Journal of Geography and Regional Development
Year:2017 | Volume:14 | Issue:2 (27)|Papers Count:12

Introduction: Determination of ownership and issuance of title deed has a 75-year history in Iran. However, like many other aspects, the rural community lags behind the urban community in this regard. In recent years, due to the issuance of joint proofs of ownership for villages, most rural lands/buildings lack official ownership documents. Not only has this condition reduced the mental and emotional attachment of villagers to their birth place (due to the gap between urban and rural life), but it has also limited the facilities provided for villagers. Since this is a newly-appearing issue and it is going to be implemented for the first time in a large scale in the country, its consequences on the rural community should be carefully investigated...

Introduction: International boundaries are considered as the first point of impact and the front-line of combat with threat; hence, boundary security greatly induces the national security of the country. As a result, throughout the history, governments have always tried to apply various plans and policies, proportional to the time, place, and technology in each historical period to secure the boundaries. The construction of the Wall of China, Hardin, Golestan, etc. by the governments is the evidence of this point. Iran, due to being located in the Middle East, is faced with major challenges and developments. The threats such as illegal migrations, human and drug trafficking, the importation of prohibited goods, and ethnic movements on the one hand, and the specific features of the border areas _geographical isolation, being away from the center, the lack of development of the border areas, etc._ on the other hand, spread insecurity in the border areas. Therefore, it is essential to study the optimal approaches and strategies of boundary management...

Introduction: In recent decades, the growth of cities, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, has led to the marginalization of villages, the increase of population growth and the migration of a large part of the rural population to urban centers, and thus causing many problems for such countries. This, in addition to changing land use patterns, has had widespread effects on society, regional and local economy, and the environment...

Introduction: Every year natural hazards damage various parts of the planet. One of the hazards of the desert margin with a dry and semi-arid climate, including the Middle East, is dust. Dust reduces horizontal visibility and cancellation of flights, causes crashes, pulmonary and ocular diseases, work closures, air pollution, reduced water quality and damage to the agricultural sector, etc. Today, air pollution with dust is reported in different cities of Iran, including the storm in the July 18, 2009 in 18 provinces, with particles suspended from the desert of Syria and Iraq to Tehran and the amount of suspended particles with 460 ppm showed the highest record of polluting (Ranjbar Saadat Abadi & Azizi, 2012). Estimated economic losses in the western Iran (Ilam, Khuzestan and Kermanshah) from 2006-2011 were 2227 million dollars in the first scenario to $ 13361 million in the fourth scenario (Khalidi, 2013). Every year, 108 tons of dust particles are imported into the atmosphere, with the largest share of Africa (Kutiel & Furman, 2003). The Arabian Rub' al Khali Desert, the Tigris and Euphrates suburbs of the Euphrates and the coasts of Oman are the main focus of Middle East dust production (Prospero, Ginoux, Torres, Nicholson & Gill, ., 2002). In Iran, a significant dust storm trend was reported in the west (Rasouli, Sari Sarraf, & Mohammadi, 2011). Zabul with an average of 183 storms had the highest number, and Zahedan, Bushehr, Tabas, Bandar Abbas, Jask, Iranshahr, Hamadan and Ahvaz were the next, with the maximum number in July and minimum in December (Farajzadeh & Alizadeh, 2011). The two critical centers of dust in the southwest of Iran from 1979-2008, Dezful and Bushehr, have highest amount of dust in spring and lowest in December (Azizi, Miri, & Nabavi, 2012). The purpose of this study is to determine the pattern of spatial distribution, continuity, major sources and dust hour pattern in northeastern Iran...

Introduction: Factors such as global warming, environmental degradation and increasing urbanization expose a greater number of people to the threat of natural disasters. These natural disasters require the immediate mobilization and action of multiple stakeholders due to the unexpected nature and amplitude of the event, and the diversity and the quantity of supplies and services needed by the victims. In countries like Iran, natural hazards experience shows that management and decision-making before the earthquake and after that is important. The occurrence of natural and non-natural disasters creates conditions that make some regions be rapidly evacuated...

