Investigating the Relocation of Rural Settlements at Risk of Natural Disasters - the study of Khuzestan Province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Instructor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Researcher, PhD in Geography, Islamic Azad University, Najaf Abad, Iran.

10.30490/rvt.2023.362293.1527

Abstract

Introduction
Spatial displacement of the population is not only a physical phenomenon, but also of view point of social, cultural, economic issues, the disconnection of their natural and emotional ties with the previous environment creates problems in adapting to the new environment and quality of life. In this regard, the current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of resettlement on the quality of life through economic, social, cultural, environmental and physical indicators in the displaced villages of Khuzestan province. And in that, the settlement of 14 villages of Khuzestan province that were displaced due to natural disasters such as floods were considered. The questions raised for this purpose included: How many percent of the variance of the quality of life do the different realms of life explain? Which of the economic, social, environmental and physical indicators has the least and most positive and negative impact on the quality of life of displaced villages?
Materials and Methods
The current research is an analytical and applied research. According to the nature and purpose of the research project, information was collected by documentary method and the questionnaire was completed through questions made by the researcher. According to the information received from the Housing Foundation, the statistical population under study includes all displaced villages of Khuzestan province, which consists of the heads of households of 14 displaced villages, totaling 1816 heads of households. For this purpose, a total of 14 villages in the province were identified due to the reason of their displacement. Sampling from the statistical population was done by stratified random sampling and using proportional assignment method. First, the total number of statistical samples was estimated using Cochran's adjusted formula, then according to the population of each village, the number of samples proportional to the population of that village was determined, which included 112 household heads in total. The collected information was analyzed using regression analysis and factor analysis techniques through SPSS software to determine the true picture of the villagers' quality of life and their level of satisfaction with the displacement phenomenon.
Results and Discussion
To measure the level of satisfaction of displaced households in Khuzestan province, four domains: environment, economic factors, social and cultural factors, and physical factors were studied. The results showed that the environmental factor with the highest factor load explained about 32.65% of the variance of the quality of life of the displaced villages. The economic factor by being placed in the second rank of satisfaction determined about 15.536% of the variance of the quality of life, and the social and cultural factors also showed the third level of satisfaction among displaced villagers by expressing 10.883% of the variance for a specific reason. Finally, the physical factor has the lowest level of satisfaction of the relocated households with 8.529% of the variance of the quality of life.
Conclusions
The highest level of satisfaction in the displaced villages of Khuzestan province is related to the environmental field and the lowest level is related to the physical field. The factor analysis of the studied areas determined the level of satisfaction of the villagers on different aspects of the quality of life at an average level. In addition, comparing the results with the research background showed that in other countries, especially third world countries and developing countries, resettlement was often forced and had negative consequences in terms of social separation, employment problems and lack of access. However, resettlement in Khuzestan province is voluntary and has shown 67.6% satisfaction to achieve the studied indicators.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Arnall, A., Thomas, D.S.G., Twyman, Ch. & Liverman, D. (2013). Flooding, resettlement, and change in livelihoods: Evidence from rural Mozambique. Disasters, 37(3), 468-488. doi.org/10.1111/disa.12003.
  2. Baird, I.G. & Shoemaker, B. (2007). Unsettling experiences: Internal resettlement and international aid agencies in Laos. Development and Change, 38(5), 865-888. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2007.00437.x.
  3. Beiser, M. (2009). Resettling refugees and safeguarding their mental health: Lessons learned from the Canadian Refugee Resettlement Project. Transcultural Psychiatry, 46(4), 539-583. org/10.1177/1363461509351373.
  4. Betts, A. (2017). Resettlement: where's the evidence, what's the strategy?. Forced Migration Review, 54, 73-75. Available at: www.fmreview.org/resettlement/betts.
  5. Burnett, R. & Maruna, S. (2006). The kindness of prisoners: Strengths-based resettlement in theory and in action. Criminology & Criminal Justice: An International Journal, 6(1), 83-106. doi.org/10.1177/1748895806060668.
  6. Cernea, M.M. (2000). Risks, safeguards and reconstruction: A model for population displacement and resettlement. Economic and Political Weekly, 3659-3678.
  7. Cernea, M.M. (2003). For a new economics of resettlement: A sociological critique of the compensation principle. International Social Science Journal, 55(175), 37-45.
  8. Chen, J., Pellegrini, P., Xu, Y., Ma, G., Wang, H., An, Y., Shi, X. & Feng, X. (2022). Evaluating residents’ satisfaction before and after regeneration. The case of a high-density resettlement neighbourhood in Suzhou, China. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2144137. org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2144137.
  9. Curry, O., Smedley, C. & Lenette, C. (2018). What is “successful” resettlement? Refugee narratives from regional New South Wales in Australia. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 16(4), 430-448. doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2017.1358410
  10. Doberstein, B. (2019). Alternatives to long distance resettlement for urban informalsettlements affected by disaster and climate change. KnE Social Sciences, 136-150. doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i21.4964.
  11. Donner, S.D. (2015). The legacy of migration in response to climate stress: Learning from the Gilbertese resettlement in the Solomon Islands. Natural Resources Forum, 39(3-4), 191-201. doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12082.
  12. Galli, A., Iha, K., Pires, S.M., Mancini, M.S., Alves, A., Zokai, G., Lin, D., Murthy, A. & Wackernagel, M. (2020). Assessing the ecological footprint and biocapacity of Portuguese cities: Critical results for environmental awareness and local management. Cities, 96, 102442. doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102442.
  13. Gizaw, S. (2013). Resettlement revisited: the post-resettlement assessment in Biftu Jalala resettlement site. The Ethiopian Journal of Business and Economics, 3(1), 22-57.
  14. Goebel, A. (1998). Process, perception and power: Notes from ‘participatory’ research in a Zimbabwean resettlement area. Development and Change, 29(2), 277-305. doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00079.
  15. Guo, L., Li, L., Xu, K., Wang, W., Ni, Y., Li, W., Gong, J., Lu, C. & Zhang, W.H. (2023). Characterization of premigration and postmigration multidomain factors and psychosocial health among refugee children and adolescents after resettlement in Australia. JAMA Network Open, 6(4), e235841. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5841.
  16. Hammond, L. (2008). Strategies of invisibilization: How Ethiopia's resettlement programme hides the poorest of the poor. Journal of Refugee Studies, 21(4), 517-536. doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fen041.
  17. Horiuchi, Y. & Ono, Y. (2023). Susceptibility to threatening information and attitudes toward refugee resettlement: The case of Japan. Journal of Peace Research, 60(3), 459-473.org/10.1177/00223433221079455.
  18. Horst, C. (2006). Buufis amongst Somalis in Dadaab: The transnational and historical logics behind resettlement dreams. Journal of Refugee Studies, 19(2), 143-157. doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fej017.
  19. Jamshed, A., Rana, I.A., McMillan, J.M. & Birkmann, J. (2019). Building community resilience in post-disaster resettlement in Pakistan. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment. doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-06-2019-0039
  20. Kia-Keating, M. & Ellis, B.H. (2007). Belonging and connection to school in resettlement: Young refugees, school belonging, and psychosocial adjustment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 12(1), 29-43. doi:org/10.1177/1359104507071052.
  21. Mathur, H.M. (2011). Social impact assessment: A tool for planning better resettlement. Social Change, 41(1), 97-120. doi:10.1177/004908571104100105
  22. Milgroom, J. & Spierenburg, M. (2008). Induced volition: Resettlement from the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 26(4), 435-448. doi.org/10.1080/02589000802482021.
  23. Murray, K.E. (2010). Sudanese perspectives on resettlement in Australia. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 4(1), 30-43. doi: https://doi.org/10.1375/prp.4.1.30.
  24. Ndezi, T. (2009). The limit of community initiatives in addressing resettlement in Kurasini ward, Tanzania. Environment and Urbanization, 21(1), 77-88. doi: 10.1177/0956247809103005.
  25. Patel, S., D’Cruz, C. & Burra, S. (2002). Beyond evictions in a global city: people-managed resettlement in Mumbai. Environment and Urbanization, 14(1), 159-172. doi.org/10.1177/095624780201400113
  26. Peisker, V.C. & Tilbury, F. (2003). “Active” and “passive” resettlement: The influence of support services and refugees' own resources on resettlement style. International Migration, 41(5), 61-91. doi.org/10.1111/j.0020-7985.2003.00261
  27. Peng, S., Shi, G. & Zhang, R. (2021). Social stability risk assessment: status, trends and prospects—a case of land acquisition and resettlement in the hydropower sector. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 39(5), 379-395. doi:10.1080/14615517.2019.1706386
  28. Portal of Management and Planning Organization. (2022). Available at: https://www.mporg.ir/home.
  29. Pormon, M.M.M., Yee, D.K.P. & Gerona, C.K.O. (2023). Households condition and satisfaction towards post-disaster resettlement: The case of typhoon Haiyan resettlement areas in Tacloban City. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 91, 103681. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103681

