Investigating the Role and Function of Small Towns in Facilitating Services to Rural Areas of Rudbar county

Today, the inequality and spatial imbalance between the rural and urban areas is an important issue for regional planners. To balance and reduce the inequality in rural areas, it is essential paying attention to small towns. It was descriptive-analytical research. Using quantitative methods and models such as spatial coefficient (LQ) and centrality index, the present article analyzed the performance of Rudbār cities. In this article, the objectives include explaining the relationship between the function of urban areas in providing services to rural areas of the city, ranking the availability of services, and determining the levels of development of villages in the area of direct influence of Rudbār cities were considered. Location quotient (LQ) showed that Rudbār city in the field of agriculture and industry had a coefficient (LQ) higher than one and was an exporter of manufactured products, but in terms of services (LQ) was less than one and indicated the dependence on the other cities. According to the concentration index, the residents of the cities of Rudbār, Lowshān, Manjil, Rostamabād, and Bare-sar were regular in terms of ranking their domain villages, and the cities of Jirandeh and Tootkābon are irregular. In addition to the forced administrative and political communication that makes the village dependent on the city, in other cases, residents are referred to other towns of the county for economic, social, and cultural relations. Extended Abstract Introduction The occurrence of inequality and lack of attention to the villages within the area has weakened and accelerated the destruction of these settlements and created a spatial imbalance within the area and a one-way flow of services, capital, information, and population to urban centers. To provide services and conditions for creating balance and development in the rural areas, the creation and development of small towns through the promotion of large and talented villages can improve the quality of life in rural areas and prevent migration to the large cities. Since the city and the village have interdependence of social, economic, and environmental, so little attention to the spatial attitude at the local and regional levels and ignoring the urban and rural systems causes disorder in the settlements of the city. Small cities, playing the role of the central market of rural spheres of influence while providing various services in this field, are considered an important stimulus in strengthening and economic strength of rural areas. Spatial inequality and imbalances between the urban and rural settlements are important issues for regional planners. Therefore, creating a balanced and systematic hierarchy of settlements is a basic need to achieve balanced and integrated development in the regional space. In the meantime, paying attention to small towns is one of the ways to balance this situation. In organizing rural areas, strengthening and growing small towns cannot be ignored because these centers provide facilities and services to their rural areas and can play a significant role in the development of the suburban regions. In general, small cities can be considered centers with a significant role in strengthening the drivers of growth and spatial development of their domain of influence. The importance of rural development is due to its impact and relationship with economic growth as well as the establishment of social security. It seems that cities that do not have rural development do not have a proper economic structure and lack infrastructure services and imbalances in the region. This is a factor in increasing unemployment and increasing migration of villagers to cities, followed by many social and economic problems. Based on the results of research and studies (some of which will be mentioned below), one of the most important solutions in this regard is to strengthen small towns in order to better access rural services to urban services, which strengthens and develops areas. It is a village in order to prevent migration and stabilize the population and provide services and create employment in the small towns of this city. The diversity and difference of rural settlements in Rudbar city in the framework of unequal interactions between urban and rural areas, has led to the formation of incoherent networks and disintegration of rural settlements. These conditions necessitate the transformation of the settlements of Rudbar city. In order to achieve a spatial balance between rural settlements and small towns, it is necessary to study the function and performance of cities versus villages.MethodologyRudbār city is located in the south of Guilan province. This city is limited to Rasht city from the north, Qazvin province from the south, Shaft city from the northwest, Zanjan province from the west, and Siāhkal city from the east. Rudbār city, with an area of about 2517 square kilometers, has seven cities named Rudbār, Manjil, Jirandeh, Rostamābād, Lushān, Totkābon, and Bare-sar It also has 4 districts, 7 cities, 10 rural districts, and 205 villages.Results and discussionAccording to the results of the general population and housing census of 2016, Rudbār city has 4 districts, 7 cities, 10 rural districts, and 205 villages. This city, with a population of 100,943 people, has 30,350 households and accounts for 4.07% of the total population of Guilan province. The seven cities of Rudbār are respectively Manjil with a population of 17396 people, Lushbān with a population of 15193 people, Rostamābād with a population of 13749 people, Rudbār city with a population of 10926 people, Jirandeh with a population of 2584 people, Totkābon with a population of 1678 people, and Bare-sar with a population of 1416 people.ConclusionIn examining the function of cities in the development of surrounding villages, it was found that strengthening and equipping the towns will increase income in the cities and villages and also play a role in stabilizing the population of villages.The above results showed that the expected growth rate of small towns in Rudbār city is positive in all cases, which is due to the success of these cities in providing jobs compared to the province. The capital from the production surplus, instead of flowing to larger cities, will be spent on industrial activities in small towns of this city so that currently workshop-industrial units are operating in these towns.FundingThere is no funding support.Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the workConflict of InterestAuthors declared no conflict of interest.Acknowledgments The authors thank the esteemed professors of the University of Guilan and the Islamic Azad University of Rasht.