Comparative Study of Physical-Spatial Approach and Related Policies in Rural Development Planning During Two Recent Decades (Case study: Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran)

Addressing the concept of rural development is as a process in which the status of rural communities should be promoted in every dimension: ecological, social, economical, environmental, institutional-managerial and physical-spatial.; and in relation with urban and other areas, it should provide the possibility of achieving regional and national balances. Since rural population of Iran comprises 30 percent of the total population of the country, therefore, any economical-social movements of such population at the regional and national level, can affect various subjects. Thus, considering the importance of rural development at the large-scale level, the present study, at a micro-scale level, aims to establish the role and impact of government’s policies during two recent decades in rural development of villages located in Ghaemshahr City with physical- spatial approach. Generally, it’s a comparative study of the role of effects and physical-spatial operations in rural development planning. The present research is functional in terms of purpose; it is empirical in terms of nature; it is descriptive-exploratory survey in terms of the method of collecting data; and finally it is analytical. The main issue is to identify government’s policies of physical-spatial approach at the regional and national level and also the policies toward rural development during two recent decades (The second to fifth development programs). And also it tries to determine what effects and results do such spatial- physical approach and associated policies have on rural areas. Finally, it proposes solutions for the improvement of rural areas and rural development. The research results reveal that, as compared with other planning, the fifth planning succeeded in the field of physical-spatial; policies like; retrofitting, upgrading, and rural guide plans.