30.  Rahmati, A.R. & Nazarian, A. (2011). Socio-Economic and environmental impact of the resident area inforce to move due to dams construction: Case study dam, Gotvand Olia on the river of Karoon. Environmental Research, 1(2), 53-66. [In Persian]

  1. Schmidt–Soltau, K. (2003). Conservation–related resettlement in Central Africa: Environmental and social risks. Development and change, 34(3), 525-551. doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00317.
  2. Slavko, B., Glavatskiy, K. & Prokopenko, M. (2019). Dynamic resettlement as a mechanism of phase transitions in urban configurations. Physical Review E, 99(4), 042143.
  3. Statistical yearbook of Iran. (2021). Statistical Center of Iran.
  4. Suto, M. (2009). Compromised careers: The occupational transition of immigration and resettlement. Work, 32(4), 417-429. doi:10.3233/WOR-2009-0853.
  5. Swing, W.L. (2017). Practical considerations for effective resettlement. Forced Migration Review, (54), 4-6.
  6. The un refugee agency. https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/
  7. Van Selm, J. (2004). The Strategic use of resettlement: Changing the face of protection?. Refuge, 22, 39.
  8. Wang, Z. (2022). Life After Resettlement in urban China: State‐led community building as a reterritorialization strategy. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 46(3), 424-440. doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13078.
  9. Wilmsen, B. & Wang, M. (2015). Voluntary and involuntary resettlement in China: A false dichotomy?. Development in Practice, 25(5), 612-627. doi:10.1080/09614524.2015.1051947.
  10. Woube, M. (2005). Effects of resettlement schemes on the biophysical and human environments: The case of the Gambela region, Ethiopia. Florida: Universal Punlishers Boca Raton.
  11. Zhou, L., Zhu, D. & Shen, W. (2022). Social stability risk assessment of disaster-preventive migration in ethnic minority areas of southwest China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10), 6192. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106192.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics