Economy

Nowadays, most experts in rural development field agree that reaching to sustainable development is not impossible without all people’s Participation and undoubtedly, the process of development will be facilitated, with more speed and less expenditure. Meanwhile, the historical experience of our country emphasizes on utilizing top-down strategies for development, it shows its failure on the process of rural development. Therefore, based on this experience and increasing overall knowledge and scientific knowledge, it is necessary for the society to pay attention to rural development which is dominated by people’s Participation and this Participation should be the priority for plans and measures.

Spontaneous and endogenous development indicated that in all stages and in different circumstances, development is based on Participation of local people for mobilization of resources and institutionalizing local Participation with emphasis on empowerment and capacity building. People’s Participation causes them not to feel alienated with plans and new elements; this makes them to be engaged throughout the planning process and after that in implementation and maintenance of the plans; they feel that the plan and the product belong to them and they cooperate greatly to maintain it and make it dynamic. People’s Participation in local planning may lead to decentralization and it can reduce the limitations of top-down planning.

So, these plans and all the expenditures in these villages should result in development, if villagers wants and needs are recognized and they are engaged in villages' affairs; because, on one hand, villagers Participation leads to empowerment of institutions and social organizations in the village so that they facilitate development process, and on the other hand, it leads to usage of capabilities and talents of villages for national development, the sustainability of population and decrease of regional inequalities. Khoshke-bijar district is located in north-east part of Rasht County; in recent years, many construction plans and projects were prepared and implemented in these villages such as preparing and implementing guide plans, equipping and modernization of agricultural lands, gas delivery plans, purified water delivery system, and so on. According to this, the present study aims to answer this fundamental question that how much influence does people's Participation have on the development of villages in Khoshke-bijar district?

Regarding its objective, this is a practical study and a descriptive-analytical one according to its methodology. For studying and recognizing the status quo, descriptive method, and for statistical analyzing in the case of rural services and population, analytical method has been used. Therefore, theoretical and conceptual framework of the study and geographical and demographic features of the study were collected by documentary method and determining the ways that people engage in different areas had been done through field study. Statistical population includes villages of Khoshke-bijar district in Rasht County that have been selected in four categories: small villages, medium size villages, big villages and parts that are a combination of village and town. Study sample is determined 400 villagers, according to Morgan Standard Table that is distributed and completed by using random-quota sampling method in the studied area. Questionaries' validity is determined by experts' comments and those who have expertise in rural planning and its reliability is determined by Cronbach's Coefficient Alfa (0.81). For data analysis in this study some tests have been used including Wilcoxon Test, Spearman Correlation Test, and Kruskal Wallis Test.

Discussion and conclusion
Participation objective is generally defined as voluntarily participation of people in development plans in all stages- including goal setting, decision making, implementation, maintenance and evaluation. People's Participation can be recognized as a process through that poor and disadvantaged people can be organized and by this organizing they could try development efforts. If all villagers could be directed toward field creation and optimal organization, this filed and organization turn to be an instrument for expressing their wants, through that they could achieve their rational wants.
Villagers' Participation in Khoshe-bijar district will be on its maximum level, and can have impact on rural development, if all cited obstacles are removed. It is obvious that removing the existing economic problems in Khoshke-bijar district is not possible without focusing on social, cultural and political problems and when villages lack a desirable level of culture and social attitude, it will be impossible to expect them understand new methods of economic development and take the risk of them. Finally, it can be said that in Khoshke-bijar villages, despite of many different problems and obstacles in the way of Participation and using that for rural development, villagers' desire to engage in affairs and their presence in many development plans can be helpful and it clarifies the necessity of planning for this important matter.
The results show that the desire for intellectual, and physical Participation among villagers is in a desirable level. By increasing the economic power of the villagers in Khoshke-bijar district which is possible through their own Participation, we can expect that the level of Participation in plans and projects for rural development increase too. There is no doubt that Participation motivation among villagers depends on using cultural actions and giving awareness to them that are the top priorities. Because the level of Participation and cooperation among villages are at a high level in many villages of the developed countries in the world and they strongly believe in team work activities, the level of Participation is in a desirable level and villages are more developed too, due to widespread acculturation and internalization among rural people. It is obvious that when people of the studied area are aware of the advantages and effective results of cooperative works and they know more about the results of Participation for sustainable profits and interests, their motivation for Participation will increase.

Todays, the importance of agricultural development and putting more value on it, unlike past days, is concluded from the fact that in the process of economic development program, an increasing attention is given to social welfare goals in addition to other goals of increasing revenue. In every society, at times of population increase, the increase of agricultural products, which is in direct relation with the rate of population increase, requires an increase of the productivity in existing lands relying on the improvement of farming techniques and irrigation systems. Basically, agricultural development means a transition of traditional techniques to modern industrial ways of production which includes top modern agricultural techniques like planting and harvest methods and the use of agricultural machinery. Agricultural mechanization is a new approach of providing the situation of promoting from traditional to modern agriculture. Additionally, it is considered as the most useful factor to help us achieve our goals of rural development. Machinery technology development is a matter of great importance in rural development strategies. Using technology in the process of rural development can lead to the elimination of barriers to production. As mechanization causes less difficulties and more money from agricultural activities, it makes farming more fascinating for villagers and stimulate them to continue their farming activities and prevent them continuously move to the cities. In this research, we are investigating possible consequences of mechanization and its effect on rural development of south Astarābād to find answers to the following questions:

This is an applied research which has been done using descriptive- analytical approach in a field study. For data analysis and interpretation, independent T test, Mann Whitney test, and the process of correlation analysis have been applied in SPSS software. Statistical population of the research consists of two types of agricultural households, a group of more mechanized households and another group of less mechanized ones, from 22 villages located in rural district of South Astarābād. A number of 10 villages (including 6 plain villages and 9 mountain villages) were chosen as sample society based on the total number of 6423 households and homogeneity of the villages in terms of geographical features. Using Cochran formula, the sample size of the society (190 households) was determined. Considering the population of each village, their participation in answering the questionnaires was determined. Questionnaires were delivered among different households in a simple random sampling way.

Discussion and conclusion
By its effect on timely agricultural operations and reducing production costs, agricultural mechanization plays an effective role in increasing revenues and consequently improving economic level and quality of life for agricultural uses. According to the results from the questionnaires a significant relation of a top confidence level (95 or 99%) is confirmed between agricultural mechanization with productivity and improvement of economic and social components. In this regard, the government plays a key role in the development of mechanization infrastructures such as integration, leveling, land drainage, giving low-interest loans and making decisions for agricultural institutions. Considering the fact that lower participation and self-help of operators and lack of education and awareness of the benefits of mechanization are the most important factors affecting the failure of the government and people in promoting mechanization, an overall management and programming by the government is inevitable to help us achieve our goals. The followings are suggested for the improvement of mechanization.

- Strong support of the government for infrastructure development of agricultural mechanization such as land consolidation, irrigation channels, land leveling and drainage, irrigation development, and construction of roads between farms;
- Reducing official bureaucracy and granting low-interest loans by banks to promote agricultural mechanization;
- Holding training and educational coursed for the introduction of proper use of machineries and their technology to the farmers.

 Introduction
The concept of livability is complex and includes various aspects of life. In general, livability is all the components that are the basis of creating a high quality settlement increase the rate of livability and the level of satisfaction of rural residents. These components appear in different dimensions: environmental-ecological, socio-cultural, economic, institutional-managerial and physical. Economic dimension is not the only factor affecting livability, but it is the significant one in the opinion of rural residents.
The villages around the metropolis of Rasht, like other villages in the country, are facing with various problems., If a place is economically improved, it is more suitable for living. Increasing the economic level Especially for young people will create satisfaction and prosperity in the society, increase the motivation of the residents to stay in the village environment and prevent the migration of the villagers, by investigating this issue, more appropriate planning can be done in the village environment to achieve the desired quality of life. The purpose of the current research is to analyze the economic livability of rural settlements around the metropolis of Rasht.  The study identifies economic indicators that are effective in livability and evaluates them in order to answer these questions: what are the economic indicators affecting livability? which villages are the most economically livable village in the study are?

 Methodology
The research in terms of purpose is applied study and in terms of methodology is descriptive-analytical. The required information is collected from documents and a field study. The required data are collected by interviewing and a questionnaire from head of household and village managers. The components and items in the questionnaire were extracted from the literature and field studies.37 rural settlements around metropolis of Rasht were statistical population. 516 head of household and 37 rural managers were statistical samples. The number of household head has been estimated based on the total number of households in the study area and using the Cochran formula. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by experts and specialists in rural studies. The reliability of questionnaires was assessed by Cronbach's alpha method. A number of questionnaires were completed randomly to pre-test in the study area and its reliability coefficient (0.837) was calculated which indicates the acceptable reliability. Excel and SPSS software were used in the descriptive statistics section. For inferential statistics, and the process of indexing, the livability scores were used for comparison and conclusion. One-sample t-test was used to prove the significance and generalizability of research results, and regression analysis to show the impact of the economic dimension on livability and for further analysis. The results of the studied villages were ranked according to the economic livability scores at five levels: very desirable, desirable, moderate, undesirable and very undesirable.

