices to evaluate economic sustainability, and 4 indices to evaluate environmental sustainability. The results also indicate that regarding analysis of the selected indices, physical-infrastructural indices are mostly valid in sustainability analysis with the score of 8.02. Environmental indices with the score of 7.89, social indices with the score of 7.65, and economic indices with the score of 7.49 are at the next ranks.

Purpose- The present study aims at establishing border markets with the purpose of legalizing the deals and economic boom, employment, and promoting life standards in border areas. The main purpose of the present study is to analyze the physical and economic effects of border markets on the development of rural areas. Design/methodology/approach- The present study is an applied study with regard to nature, and descriptive-analytic with regard to methodology. The population of this study includes the villages in the city of Agh-Ghala; 7 villages were selected as the sample, and the data was collected through researcher made questionnaires (383 questionnaires according to Cochran formula). Data analysis was done using Friedman, Chi square, Wilcoxon, and one sample t-tests in SPSS. Findings: Developing border markets leads to improvement in economic and physical indices in rural areas. The most effects were found on the quality of new-built houses, and the fewest effects were found on rural facilities and infrastructures. Border markets had important effects both on economy and culture of rural residents. The only component indicating insignificance was the effect of border markets on the reduction of unemployed people in the society, which is because of lower market boom during recent years and lack of free zones. Research limitations/implications- Spatial dispersion of the villages, limitations in obtaining information, and concerning about questionnaires being completed are some of the issues. Practical implications- Through planning and shift in attitudes in economic issues, sufficient attention will be paid to less considered needs of the residents of border areas; and the rural physical and economic indices will be improved through creating border markets. Originality/value- Border markets and their development can lead to the improvement and promotion of life quality of the residents of border areas and the population willingness to stay.

Purpose- The purpose was to measure the social capital of rural settlements in Hassan Abad rural district of Islamabad-e Gharb as well as ranking and leveling the villages under study was based on social capital. Design/methodology/approach- The study was applied, quantitative, and survey, where documentary study and field research were used for data collection. The documentary method was used in problem statement, theoretical foundations, and the literature. The data were collected from the villages using field research and the questionnaire tool. SPSS software was used in statistical analyses. It is worth mentioning that the field operations were done by direct questioning. Findings- The villages examined were categorized into three levels of high, medium, and poor in terms of social capital. Out of 22 villages examined, 9 villages (40.90%) were considered to have high social capital, 5 villages (22.73%) medium, and 8 villages (36.37%) poor social capital. Moreover, Siah Khor Village with 128.44 was in the highest rank whereas Kamar Zard Village with the score of 114.09 was in the lowest rank. Research limitations/implications- In the present study, there were some problems including, scarcity, sometimes the lack of comprehensive information resources, limited access to the resources, scattered villages, the lack of appropriate access routes, low cooperation, and sometimes the lack of cooperation between some organizations and institutions. Practical implications- In sum, one can state that some significant ways to strengthen social capital. They were the presence of local authorities in the villages, holding forum meetings with villagers and presenting performance report to the people, using education and increasing the awareness of villagers about the importance of participation and its role in society, strengthening the norms and values and promoting them. Originality/value- Local planners and institutions associated with the village can use the results.

Purpose- The aim of this study was to investigate the role of tourism development in the promotion of social welfare in rural East Azerbaijan province. Design/methodology/approach- The research paper is based on analytical-explanatory technique; it was carried out through a survey. The research population comprises the residents of the tourist villages. Five hundred (500) participants were selected as the sample size based on Cochran formula. Experts confirmed the face validity of the questionnaire. They performed a pilot study on 60 questionnaires within the same region. The applied questionnaire was 0.885 to 0.894 reliable based on the obtained data using Cronbach alpha. Finding- Spearman’s correlation test revealed that all research variables were positively and significantly related to tourism except sense of safety and security as well as improvement of consumption patterns. In addition, results of Mann-Whitney test showed that tourism and social welfare were more associated with tourist villages of East Azerbaijan than that of other non-tourist villages. In addition, the results of regression analysis revealed that 9 variables out of 11 obtained 89% of the variations. Accordingly, the variables of quality of life, occupation, and future expectancy have been more effective. Research limitations/implications- The recommendations in this research paper can be used in different areas of tourism management and development of villages in this region.

Purpose- The present applied survey has been done for the purpose of the evaluation of function quality and effectiveness of Malakhord borderline market on the changes of villagers’ life quality level in Dezli Dehestan of Sarvabad County. Design/methodology/approach- This research is descriptive-analytic from the view point of method and library and field methods have been used on the basis of questionnaire distribution and interview to collect data. The sample size includes 250 people from the head of the households of active villages in the market that their number was specified using Corcoran formula and the questionnaires were distributed according to their class among the sample villages and distributed randomly among the head of the households. Findings- The analysis of the data using descriptive statistics indexes and the tests of inferential statistics (Chi-Square, one-sample t-test, Friedman test, Paired Samples t-test, path analysis) showed that generally the market has caused the improvement of the villagers’ life quality level in comparison to the previous period before the establishment of it and it is this economic aspect of the villagers that has had the most improvement and positive change. Research limitations/implications- Being faraway, the dispersion and the location of a large number of villages in the zero region, the villagers lack of familiarity with questionnaire completion, and not accessing easily to family guardians with the questionnaires were among the imitations of this survey. Practical implications- According to the survey findings, solutions like the improvement of the roadways to the market, the will of domestic organizations to prevent sectional holidays, the improvement of services and welfare facilities across the market, using local people to manage and coordinate the market affairs, exporting the villagers’ products to the neighboring country, allocating a part of the market income to the construction and physical development of the villages, and devoting another part to the young villagers looking for jobs as loan are suggested. Originality/value- Trading in the form of borderline markets, purposefully and lawfully, can pave the way for economic, social and physical development of the borderline rural areas and as a result will prevent migration, population leaving and the instability of the villages that can have negative consequences in the local, regional and national level.