Assessing and Comparing the Development Levels in Rural and Urban Settlements from the viewpoint of Local Residents : A Case Study of Minoodasht County of Iran

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Abstract

    Assessing the development of settlements in area planning is very important. Thus, this study aimed at assessing and comparing the development levels in rural and urban settlements of Minoodasht county of Iran from the viewpoint of local residents. It was xonducted in a descriptive and analytical research method and the required data were collected through library and field studies. Using Cochran sampling formula, a sample size of 382 people was selected the county as well as its fourteen villages. In order to assess the level of development, 46 variables were extracted by using Delphi method with the participation of twelve experts. The results showed that Minoodasht settlements were better developed than its village settlements in most indices and there was a statistically significant difference between them; also, the settlements were divided into five clusters through hierarchical cluster analysis techniques.  

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