The Evaluation of Spatial Distribution of Sustainable Development Principles among the Townships of Ilam Province Using VIKOR-SAW Technique

In the process of any decision making including planning, management, evaluation, or control, if we are in search and need of a desirable condition, our goal should be creating a rational and logical balance among different areas by providing them with facilities and services. The first step of such a movement is the recognition of the present situation as well as their facilities and limitations. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of sustainable development principles among the townships of the province of Ilam through 10 sustainable development indicators. The geographical scope of the present study was the 10 townships of the province of Ilam. The indicators under study were collected through the statistical yearbook which included such items as the number of public libraries, institutions of thought nurturing, the number of public library members and showrooms, the capacity of showrooms and hospitals, the number of beds in hospitals, and the number of printing houses, phone lines, and urban transportation vehicles. To achieve this goal, VIKOR and simple average weight (SAW) were utilized. The results showed that Ilam as the capital of the province had the most infrastructure for sustainable development while Sirvan was considered as the most deprived with respect to sustainable development indicators in the province of Ilam. In other terms, the township of Ilam was categorized as an almost developed township and Sirvan and Badreh were classified as the least developed townships. Additionally, in order to evaluate the method of spatial distribution and discrimination of sustainable development indicators in the townships of the province of Ilam, and to determine the degree of correlation between the proportion of population rate of each township and the collected rate from the sustainable development indicators, the spearman technique was used. Hence, first the sustainable development indicators of each township were calculated using the Z-score technique, and then using the spearman coefficient, the proportion of population rate and the correlation between sustainable development indicators and the population rate of townships were measured. The results displayed the existence of a very low and negative proportion and correlation (-0.183) which indicated the disproportionate and unfair distribution of sustainable development indicators in the townships of the province of Ilam.