درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose- This study tries to evaluate rural governance and identify its effective factors in a rural area, around Karaj Metropolis, for the achievement of local governance in central Iran. Design/Methodology/Approach - In terms of goal and nature, it is practical, while with regards to its methodology, it serves as a survey. The statistical populations of this research include 53 rural managers of rural settlements as rural governors (Dehyar), 105 rural councils, and 366 heads of village households, selected based on classification sampling within a multi-stage process. Both techniques of PROMETHEE and Analytic Network Process (ANP) have been employed for analysis, level evaluation, and classification of governance in the studied rural area. Findings- Based on the parametric method, results show that out of 53 studied local government, 53% had good governance; 25%, average governance; and 22%, weak governance. Furthermore, based on ANP Technique, the rural district (Dehestan) of Adran had the highest governance rank, while the rural district of Kamal Abad had the lowest. In general, the findings show that governance level in the studied local governments were quite desirable. Research limitations/Implications- Governance is a multidimensional issue with various definitions and theories thereof the villagers’ attitude towards rural governance and its indicators is restricted. Practical implications- In the study area, rural governance is in a good position, but some of the rural governance components and indicators are in an unsatisfactory and critical situation and require serious attention for improvement. Originality/Value- So far, there has been little attention paid to rural governance in the cities, especially in the peripheral regions of metropolitan areas. Accordingly, the present study is of considerable importance.

Purpose- The project of valuable rural texture was proposed with the aim of rehabilitating the tourist villages with valuable physical features. Since the project aimed at developing tourism in tourist villages and preserving the local and cultural features of these areas, conducting a research to study the dimensions and effects of rehabilitation of valuable rural texture on rural tourism was of great importance. Therefore, the present study aimed to study the rehabilitation of valuable rural texture and its effect on tourism in the village of Hajij, Kermanshah, Iran. Design/methodology/approach- The two groups of population involved in rehabilitation of the rural residential texture were the local people and the tourists. The tools used in this study to collect data were applied, quantitative, and survey methods. The statistical population consisted of 300 tourists and 95 local people. Findings- The results showed that the rehabilitation of rural valuable texture had positive effects on development of rural tourism. The four variables of attraction of tourists, providing local services to tourists, affecting the performance of governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions, and the advertising role of rehabilitation of dilapidated texture have been influenced by valuable textures. Local people and tourists were satisfied with the rehabilitation project and reported its great effect on the village. Practical implications- This study showed that the rehabilitation project of rural valuable texture caused harmony and agreement between the village's new texture and body and its traditional and local texture. Furthermore, rehabilitation of valuable texture gravitated the tourists' attention to the village and increased local employment. Nonetheless, there were challenges to the rehabilitation project of valuable rural texture. One of the most important challenge was the adverse effect of rural tourism on the village's environment, causing pollution and destruction of natural environment.

Purpose- The main objective of present study is analysis of viewpoints of Boyer-Ahmad local communities about rural development. The criteria of rural development are identified by a systematic approach from the standpoints of people who are aware of current rural issues in the investigated villages. In the next stage, the level of development of settlements was determined according to the identified criteria. Design/methodology/approach- The current study is based on qualitative methods (grounded theory) and quantitative (descriptive-analytical and survey). The required data was collected through the field methods (questionnaire and interview). The sample population of the study was determined to extract the indicators purposefully and based on the snowball method until the theoretical saturation of the interview with 18 people was reached. The statistical population of the study is the people living in the villages of Boyer-Ahmad County. 380 people in 10 rural settlements are assessed by employing Cochran's formula. The validity of the research questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha. SPSS22 and ArcGis software were used for analyzing the data. Finding- In the index extraction stage, 51 concepts were identified in the form of 6 major categories. In the second stage, the results of one-sample t-test showed that rural settlements have a development coefficient of 0.35 in terms of the studied categories with an average of 2.46, which are at an undeveloped level. The status of development categories also shows that the category of environmental resources with an average of 3.31 has the best level and the category of quality of life with an average of 1.96 have the worst situation in the studied villages. The results also show that the Ganjeh Kohneh village with a coefficient of 0.43 and Mazdak village with a coefficient of 0.40 are in the middle development level and other settlements are in the undeveloped level. Practical implications- According to the results, solutions such as equitable distribution of services, development of a vision document for integrated development, diversification of economic activities and the use of social capital of villagers in the planning process have been proposed. Originality/value- Before planning at the local level, it is necessary to examine the views of the local community regarding rural development. There are differences between rural areas in terms of capabilities, talents, facilities and priorities, and local planning can take these differences into account.

