Journal of Research and Rural Planning
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Winter 2022

The ecological crisis of Lake Urmia began in 1995, and its critical state was announced in 2014. Previous studies have demonstrated that farmers and water management in agriculture sector are the main contributors to the crisis. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of neoliberalization in water financing, commodification, and privatization programs in reducing the water level of Lake Urmia.

This research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The method of data collection is also documentary and field interviews. The documents include the laws of First Plans (1990) to the Fifth (2011) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Fair Water Distribution Acts (1982), and the Provincial Agricultural, and Water Development Documents. The documentary analysis approach corresponds to the interpretive analysis paradigm of information analysis.

What the represented results and the discussions indicate is that when politics and economics are together (as it always is today), separation becomes a neoliberal trick to restore order and self-preservation, and it causes, “The separation of the elements of water, the exploiter, the private interest from the public interest, and from each other”. In this way, by using fake tricks in the name of development and protection, it uses the environment and water resources to gain legitimacy and capital accumulation and transfers the costs of these conspiracies to the environment and the water source.

Nevertheless, it seems that the policies of structural adjustment and implementation of programs in different governments have created different "separations" and they have imposed enormous environmental costs on water resources.

In many development programs in the third world, the expansion of small home businesses in rural areas has been mentioned as an efficient solution to advance the rural development process and improve the living conditions and income of rural residents. Therefore, the aim of this study is to prioritize the challenges of home business in rural areas of Sari County.

The present study is an applied and descriptive-analytical, for which the method of documentary and survey (questionnaire) were used. The statistical population of the research consists of experts of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Mazandaran Province and the Industry, Mine and Trade organization and the Agricultural Jihad organization in Sari County. Fifteen people were selected as a statistical sample. Six factors of economic and financial, infrastructure, education and innovation, insurance and law, marketing and skills were considered as home business challenges in rural areas of Sari County. In order to analyze the data, the combined DEMATEL method and interpretive structural modeling were used.

The results showed that education and innovation, insurance and law and skills barriers are at the highest level of the model, and economic and financial, marketing, and infrastructure barriers are at the lowest level of the model. According to MICMAC analysis, economic and financial, and marketing barriers with strong impact and weak dependence were identified as the most important challenges for home businesses in rural areas of Sari County.

The absence of a comprehensive database for home businesses, especially in rural areas, poor cooperation of experts in completing the questionnaires is the limitation of this study. Creating and organizing a database of home-based businesses are suggested, especially in rural areas that have been less studied and arranging the study platform for other research in this field.Practical implications- Supporting home-based businesses based on local and indigenous capacities and knowledge is a solution that not only promotes the production and creates jobs for the villagers, but also has positive social consequences.

The results of this research can be a guiding tool in the executive organizations in charge of issuing home business licenses (Agricultural Jihad Organization, Industry, Mining, and Trade Organization and Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization) and institutions supporting the vulnerable and poor groups (Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation and the Welfare Organization). It could also help the managers implement the prosperity of home businesses as effectively as possible.

Rural tourism can be considered a country-related experience that includes a wide range of attractions and activities. They can be related to agriculture and might increase opportunities to provide services to local communities. In the same time, they can change the nature of geographical landscapes. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the feasibility of rural tourism development using the structural equation model in Gaikan Village of Aligudarz County.

This is applied study, in terms of purpose, and in terms of method, it is descriptive-analytical. To fulfill the purpose of the study, field study and survey were used. Using Cronbach's alpha test, the reliability for two feasibility components (attractions and capabilities of rural tourism, and obstacles and problems of rural tourism development), were 0.79 and 0.80, respectively, which indicates the good fit of the research tool. The statistical population consisted of three categories of experts, tourists and villagers (270 people in total: 13 experts, 129 tourists and 128 villagers) who were selected by simple random sampling. In order to analyze the data, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling in SPSS20 and AMOS software were used.

The findings showed that the most important attractions and tourism capabilities of Gaikan Village are in four main categories: cultural and religious attractions, use of organic product, rural welfare facilities and services, and natural attractions. Also, the most important restrictions and obstacles of tourism development in this village are: lack of proper investment, avoidance of using agricultural products and related industries, ignorance of local people about the benefits of tourism, lack of amenities, and creating environmental pollution. The last one has a significant relation with tourist development.

Lack of proper access to transportation infrastructure, roads, and accommodations in the area of Aligudarz County has created limitations for the development of tourism in the study area. Moreover, access to tourists and key informants of rural issues (statistical population of the study) was one of the problems in the research.Practical implications- Due to the lack of transportation, accommodation, and public infrastructure in Gaikan Village, establishing the accommodations such as hotels as well as camps are suggested in the region.

The feasibility of tourism development can lead to understanding the tourism process in accordance with the local systems and finally, designing a suitable local model.

At the local level, the role of rural management in achieving optimal rural planning and development goals is significant. There are several approaches to rural management, one of which is good rural governance. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of new rural management with an emphasis on good governance indicators for the villages in the Central District of Karaj County.

