The Study of Spatial Distribution and Economic Development Rating in the Khuzestan Province Cities

Many developing countries have excessive concentration in a few cities more than other parts. This could lead to many problems in urban management، particularly in the provision of urban infrastructure. In these countries، people''s quality of life has been affected by the huge regional disparities which in many cases are increasing rapidly. The most important aspect of inequality is spatial inequality. Spatial inequality could be interpreted as unequal distribution of opportunities and social barriers in the space. Spatial disparity that regional inequality is an obvious example of it could have various aspects in different societies. This study aims to identify current patterns of spatial distribution of economic development in the cities of the Khuzestan province. This is a practical study which has an Analytic - descriptive approach. The data were collected from the Statistical Yearbook of Khuzestan in 1390. The collected data were analyzed using different software such as SPSS، EXCEL، GIS، along with TOPSIS methods، cluster analysis، Pearson Correlation Coefficient، Mann-Whitney Test، and other statistical methods. The results show that spatial distribution of economic development in the cities of Khuzestan province is unequal and in contrast with appropriate standards of spatial distribution. This inequality has been occurred in both geographical and population levels. Geographically، most economically developed cities are located in the West and the South of the province. In terms of population، most economically developed cities also have larger populations and higher urbanization rates.