Social Impact Assessment of Development Projects on the Local Communities (Case Study: Chamkhaleh Port Construction Project)

Development projects have always positive and negative consequences and most of these consequences are associated with the local communities; so, to estimate the consequences and reduce the negative effects of development projects, it is essential to assess the social impacts of the projects. Therefore, in this study, evaluated the social impact on the local communities of Chamkhaleh Port. To this purpose, the impacts of the project were analyzed in seven indicators: quality of the overall living space, the opportunity for growth and development, social cohesion, social participation, economics, biological environment and physical environment. In order to collect information from field observations, individual and group interviews were used as well as questionnaire. The statistical population was 8840 people in the city of Chaf and Chamkhaleh in 1395. According to Cochran's formula, 400 questionnaires was distributed stratified random sampling. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics in SPSS 20 software and by inferential statistics at LISREL 8.80 software. The results showed the impacts of the construction of the port on the quality of life indicators, the opportunities for growth and development, and the economy due to the development of the region, the development of infrastructure, creating new job opportunities and creating new investments in the region, which will improve the livelihoods and the welfare of future generations will be positive. But The project effects on social integration indicators and the physical and biological environment will be negative due to, dredging operations and excavation operations, which affect the region 's environment.