Factors Affecting Inefficiency of the Country Divisions System at the Local Level (Case Study: Urmia County)

Despite the role of national divisions to strengthen country identity, balancing ethnic and cultural spatial distribution of citizens, and its relative overlap with geographical conditions, fertilization capacities within the place, providing conditions for people's participation in political fate, economic, social and cultural, delivering optimal services and optimize the needs of the people, the basis of national, regional and local development; studies show that the political organization of space in Iran and especially at the local level is faced with challenges and injuries such as the lack of functional structural unity and geographical heterogeneity, the heterogeneous structure of management at the local level, uncertainty of the council system and low levels powerless in the structure of division country system which has led to the ineffectiveness of the system of  country division. Although 81 years have passed since the enactment of the law of civil division, the law and its subsequent amendments has not failed to play a fundamental role in the political organization of space and overcome on territorial flaws and provide local-level benefits. The damage is clearly visible based on the observation of the field in the Urmia County. This county, despite its huge natural resources, economic, social and cultural, the development level is very low and civil divisions in line with the management and development of this county at the local level is inefficient. Given the inefficiencies of the country divisions, the purpose of this study is to identify factors which make the country divisions system at the local level in Urmia inefficient.

This study is practical and is based on qualitative method. In this regard, a case study has been used to conduct research. Research participants are 95 professionals and experts from related organizations in rural and city affairs (including municipality, Agricultural - Jihad Organization, Governor General of West Azerbaijan Province, Governor and etc.). Data collection method is based on deep and semi-structured interviews. The sampling method was based on snowball sampling. Finally, the collected data was analyzed using the Grounded theory as a qualitative approach. 

Urmia county division has changed and is in a state of instability. The system of existing divisions at the local level is ineffective due to severe functional disorders, spatial, physical, economic, social and cultural, the weakness in development opportunities in geographic spaces, unequal distribution of services, the concentration of money, wealth and management in cities, slowing down the information dissemination process, entering executive systems in the sovereignty of villages and the abandonment of the local management systems. An overview of the status of the local level in Urmia county, according to the civil divisions indicates that the divergence and dispersion of the administrative structure of the local level executive with a divergent and dispersed structure of national divisions and has exacerbated the conflicts of the division system and management at this level.

The country divisions of system and the governing spirit on the local level not only do not provide administrative political needs, economic, social, cultural and environmental of Urmia county villages, but also the villages of this county by increasing the upgrade to a higher level and urban integration, as well as the development of state institutions and the weakness of local-level efficiency cause informal settlements and the formation of the phenomenon of spatial conflict. If the divisions country of system at the local level does not fit with the geographic and territorial features, capital, power and management in urban spaces are not prevented, and the ineffectiveness is shaped by the complete transformation of villages over time causing destruction of environment and developing a negative view towards rural areas.