Development of Impactful Scenarios for Smart Village Approaches on the Sustainability of Peri-Urban Settlements of the Metropolis of Tehran (Case Study: Villages of Islamshahr County)

The "Smart Village" approach includes long-term social, economic, and environmental activities of the rural community that involve widespread participation in local governance processes, promoting entrepreneurship, preserving the rural environment and, ultimately, sustainable development of rural areas. Therefore, the development of scenarios that facilitate the realization of the smart village approach in the peri-urban settlements of the metropolis of Tehran should be emphasized.

This research is a descriptive-analytical study from the perspective of its objectives it is applied. Data and information were collected through library research, documentary studies, and survey methods (interviews). By reviewing scientific sources and conducting interviews with experts, 57 influencing factors of the smart village approach on the sustainability of peri-urban settlements were identified, categorized into 5 dimensions, and a total of 35 people, including managers of relevant organizations and university experts, were interviewed. The analysis of data was based on futures studies techniques, including structural analysis and mutual effects analysis (done using Micmac and Scenario Wizard software).

The research findings show that there are a very large number of possible scenarios for the impact of the smart village on the sustainability of peri-urban settlements in the metropolis of Tehran within the range of Islamshahr County. Among them, 14 scenarios have weak compatibility and only 1 scenario is in a state of strong and sustainable compatibility (zero incompatibility). The first scenario, which is a positive one, has a mutual effect score of 733 and a compatibility value of 13, while the second scenario, which indicates unfavorable conditions for the future impact of the smart village on sustainable development, has a mutual effect score of -144 and a compatibility value of 5. The third scenario also has a compatibility value of -2 and with a mutual effect score of 63, it can be one of the impactful scenarios for the smart village on the sustainability of peri-urban settlements in the metropolis of Tehran. At the end of the research, operational suggestions are presented to enhance the indices of a smart village to achieve sustainable development in the rural settlements of the studied area.

For the first time in Iran, scenarios have been developed on the impact of smart villages on the sustainability of peri-urban settlements, and from this perspective, it is innovative and among the first research in the field.