Appraising the " Structural-functional Dynamics" in Regional Studies: The Comparative Study of Aran-Bidgol and Raz-Jargalan Areas

The approaches to spatial planning change as the societies are becoming more complex. These changes show up in an increasing diversity of activity and mobility patterns of individuals, households, social groups, institutions and organizations. So, as the relative importance of some concepts like “distance” and “movement” declines in developed network societies, the importance of other concepts, as time and time-space, increase. Delivering proper response on these issues implies the development of an adapted strategic planning capacity and a shift in planning style. Structural-Functional Dynamism (SFD), as a strategic approach to the organization of space at different levels of scale, tries in modern social geographic context, to define complex issues of spatial organization in less developed communities, seeking solutions for their related structural-functional deep-rooted problems. This paper based on a comparative study of two different areas, aims to appraise the sufficiency of this `alternative' strategic spatial planning approach.