Analysis of the components of rural development from the perspective of the local community with an emphasis on the optimal quality of life (The case of study: Dehgolan city)

Quality of life is a determining factor in the progress of a society and reflects the way people live and their personal welfare in a community. Improving the quality of life is one of the most important goals of public policies in any society. For centuries, people have pursued a good life, and humans have continuously strived to improve their living conditions and make the best use of their environmental capabilities and potential. However, the main question is: what is a desirable life? This research seeks to answer the question of how much the villages in Deygolan County are enjoying the indicators of desirable quality of life. To evaluate the quality of life in this study, objective indicators (44 items in 4 economic, social, infrastructure, and policy-making dimensions, including agriculture and rural construction) and subjective indicators (23 items in 6 domains of education, health and safety, social, leisure time, residential environment, and occupation and income) were used. Each of the research indicators was examined in two dimensions, and after applying the final weights using the weighted arithmetic mean approximation method, they were combined using the VIKOR method. The results showed that, from the local community's perspective, the indicators related to the infrastructure and policy-making dimensions were of higher importance in the objective dimension of quality of life. Furthermore, the examination of the subjective indicators of development from the local people's perspective showed that the indicators related to health, safety, income, and occupation were of greater importance.