Investigating the Economic, Social and Environmental Effects of the Alavijeh Industrial Zone on the Surrounding Rural Areas

Poverty, unemployment and migration are the main features of the rural areas in developing countries and rural industrialization is and has been one of the ways to deal with such problems. In this regard, in recent decades, the policy of moving towards rural development through industrialization and the expansion of industrial zones in the vicinity of rural areas has been pursued. However, the impact of the industrial zones on rural areas and development remains unclear. The present study has aimed to identify and analyze the various (economic, socio-physical and environmental) dimensions of the impact of the Alavijeh industrial zone on neighboring rural areas. Alavijeh is located in Najafabad county in Isfahan province. The statistical population of this study was rural households located around the Alavijeh industrial zone, which according to the latest official statistics (2016) were 7183 households, of which 210 households were selected for the study using the Cochran's formula. The sampling method was stratified proportional sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software. Descriptive and inferential methods such as frequency, mean, coefficient of variation and confirmatory factor analysis were used for analysis. According to the findings of this study, Alavijeh has both positive and negative effects of which economic, socio-physical and environmental effects are the most important effects with path coefficients of 0.96, 0.92 and 0.83, respectively. The negative aspects of this construction have been more in the environmental and socio-physical dimensions.