organizing the rural settlements of damavand based on regional network indicators by using topsis technique

extended abstractintroductionin the past decades, development policies in the country have caused negativeeffects on regions. these policies have caused the mass evacuation of ruralsettlement and the imbalance hierarchy of settlements. the reflect of these policiesare visible in the rapid and uneven growth of large cities and eliminate loops linkingbetween cities and rural settlements from the highest levels, to lower ones. surveythe development on the rural community in past shows that the rural sectors facedwith the basic difficulty in the socio-economic and ecological aspects in national andlocal levels, so that the continuity of this situation confronts them with problemssuch as intensifying of regional in equalities, massive evacuation of human andfinancial resources in villages, declining in per capital food production and emergingfood crisis, accumulation of population in urban communities, extension ofmarginalization, unemployment and social damage. present study with the purposesof 1) prevent the rising trend of rural migration and make order of settlement patternin activity and population, 2) creation and establishment hierarchy in the settlementof damavand and 3) offer variety activities in rural settlements, consider thesequestions:  1- what factors are effective in the optimal distribution of population and activitiesin an area?2- what is the order of spatial distribution settlements and their functions in thedamavand district and which of damavand settlements have the ability andcapability more for local and regional development?in the survey of the spatial organization of ecologic-environmental areas in districtand regional levels, there are different perspectives and theories in order to achievethe development of urban and rural settlements. these opinions have been entered insome practical and theoretical cases.methodologythis research is investigating on policies that have been proven throughout theworld such as regional network to provide better facilities and services in ruralsettlement of damavand. these policies focus on using the present facilities and jointhem to new strategies of regional and national development. the analysis processof rural settlements and the importance of the proposed indicators are done by usingthe topsis technique and the principal component analysis. for this purpose,collecting information have done by attention to the national documents, and usingscientific articles, books, reports and available information in the organs andgovernment agencies. other information is also provided by the processing of maps,photographs and slides. the statistical society of this study includes 83 permanentrural settlements of damavand with more than3 families and 39 indicators accordingto the dimensions of the regional networks approach.resultsthe result of the study shows that sarbandan, vadan, jaban, marai, sadat mahaleh,arou, mosha, mehrabad, seyd abad, garmabsard, islam abad and ahran villageswith a score higher than 0.4 have been in grades 1 to 13 and shater m. sofla, jafarabad, mendank, ajan, jozdar, homand kouhan, shah belaghi, hossein abad,rostam abad, ozoun dare, saleh abad, gandak, homnad kylan and yalaqandareh villages with scoreless than 0.15 are located in the lower echelons of the  rankings. according to the result of the ranking, some parts of the region that usednatural, economic, social and physical capabilities have more concentratedpopulation and boomed economic activities, which has been a high level ofdevelopment of settlements. however, the boom may be made by only one of thebasis strengths. for example in some parts, some rural such as sarbandan and jabanin abarshive district, vadan in jamabroud and sadat mahale in abali district arelocated adjacent to the communication paths. these villages, with use this featuresand create service centers, have reached to a higher level of development.on the other hand, some rural settlements are being evacuated by ignoring theirpositive features and capabilities. these settlements can be pointed by rural villagesin the south part of the mehrabad and villages in the central part of the abarshiveand jamabroud district.conclusionproper utilization of the natural, social, economic and physical factors has causedboom economic activity, attract population and prevent irregular migration. theseconditions will make hierarchical order of rural settlements based on their power andcapabilities. lack of proper communication between rural and urban settlements indamavand district have caused poor performance and low-density of ruralsettlements. if good communication of manufacturing and service facilities existbetween adjacent settlements, it will help to link rural and urban settlements togetherto get the better performance. in addition to, the complementary relationshipbetween activities of agriculture, industry and services provide the grounds offurther development. finally, according to descriptions provided in settlementsclassified; in order to access available services and facilities of rural settlements inthe district and promote the level of that, 4 system villages are suggested in thisessay.