Classification of Development Level in Villages of Marhamatabad Rural District, Miandoab County

Introduction Being developed or not, causes Iran's villages to face various challenges. This is so when widespread poverty and increasing lack of balance, unemployment growth, and low level of productivity are obvious in the country; Lack of balance between different regions in the process of development leads to Create gap and intensity of regional inequality which are considered as barriers for development and these issues can be seen in different countries in different levels. This lack of regional balance and unbalanced distribution of services and facilities through inappropriate ways are obvious and they are major characteristics of Iran and other third world countries. This is especially true for those countries that include vast areas of rural regions and to obtain balanced development of the regions, these inequalities are serious threats. The position of each region should be determined and without this, objectives and strategies will not be helpful in providing spatial balance in the country. Therefore, the first step is recognition and classification of the villages considering their economic, infrastructural and communicational, social-cultural, health and educational levels. By recognizing the differences in the level of regional development, it is possible to take necessary actions and to implement plans in order to decrease or eliminate the current differences. This study aims to calculate and compare the degrees of development in villages of Marhamatabad rural district according to selected indicators; and by considering its objectives, this study tries to determine and prioritize the degree of development of studied rural district and by presenting an image of inequality among villages, tries to develop appropriate policies and prevent unbalanced regional development. In fact, this study tries to answer the following question: "according to the selected indicators, how development level of each village in Marhamatabad rural district in Miandoab County is defined?” Methodology This is a descriptive-analytic study and it is also a practical research. For data collection, documentary method and field study have been used. The result of national population and housing census, 1390, general census of agriculture and statistical yearbook are used as database. 7 indicators (based on population, education, transportation, economic, infrastructure, administrative and service, health) and 36 sub-indicators have been selected according to experts' opinions (professors, local and governmental managers, and so on) to describe development level of villages in this rural district. In order to give weight and importance to the indicators, AHP model has been used. For classification of development level in villages, TOPSIS approach and cluster analysis were performed. By consulting experts, three level of development were defined in cluster analysis: developed villages, to some extent developed villages, undeveloped villages. Discussion and Conclusion According to the pioneers of regional development, development should start generally in rural districts and especially among farmers, poorest regions and rural people. Therefore, studying and recognizing the regions' condition, capabilities and problems are of great importance in spatial planning. Using economic, social, cultural and health indicators are suitable criteria for determining regional position and also good factors for removing problems and failures and also goof for achieving economic welfare and social heath that together result in regional development. So, it is possible to recognize the spatial distribution of facilities and services among villages by considering their regional development condition and also it is possible to prevent unbalanced spatial development by making correct decisions and implementing necessary plans.  The study results showed the deep inequality of regional development among the studied villages. According to the results of the model which is used in this study, it was determined that Ghopchagh village is the most developed village and Mansurabad and Kordkandi are the least developed villages respectively. According to the Ci rate in TOPSIS approach, Ghopchagh village (Ci = 0.705) is on the top as a developed village and Kordkandi village (Ci= 0.18) is on the lowest level and it is considered as the most deprived village. In performing cluster analysis, studied villages are classified and tested in three levels: developed, to some extent developed and undeveloped villages. According to this classification, Ghopchagh village is the only village that is ranked as "developed village". 6 villages (Fasandoz, Shabanlo, Khazine-anbare Jadid, Aghdash, Firouzabad and Eslamabald) are ranked as "to some extent developed" and 7 villages (Moradkhanlou, Khazineanbar Ghadim, Ozon Obeh, Ghare ghozlou, Kordkandy, Mansourabad ans Ebrahim Hesari) are ranked as "undeveloped villages". In conclusion, it should be admitted that although the level of unbalanced regional development in these villages are not significant according to the obtained dispersion coefficient, the first step for achieving balanced regional development is the necessity of considering unbalanced regional development among villages.