Analysis of Existing Deficiencies of Rural Local Planning Based on Communicative Planning Theory in East Azarbaijan Province

Although planning theorists’ opinions vary, most communicative process criteria can be summarized in three principles: inclusiveness of participating parties, openness and transparency for debating process, and consensus building for constructive and practical solutions. According to these three principles, the shortcomings of the rural development plans of East Azerbaijan province in the field of communicative planning approach were analyzed qualitatively-quantitatively by research method mixed with the tool development approach. A total of 40 people were selected to participate in in-depth interviews and answer multiple-choice questions, of which 25 participated in qualitative interviews. In the first phase of the research, the "guided introspection" method was used. Due to the nature of this approach, MAXQDA software was used for data management in secondary coding. The extracted indicators and pivotal concepts became a researcher-made questionnaire for tool development in quantitative sections. The SEM method in PLS software environment was used for quantitative data analysis. Thirty sub-themes were identified as local development planning deficiencies in three options as communication planning process criteria, which were classified into eight main themes. The results show A) as long as the participation of stakeholders in all stages of planning is not; B) there is no clear definition of local rural development; C) the type of attitude towards development is not communicative and bottom-up; D) Local capacities, needs and expectations are not used properly; F) how to access information is not enough; No consensus can be reached on constructive and practical solutions through indigenous knowledge, creativity and executive guarantee.