Evaluation of the effective factors on poverty reduction with an emphasis on new indicators of regionalism Case: Kuhdasht city - Lorestan Province

Introduction Poverty is a multi-factorial and complex phenomenon. The complexity of this phenomenon is due to the various dimensions and the multiplicity of its causes. Thereby, different social sciences have approached this phenomenon with different approaches. It has been tried to eliminate this unwanted phenomenon so far, but it has not yet been able to eradicate this problem from society. Since the late 1970s, and especially the early 1980s, poverty and support the vulnerable groups have received growing attention due to the adoption of structural reform, liberalization, and privatization programs by many countries. Attention to the issue of poverty alleviation was a global issue and Iran as well. The issue of poverty is one of the most important issues and internal problems of all societies, both rich and poor. Poverty can spatially be observed and studied in urban and rural areas.  Poverty in rural areas is broader than poverty in cities. According to the new definitions of regionalism, poverty reduction depends on the activation and promotion of local human and natural capacities in order to improve sustainable livelihoods and reduce rural and urban poverty. One of the deprived and poor places of the country is Kuhdasht County in Lorestan Province. according to the latest census of the Statistics Center, the population of Kuhdasht County is 166,658, 64,373 of which live in rural areas and 102,285 in urban areas. Considering unemployment as one of the indicators of poverty, its rate in Kuhdasht County in 2016 was 16 percent, which is higher than the national average. This unemployment rate is visible in urban and rural areas of the county.  Also, the net migration rate of this county is more than 600 people. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting poverty reduction with emphasis on new indicators of regionalism in Kuhdasht. This study seeks to identify and analyze the impact of factors affecting poverty reduction in Kuhdasht County, for which statistical and structural analysis is used.   Methodology This research is applied in terms of purpose and based on a descriptive-analytical research design. Field and documentary methods are used to collect the required data. The statistical sample of the research is to complete the questionnaire of all people over 18 years old living in Kuhdasht County. Cochranchr('39')s formula has been used for sampling. According to this method, based on 116,254 over 18-year-old population in 2016 (census results of the Statistics Center of the country in 2016), the calculated sample number is equal to 383 people. The tools used in this research to analyze the data are: SPSS, GIS and Excel software.   Discussion and conclusion The first way to reduce poverty from a Neo-regionalism perspective is neighborhoodism, which causes problems to be rooted out of the smallest units to larger dimensions. When problems are addressed on a small scale, it increases social trust and a sense of belonging to the residents. This type of planning, which is a bottom-up type of planning, uses small dimensions of political issues to solve problems effectively. These will increase the efficiency of planning because even the smallest issues are considered in planning and it is planned properly, on the other hand, neighborhoodism and planning, makes the local community last and creates a sense of responsibility for residents. The results show that changing the Regionalism approach to Neo-Regionalism in dealing with local economic development and disadvantaged areas can lead to the emancipation of social and human capacities and will lead to social and local action. Based on the data analysis, the results indicate that the city of Kuhdasht in terms of Neo-Regionalism indicators is in a good position that can be strengthened and by directing social capital in the form of social partnerships and production cooperatives in urban and rural areas.  Thus, in order to improve the economic situation and deprivation in urban and rural areas of Kuhdasht County, it is necessary to pay attention to the relevant indicators. This can be done by enhancing entrepreneurial capacity. In fact, the process of converting social, economic, physical, natural, financial and infrastructural capital through entrepreneurship is possible by implementing strategies of industrial clusters, sustainable rural systems, completing the supply chain and value. In general, in order to reduce poverty in rural areas with a Neo-Regionalism approach, the following is suggested: Development of rural and urban small business environment; Creation of rural micro-funds; Development of local participatory projects based on the advantages of the area; Strengthening production and marketing cooperatives in urban and rural areas; Establishment of knowledge-based companies in the county to improve production and processing processes.