Purpose- The irrigated wheat farms of Doroudzan District in Marvdasht County, Fars Province face agricultural water deficit challenges due to mis-management of water resources. This research aims at investigating water conflict strategies among the irrigated wheat farms of Doroudzan Dam Network. Design/methodology/approach- The study was descriptive regarding its nature and used survey research procedure. The statistical population included 803 wheat farmer households residing in Ramjerd 2 and Abarj Dehestans in Doroudzan District. According to Krejcie and Morgan's (1970) sample size table, the samples were 260wheat farmers selected based on simple random sampling technique. Systematic questionnaires were used to collect data by means of face-to-face interviews. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts, and a pilot study was also done to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. The estimated Cronbach's alpha coefficients were between the accepted range (i.e. 0.50 - 0.75) for the different measures used in this study. Findings- Results revealed that the most prevalent conflicts were intra-group conflicts among the counterparts. Verbal conflicts were the current form of water conflicts regarding the conflict intensity in the region. Physical attacks and third party (police) controls were placed in the second and third position. The results of cluster analysis indicated three clusters of farmers; “educated aggressors”, “low-literate aggressors” and “peace-oriented farmers”. All the clusters were statistically different regarding their demographic characteristics (age and education level), farming-system portfolio (area under cultivation, annual income and cost) and water conflict in response to water shortages. According to the contingency table, collaboration strategy was the prominent conflict management strategy among the three groups followed by compromising strategy. Research limitations / implications- The lack of institutional support to get information on conflict attacks among the rural residents and the time-consuming nature of the survey study are the most important challenges in this study. Practical implications-According to the findings, it is of prominent importance to provide the context of problem solving with counterparts. As a result, it needs more attempts to share all the stakeholders’ interests to reach a common decision. It seems that reaching a satisfactory solution needs drawing out different parties’ expectations to help them get organized through collaboration. Originality/value- Numerous studies have been carried out on water deficiencies. However, this study is the first in the context of rural settlement and valued based on the analysis of the conflict management strategies among famer groups that has not been addressed in previous studies.

Purpose- Basically, one of the physical planning patterns in Iran is the rural guidance [Hadi] plan that has been considered in the path of rural development planning since the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Preparing and implementing rural guidance [Hadi] plans with more than three decades of experience is one of the most fundamental proceedings is executed to enhance the physical development of Iranian villages. The implementation history of these plans over many periods indicates many challenges in the process of preparing, approving and implementing guidance [Hadi] plans. Design/methodology/approach- The main purpose of the present study was to analyze the challenges in the process of preparation, approval and implementation. For this purpose, we interviewed 12 individuals who had a background in conducting the guidance [Hadi] plan. Therefore, in this study, the research method was based on qualitative method and was used to analyze the data collected by MAXQDA software. Finding- The results show that the challenges in the process of preparing the conductor plans are Service description (29.73%), Partnership (33.78%), Organizational and systems (29.73%) and Consultants Characteristics (6.76%). In challenges existing in implementing Guidance [Hadi] plans, 2 main axes are also addressed by the interviewees, including participation and the rules. In the partnership axis, the limited participation of villagers in the implementation of plans with the weight of 100 was more important than other sub-axes. Since the villagers have minimal participation in the two processes of plan preparation and approval, it is, therefore, foreseeable to have limited participation in the process of implementation. Originality/value - This is significant because for the first time, a study is being conducted at this level on the challenges of preparing and implementing a Rural Guidance [Hadi] Plans.  The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of Middle East & world.