Introduction: Medical tourism as one of the aspects of tourism contributing to the sustainable development and economic mobility of the country has been regarded as an important branch of health tourism in several countries, either developed or developing, over the past few years. In this form of tourism, many patients would travel to well-known and credible medical centers in developed countries or capitals which hold healthcare facilities, in order to receive treatments. Iran, as one of the developing countries, has also been engaged in a number of such actions in this field, over the past few years. The city of Mashhad has been selected as the region of the study due to a set of specific features this area contains; the presence of Imam Reza’s (AS) holy shrine in Mashhad is the main reason which attracts millions of fascinated pilgrims each year. On the other hand, the existence of well-equipped hospitals and medical centers in Mashhad has led to a considerable number of medical tourists seeking entry to the city. Moreover, train stations, intercity bus transportation system and the international airport are the additional means to which the accessibility of such tourists from all over Iran to medical centers located in Mashhad has been made easier…

Introduction: In many cities of Iran, the injustice in the distribution of per capita municipal services is obvious. In the meantime, the city of Boushehr has been rapidly growing in terms of population and space, but the municipal services have not developed correspondingly in terms of development and distribution. This creates social inequalities among different areas of the city, and therefore, it has led to discontent in areas with fewer facilities, promotion of urban journeys and spatial displacement. Therefore, the identification of the population access to urban utilities and their distribution is among the most pressing issues examined in this study…

Introduction: Nowadays you can rarely find areas on the earth surface which are not exposed to degradation and erosion and this is mainly due to population growth and excessive use of the land. The severity and extensity of erosion was not the same in different times and places, and it is related to the natural conditions, topography, soil characteristics, and status of land use. The phenomenon of soil erosion and sediment yield has created many problems in human society; accordingly, soil erosion is one of the most serious problems in developing countries and many developed countries now. Although it is not possible to stop the erosion geology, however, prevention and control of soil erosion is a basic need in the basins within the framework of utilization projects of water, soil, and watershed. One of the problems of erosion and sediment studies is the shortage of necessary data and information. This problem was more acute in developing countries and our country, Iran, is one of those countries that faces with this problem...

Introduction: Rural development has a multi-disciplinary nature with the intersection of Agriculture, social, behavioral and management sciences. In other words, rural development is a process with the ultimate goal of improving the standards of life for people of rural regions. The selection of appropriate statistical methods for rural development in each region needs to compare the different methods and select methods and models appropriate for the reality of the present situation…

Introduction: The structure formed in cities throughout time and creation supporting elements of the cars in cities do not fit new urban approaches, and this issue has manifested more often in the cities of developing countries where overlapping pattern of tradition and modernity have been more pronounced. Somehow, these cities were not strong enough both in terms of walking or using vehicles. This inability is the result of social, economic, cultural, physical, and management features in these cities, which ultimately lead to a decrease in citizens' desire to walk in the urban space. It is therefore important to be aware of factors that decrease citizens' interest in walking in urban spaces. In the present study, we investigated this matter in Rasht, and various layers associated with it have been analyzed. As one of Iranian northern cities, Rasht is located in Guilan province. The city has a temperate climate and is considered as a tourist attraction point in the country. Its green environment as well as the climatic characteristics and attractive places and spaces are all among the potentials of the city in encouraging citizens to walk. In this study, we tried to investigate walking problems of citizens from various aspects and to determine the factor which has the greatest impact on decreasing the citizens' interest in walking in the city…

Introduction: Based on estimations by FAO, about 98% of the people around the world who face food insecurity and undernourishment live in developing countries, and a majority of them are from Asia and Oceania. Furthermore, the maximum ratio of undernourishment is seen in Sub-Saharan African countries. Since the majority of the citizens in developing countries live in rural areas, improving the level of food security of rural families is an important aim in developing countries. Studies reveal that the severity of food insecurity in rural communities is more than urban spots even though rural households are expected to have full access to foodstuff, regarding the type and amount, as food producers and providers…