Regional Equilibrium Analysis Based on the Combined Indices of Core-Periphery Theory and Sustainable Tourism (Case Study: Khorasan-e-Razavi Province)

One of the important issues in regional planning is the lack of attention to the inner strengths of the region and, therefore, its dependence on neighboring areas, while it itself has the power and capacity to be an environment for different activities such as tourism. Studies show little equilibrium in regional development in Iran in the last 50 years and this has created certain problems and issues for the spatial structure of cities and villages. The first step to face this problem is to evaluate a region according to its capacities and the way it benefits from them and then to provide a plan for enhancing or creating regional equilibrium, to help ordering the spatial structure of settlements in the region and to prevent some of the cities to grow unreasonably large. Sustainable tourism is a powerful tool for developing the regions and balancing them to an equilibrium point. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how to use the sustainable tourism potential of a region in combination with the Core-Periphery planning theory for examining the region and, as a result, bringing it to a regional equilibrium. To this end, the conceptual model of this research and the indicators were developed using the meta-analysis method and then, they were rated using two methods of factor analysis and cluster analysis of Khorasan-e-Razavi province. The regional equilibrium is measured based on the sustainable tourism potential and is presented using the GIS software on the map of the province. The results of the research include providing a conceptual model for measuring regional equilibrium and paying attention to sustainable tourism potential. The research findings in the sample section show that Khorasan-e-Razavi Province does not have a sustainable balance for using the sustainable tourism potential of the province. Positioning Mashhad in the first place and 18 other cities at the lowest levels of tourism indicates an imbalance of the region which acts as a major factor in the collapse of the spatial order of the province on the one hand and causes the rapid and unpredictable growth of Mashhad on the other hand. In other words, tourism acts as an important factor in the collapse of the regional balance. Finally, in order to enhance tourism equilibrium in the province it is suggested that, first, all wealth gained for the province must be distributed in a balanced way, and second, development spread in the Core-Periphery theory is not sufficient on its own and the intervention of planners is also required. Therefore, through proper intervention and planning, planners can help to transfer tourism revenues from core to periphery to balance tourism development all over the province. So, the cities' rating and its spatial map provided in this paper are proper guides for finding the needs of the province by showing the parts in need of more consideration and those that are fertile and will flourish with a brief attention. Moreover, based on the results, some specific suggestions are put forward for enhancing the province equilibrium.