Introduction
The concept of livability is complex and includes various aspects of life. In general, livability is all the components that are the basis of creating a high quality settlement increase the rate of livability and the level of satisfaction of rural residents. These components appear in different dimensions: environmental-ecological, socio-cultural, economic, institutional-managerial and physical. Economic dimension is not the only factor affecting livability, but it is the significant one in the opinion of rural residents.
The villages around the metropolis of Rasht, like other villages in the country, are facing with various problems., If a place is economically improved, it is more suitable for living. Increasing the economic level Especially for young people will create satisfaction and prosperity in the society, increase the motivation of the residents to stay in the village environment and prevent the migration of the villagers, by investigating this issue, more appropriate planning can be done in the village environment to achieve the desired quality of life. The purpose of the current research is to analyze the economic livability of rural settlements around the metropolis of Rasht. The study identifies economic indicators that are effective in livability and evaluates them in order to answer these questions: what are the economic indicators affecting livability? which villages are the most economically livable village in the study are?
Methodology
The research in terms of purpose is applied study and in terms of methodology is descriptive-analytical. The required information is collected from documents and a field study. The required data are collected by interviewing and a questionnaire from head of household and village managers. The components and items in the questionnaire were extracted from the literature and field studies.37 rural settlements around metropolis of Rasht were statistical population. 516 head of household and 37 rural managers were statistical samples. The number of household head has been estimated based on the total number of households in the study area and using the Cochran formula. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by experts and specialists in rural studies. The reliability of questionnaires was assessed by Cronbach's alpha method. A number of questionnaires were completed randomly to pre-test in the study area and its reliability coefficient (0.837) was calculated which indicates the acceptable reliability. Excel and SPSS software were used in the descriptive statistics section. For inferential statistics, and the process of indexing, the livability scores were used for comparison and conclusion. One-sample t-test was used to prove the significance and generalizability of research results, and regression analysis to show the impact of the economic dimension on livability and for further analysis. The results of the studied villages were ranked according to the economic livability scores at five levels: very desirable, desirable, moderate, undesirable and very undesirable.
Discussion and conclusion
The economic dimension in livability consists of 4 components and 16 items. The components include employment and income, household expenses, land and housing value and tourism. Component of employment and income had 8 items including having a suitable job (in a village or adjacent town), the variety of available job opportunities in the village, job security and job satisfaction, satisfaction with family income, satisfaction with total family income, satisfaction with family saving and the existence of profitable investment. The component of the household expenses had 3 items including levels of satisfaction with household expenses, satisfaction with housing costs and satisfaction with shipping costs. The component of land and housing value had 3 items including the value of land in the village, the growth of the price of land and the growth of housing prices. The component of tourism had 2 items including the annual number of tourists and the income generated by the presence of tourists.
After identifying the effective components and items and the process of creating index, the economic livability scores of each of the studied villages were obtained. The value of land and housing with the score of 9.00 was the highest score and the tourism index with a score of 1.2 was the lowest score. Development of tourism was found an effective way to increase the level of economic livability in the studied villages. Also, considering the livability scores, Pirkolachai village has the highest score of 29.7 and Varazgah village has a lowest score of 94.3. Furthermore, the studied villages are classified according to their livability scores in five groups. According to this rating, Pirkolachai villages is very desirable, Talemseshanbe, Kassar, Alman, Balakkoyakh, Tuchipaibast, Roknsara, Lachegorab, Shalko are desirable, Dareposht, Foshtam, Keshalvarzal, Gilpordesar, Pesikhan, Pasvishe, Komakol, Piledarbon, Bijarbaneh, Pachkenar, Gorabvarzal are moderate, Roudbordeh, Kheshtmasjed, Tazeabad, Siaestalkh, Mangode, Garfam, Shekarestalkh, Kizhde, Karchovandan, Ravajir, Kisarvarzal are undesirable, and Varazgah, Koleshtaleshan, Tarazkouh, Bijarpas, Vishkavarzal, and Vishkamatir are very undesirable on the level of livability.
The present research is in line with the research of researchers such as Khorasani et al. (evaluating livability), Isalo et al. (analysis livability economic indicators), Jomepour and Tahmasebi (explanation of livability), Sasanpour et al. (identification of livability indexes), Khorasani, Rashidi et al., and Honarvarsedighian (livability measurement). Finally, according to the conducted research, we can find ways to improve the economic livability. The measurement of livability can lead to proper decisions in the field of rural policy and investment and sustainable consumption of resources, stimulate the participation of village residents and planning correctly which recognizes the capabilities of each region separately, improves the quality of management levels.
To this end, the study suggests the following actions:
Provide plans for investing in the village - many villagers tend to invest their little savings in the village, but they have not been able to take action because rural managers do not plan on this. The studied villages have a high potential for attracting capital because of the proximity to the Rasht metropolitan area. -
Create jobs in village and the follow up supports- creating job in the village increases the motivation to stay in rural areas. In many of the studied villages production united are available, but it is used by non-local labors, nevertheless many villagers work in the cities and other villages. Rural managers can obligate the job owners in the villages to hire local residents. In this case, part of their dissatisfaction about jobs and income will be reduced.
Plan to attract tourists – villagers can create activities in the village to attract tourists, and then with the necessary promotions and marketing, they will boost their village.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2022/06/18 | Accepted: 2022/05/31