The Stability of Population in Rural Habitations of Mashhad, with a Focus on Diversification Approach to Economic Activities

The diversification approach to economic activities enjoys such focal attention for comprehensive development of rural communities that having a diversified economy is believed to be necessary for the sustainable development of rural areas. The present study aims to investigate the factors affecting the population (un)sustainability in rural habitations of Mashhad, adopting a diversification approach to economic activities. The method of study was (causal–comparative) design and was carried out with the participation of two groups from rural areas with sustainable and unsustainable populations. The results obtained from 380 families and 41 villages show that “diversification of economic activities” in rural habitations of Mashhad has a positive effect on “population sustainability” which mainly originates from the diversity observed in non-agricultural economic activities. In fact, diversification of agricultural economic activities does not have a significant effect on the “population sustainability” of rural habitations of Mashhad; this is due to the regional drought and the low income Associated with agricultural activities.