Spatial Analysis of the Relationships between Road Access and Level of Rural Development with an Emphasis on the Level of Access to Services: A Case Study in Central District of Isfahan County in Iran

    Appropriate communication has a significant influence on development of a society, and it is one of the important indicators of growth and development. In addition, self sufficiency and self reliance can be realized by paying special attention to rural areas and provision of roads in these areas. In order to assess the linkage between degrees of access to rural roads and level of development, the present study was carried out in south Ghohab and south Bara'an subdistricts in central part of Isfahan county. In the first step we categorized the rural areas according to their development level using Z score analysis. In the second step a map of rural roads was prepared and a score was estimated for degree of access to rural roads. In the final step, we used Pearson correlation test to assess the relationship between access to rural roads and level of development. The research findings indicated that the estimated level of association between level of development and access to rural roads were 0.822 and 0.786 in south Bara'an and south Ghohab respectively, both coefficients indicated a direct and significant relationship between the two variables.