Formulation of a Five-Year Rural Development Plan in a Strategic and Participatory Approach: A Case Study of Sadrabad Village of Rustaq Sub-district, Yazd Province of Iran

Diversity of rural location-spatial characteristics in Iran indicates difference in needs and requirements of rural communities، raising the necessity of local planning. This article presents effective strategies and formulates general issues on «executive plan of rural development» of Sadrabad village of Rustaq sub-district in Yazd province of Iran. For this purpose، it used a participatory and strategic planning approach in survey and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods as well as SWOT model. The study results showed that among the weaknesses of the village، «water scarcity»، among the strengths، «possibility of integrating the lands»، among the opportunities، «presence of appropriate external markets for the supply of green house products»، and among the threats، «environmental pollution of the village» were the most important factors affecting the rural development; in addition، the aggressive strategy with focus on internal strengths and external opportunities was found as the most suitable model for the development of the studied village.