Investigation of challenges and strategies of rural urban1 spatial development (Case study: East and west Bandpey district of Babol town)

Urbanization and increase of population, and consequently development of small and large towns are among today's trends. The sustainable development of the mentioned items is bound to having an efficient urban management and planning. Urban management focuses highly on the issues of metropolises, large cities and sometimes mid-sized ones, and it gives much less attention to the managerial issues in rural urban areas. However, if rural urban areas can be economically independent, they can play a significant role in flourishing and booming their surrounding environment through holding a major share of production, investment and human resources.

Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the challenges and strategies of rural urban areas which have recently turned into towns.

This is a descriptive-analytical research which collected its data through the documentation and field techniques. The population included households residing in East and west Bandpey district of Babol town, among which two hundred households were randomly selected as sample using the Cochran's method.

Finally, after information collection and analysis, it was concluded that such rural urban areas are facing fundamental issues and obstacles such as waste disposal and separation, poor performance of urban bodies, low engagement of citizens in urban projects, etc. which can be resolved through adopting strategies such as reinforcement of urban organizations, development and expansion of services and urban facilities, utilization of local potentials, etc.

Considering that village-cities as a city-village link play an important role in regional equilibrium, the study of the challenges and challenges of the future and the determination of the spatial development strategies of these settlements is an innovation of this research