Development assessment of Iran' Provinces based on Infrastructural Indicators

One of the most significant factors affecting the regional development is having infrastructure. Therefore, the present study aimed at assessing the development of the country's provinces in terms of infrastructure indicators which based on 20 indicators, 31 provinces were ranked. First, indicators were collected. Then, extracting the weight by principal component analysis method, the indicator was combined using TOPSIS method and the composite indicator of infrastructure development of the provinces was calculated. In order to investigate the regional inequality, the coefficients of variation and Williamson were applied. Also, zoning the provinces was carried out. Data analysis was performed using SPSS, Excel and Arc GIS software. According to the results, the highest inequality was the infrastructure related to the country's transportation whereas the lowest inequality was related to indicators of the rural infrastructure. The findings of composite indicators revealed that the provinces of Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Gilan and Hamedan have the best situation whereas Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, South Khorasan and Alborz have the lowest rank, respectively. Based on the results of zoning, provinces including Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Gilan and Hamedan placed in the first level of development, most of the northern, central and southern provinces were in the second level, southern and southeastern provinces were in the third level. Furthermore, according to the hierarchical cluster analysis, the provinces were divided into three groups: developed, semi-developed and underdeveloped. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pattern of spatial distribution of infrastructure development is not balanced among the provinces of Iran and in any decision to invest in the infrastructure sector; underdeveloped provinces should be more taken into consideration.