Analyzing Development Level of Rural Areas in Counties of Kermanshah Province

Inequality between urban and rural areas and also among different settlements across the country in terms of distribution of facilities and services, currently has been turned into an obstacle for integrated and sustainable Development, not only in our country, but also in all developing countries. So that most of the services and facilities are gathered in certain places, and in some areas particularly rural areas, lack of services has been caused more migration to the counties, evacuation of villages from population, unemployment and enormous problems for rural and urban areas as well as many problems in the planning for Sustainable development for planners and policy makers in the task of development. In this regard, in order to solve the problems of regional imbalances, the first step is the identification and ranking villages in terms of enjoyment from development indicators. In order to achieve this aim and also due to the process of rural depopulation in Kermanshah province from 44 percent based on the 1365 census to 30 percent in 1392, and the necessity of attention to this depopulation in villages and their migration to counties and urban overpopulation and problems regarding this evacuation of the villages, in this research the study and analysis of rural areas in the counties of Kermanshah province is discussed using multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, SAW and Numerical Taxonomy. In this regard, the questions which this study seeks to answer include:1. Is there any difference between rural areas of Kermanshah province in terms of development?
2. Which areas are most deprived and most developed rural areas in Kermanshah province in terms of development? In the process of planning and developing rural areas, identifying and analyzing the current status in the villages and studying facilities and their limitations in different fields is essential and helps planners to assign the goals of development and to specify policies and strategies of their achievement. In this process, determining development levels and developing rural areas and studying strengths and weaknesses of every area’s conditions in the fields of education, culture, health, infrastructure and services; provides the optimal allocation background of resources and facilities for the coordinated, integrated and balanced development of villages. In this regard, this study is prepared with the purpose of determining the levels of development in rural areas of counties in Kermanshah province. The method of study was based on descriptive-analytic method and the statistical population included rural areas of 14 counties in Kermanshah province according to statistical yearbook of 1392. Analysis of data accomplished using multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, SAW, and Numerical Taxonomy. After calculating multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, and SAW for acquiring the amount of development and final ranking, the mean values obtained from three models are computed and rural areas of Kermanshah county ranked 1 and were known as most developed and rural areas of Salas-e Babajani in rank 14, were most deprived rural areas in this study. Also, in calculations accomplished in Numerical Taxonomy method, when the spatial distance between areas of study calculated, the results indicated a lack of homogeneity in studied counties. According to calculations, upper limit spatial distance is equal to 3/54 and lower limit spatial distance is equal to 2/08, in which counties placed between 2/08 till 3/54 (Sahne, Paveh, Dalahu, Sarpol-e Zahab, Kangavar, and Sonqor) are homogeneous together in a group, counties upper than 3/54 (Kermanshah) stood in a homogeneous group, and counties lower than 2/08 (Eslamabad-e Gharb, Gilan-e Gharb, Harsin, Qasr-e Shirin, Javanrud, Ravansar, and Salas-e Babajani) also stood together in a homogeneous group. The consequence of many of development strategies which emphasized only on the improvement of social and economic aspects and provision of facilities and services, was the appearance of inequality in the surface of different spaces and areas. In all theories of spatial development, which have been planned based on the pattern of economic growth, rural areas are considered as marginal and no significant areas in terms of creating growth process. In these patterns, based on top-down planning approach, strong focus in the planning and implementation of development projects is considered as a principle. In different countries, the beginning of rural planning goes back to 1940 and 1950 AD decades. But in Iran, according to composition of 6 construction programs before Islamic evolution and 5 development programs after revolution, we are still seeing inequality in the distribution of services and facilities in the country; which maybe the most important reasons are the dispersal of villages in the country, the focus of planning from top to down, Lack of public participation in plans and projects, lack of coordination between different organizations in providing services and less attention to local management in the areas. According to the foregoing subjects and in order to understand the way of distribution of services and facilities in order to help the planning from bottom and local management with respect to sustainable rural development, in this research it is proceeded to study rural areas of Kermanshah province in the case of its counties using decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS and SAW and Numerical Taxonomy with 54 variables and 5 educational and cultural, hygienic, institutional And infrastructural, services and communications and population indicators. results of study indicate imbalance in the distribution of services and facilities in the counties of Kermanshah province, so that 30 percent of the rural population in Kermanshah province are in the well-developed level, 36 percent of the population are in the half-developed level, and also 34 percent of the population are in the deprived level. The overall results of the analysis indicate regional inequalities in the province of Kermanshah. The overall results of the analysis indicate regional inequalities in the province of Kermanshah.