Quantitative approach was used in conducting this research. The statistical population of the study includes 7 villages. 145 households were sequentially determined based on random sampling and using the modified Cochran's formula. SPSS software and the FARAS model were utilized to analyze the data.

The results showed that the situation of governance indicators in the studied villages is lower than average. In addition, the results of the correlation between the indicators of good rural governance showed that the management system is the desired and subject to development in all indicators of good rural governance from the point of view of the villagers. Also, the ranking of the indicators of good governance using the FARAS model substantiated that the social participation index has the highest rank from the experts’ point of view.

The outbreak of coronavirus interfered with the process of data collection and information in the studied villages. This impeded the process of completing the research. In this regard, to reduce the negative impact of this restriction, interviews and completing questionnaires were conducted through the Internet.Practical implications- Activities should be taken through the interaction of non-governmental organizations, governmental and public organizations, and the private sector, removing existing obstacles, and financial and executive constraints for modern rural management in the villages of the Central District.

The study is conducted by the mentioned researchers and in accordance with the official rules and procedures, and all dissertations, articles, books, etc. were referred to accordingly. The originality of the present study is in applying the FARAS fuzzy model to the studied villages in the Central District of Karaj County.

Achieving balanced development and spatial justice with much emphasis on competitive advantages has been constantly the main concern among planners and policy-makers to reduce inefficiency, inequality, polarization, and fragmentation in the spatial structure of different countries. Fulfilling such goals demands the knowledge of local potentials and the way to exploit them in a correct manner. Therefore, this study aimed to identify competitive advantages and levels of living in the study area, and then assess the effective drivers of balanced regional development (BRD) based on local competitiveness using future studies.

An analytical-exploratory applied method was used to reflect on the rural areas and the researchers working on regional planning in Ardabil Township, Iran, were the statistical population. The sample size was thus determined to be 30 individuals using the snowball sampling method (via theoretical saturation). The data were also collected by a Delphi questionnaire, library method, documents, statistics, and initiatives. To analyze the data, Micmac software, the Geographic Information System (GIS software), Microsoft EXCEL, and the Morris method were employed.

Analyzing the research findings associated with the variables as determinants with direct influence showed that among 23 variables in this study, 13 cases were within direct influence-dependence scope or condition but only 12 variables prioritized respectively as policy stability, executive regulations/procedures, price stability and predictability and intervention logic, monopoly prevention, unfair concessions or rents and competitions, removal of administrative barriers to business through delegation approach, effective deterrence of criminal laws and prosecutions in the judicial system, innovation/initiative flow, prevention of biased perceptions of laws by relevant stakeholders, distribution system and marketing status, effective market demand, administrative procedures and business information transparency, willingness to buy foreign goods, as well as auditing and taxing regulations/procedures as determinants had the highest influential power, that is, they constituted the drivers of BRD.

Among the most important limitations of the present study was no access to the statistics of all cases and the unwillingness of a number of executive organizations and bodies in Ardabil Township to cooperate. Furthermore, the pivot strategies in this research were established based on local development and BRD strategies.Practical implications- To meet the objectives of BRD planning in the rural areas of Ardabil Township, the key role of the 12 main variables mentioned here should be taken into account. Such variables have high influence and low dependence on BRD improvements in the study area and they are of top priority in planning for BRD based on local competitiveness in the rural areas of Ardabil County, Iran.

Little research has thus far assessed the effective drivers of BRD based on local competitiveness using future studies. Amongst the advantages of the present study, the comprehensiveness and impediment of its research criteria stand out.

Basically, one of the physical planning patterns in Iran is the rural guidance [Hadi] plan that has been considered in the path of rural development planning since the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Preparing and implementing rural guidance [Hadi] plans with more than three decades of experience is one of the most fundamental proceedings is executed to enhance the physical development of Iranian villages. The implementation history of these plans over many periods indicates many challenges in the process of preparing, approving and implementing guidance [Hadi] plans.

The main purpose of the present study was to analyze the challenges in the process of preparation, approval and implementation. For this purpose, we interviewed 12 individuals who had a background in conducting the guidance [Hadi] plan. Therefore, in this study, the research method was based on qualitative method and was used to analyze the data collected by MAXQDA software.

The results show that the challenges in the process of preparing the conductor plans are Service description (29.73%), Partnership (33.78%), Organizational and systems (29.73%) and Consultants Characteristics (6.76%). In challenges existing in implementing Guidance [Hadi] plans, 2 main axes are also addressed by the interviewees, including participation and the rules. In the partnership axis, the limited participation of villagers in the implementation of plans with the weight of 100 was more important than other sub-axes. Since the villagers have minimal participation in the two processes of plan preparation and approval, it is, therefore, foreseeable to have limited participation in the process of implementation.

This is significant because for the first time, a study is being conducted at this level on the challenges of preparing and implementing a Rural Guidance [Hadi] Plans.  The paper should be of interest to readers in the areas of Middle East & world.