Obstacles to the Community Participation in Rural Master Plans in Hamedan County

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the obstacles to the participation of the rural community in rural master plans for the development of Hamedan County.
The statistical sample of the study was selected among the rural population in Hamedan County. 120 individuals were selected randomly according to Cochran formula. The data was collected through participants response to questionnaires, the validity of which was tested and confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was checked by cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=0.85).
According to factor analysis results, obstacles to the participation of the rural community in such plans could be catagorized under four titles:•Disregard for people’s competence
•Lack of awareness, motivation and competence
•Poor performance of executive organizations
•General dissatisfaction of the Public with the plans
Among these factors, “Disregarding people capabilities” was determined as the most influencing factor. Overall, these four factors could explain 42.3% of the variances of obstacles to community participation. Based on the results, some solutions were recommended for the omprovement of the community participation in rural master plans.