Discussion and conclusion
The economic dimension in livability consists of 4 components and 16 items. The components include employment and income, household expenses, land and housing value and tourism. Component of employment and income had 8 items including having a suitable job (in a village or adjacent town), the variety of available job opportunities in the village, job security and job satisfaction, satisfaction with family income, satisfaction with total family income, satisfaction with family saving and the existence of profitable investment. The component of the household expenses had 3 items including levels of satisfaction with household expenses, satisfaction with housing costs and satisfaction with shipping costs. The component of land and housing value had 3 items including the value of land in the village, the growth of the price of land and the growth of housing prices. The component of tourism had 2 items including the annual number of tourists and the income generated by the presence of tourists.
After identifying the effective components and items and the process of creating index, the economic livability scores of each of the studied villages were obtained. The value of land and housing with the score of 9.00 was the highest score and the tourism index with a score of 1.2 was the lowest score. Development of tourism was found an effective way to increase the level of economic livability in the studied villages. Also, considering the livability scores, Pirkolachai village has the highest score of 29.7 and Varazgah village has a lowest score of 94.3. Furthermore, the studied villages are classified according to their livability scores in five groups. According to this rating, Pirkolachai villages is very desirable, Talemseshanbe, Kassar, Alman, Balakkoyakh, Tuchipaibast, Roknsara, Lachegorab, Shalko are desirable, Dareposht, Foshtam, Keshalvarzal, Gilpordesar, Pesikhan, Pasvishe, Komakol, Piledarbon, Bijarbaneh, Pachkenar, Gorabvarzal are moderate, Roudbordeh, Kheshtmasjed, Tazeabad, Siaestalkh, Mangode, Garfam, Shekarestalkh, Kizhde, Karchovandan, Ravajir, Kisarvarzal are undesirable, and Varazgah, Koleshtaleshan, Tarazkouh, Bijarpas, Vishkavarzal, and Vishkamatir are very undesirable on the level of livability.
The present research is in line with the research of researchers such as Khorasani et al. (evaluating livability), Isalo et al. (analysis livability economic indicators), Jomepour and Tahmasebi (explanation of livability), Sasanpour et al. (identification of livability indexes), Khorasani, Rashidi et al., and Honarvarsedighian (livability measurement). Finally, according to the conducted research, we can find ways to improve the economic livability. The measurement of livability can lead to proper decisions in the field of rural policy and investment and sustainable consumption of resources, stimulate the participation of village residents and planning correctly which recognizes the capabilities of each region separately, improves the quality of management levels.
To this end, the study suggests the following actions:
Provide plans for investing in the village - many villagers tend to invest their little savings in the village, but they have not been able to take action because rural managers do not plan on this. The studied villages have a high potential for attracting capital because of the proximity to the Rasht metropolitan area. -
Create jobs in village and the follow up supports- creating job in the village increases the motivation to stay in rural areas. In many of the studied villages production united are available, but it is used by non-local labors, nevertheless many villagers work in the cities and other villages. Rural managers can obligate the job owners in the villages to hire local residents. In this case, part of their dissatisfaction about jobs and income will be reduced.
Plan to attract tourists – villagers can create activities in the village to attract tourists, and then with the necessary promotions and marketing, they will boost their village.
 

Introduction
Nowadays, much attention has been paid to discussions and concerns about environmental and land use changes. In such a situation, sustainable land use has become an important analytical-political issue. Land use is considered as an example of human effect on the environment. In developing countries, the issue of land use change is more important due to poor management and disruption of the political and economic structure. Land use change and land cover has become a complex process that involves different variables and factors at different social and spatial levels. The great and potential effect of land use change and land cover on the physical and social environment has created a motivation for research to understand land use change and its main causes and effects. The growth of the population of Rasht and the consequent need for more housing and construction, has led to the physical expansion of the city from various angles. In some cases, this problem has been solved in an unplanned way through land use change, both around cities and in peripheral rural settlements. On the other hand, the migration of some villagers to these rural areas and the lack of a specific authority and institution to control constructions, has caused physical development in an unbalanced way and without an integrated plan. It is clear that in this case, the land use of the agricultural lands of the village will change from agricultural to other uses, especially residential. Therefore, the researcher seeks to answer the following general question in this study: "How can these land use changes be organized in order to preserve land by identifying the factors affecting land use change?"

 Methodology
In terms of the method, this research is considered as a descriptive-analytical study. The statistical population of this study is the villages around Rasht City. In the present study, a researcher-made questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire was designed after identifying the economic and social factors affecting agricultural land use change. In fact, in this questionnaire, the respondents were asked to evaluate the effect of each of the socio-economic factors on land use change in the form of Likert scale. This questionnaire was given to the respondents in the villages around the city of Rasht. Finally, 516 questionnaires were completed by the respondents. The data were analyzed by one-sample t-test and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Discussion and conclusion
The factors affecting land use change on a regional scale were analyzed aiming to identify the mechanism of interaction simulation and predict the process of land use change. Land cover changes not only have a significant effect on the key parts of natural resources, but it has a close relationship with sustainable socio-economic issues. According to the results of the studies, human activities currently play a key role as a factor in land use change. Land use in an improper way can lead to some environmental issues. There is little knowledge on these issues and a brief understanding of the complex factors and processes that control land use change.
It's difficult to identify the factors affecting land use change and their prioritization. The present study investigated the socio-economic factors affecting land use changes in villages around Rasht using a questionnaire technique and based on the views of villagers. According to the results, economic factors are more important and effective on the research issue than social factors. Drought and water scarcity in agriculture created economic problems for farmers and prevented them from engaging in agricultural activities. The change of use from agriculture to residential and service activities has also occurred due to the decline in agricultural activities. Other relevant factors are lack of sufficient budget to purchase agricultural machinery, reduced income of the agricultural sector, lack of financial support in the production stages, the benefits of investing in land and housing, low prices of agricultural products and high prices of agricultural inputs. Social factors, on the other hand, are the pressure of children to sell land, the lack of interest of young people in agricultural activities, the belief in the unsuitable position of agricultural activities, the increase in the tourist population and the migration nature of villages