Examining the physical impacts of implementation of Rural Guide Plans from rural residents view point (case study: Miandoab County)

In recent years, the preparation and implementation of Rural Guide Plan (RGP) has been one of the important steps in the development of rural areas in Iran. Currently, such projects are the most important tools in the villages for leading construction activities. With improving the physical structure in villages through the implementation of RGPs, the utilization of rural residents from public services has increased. Consequently the status of rural life has been improved which has raised the interest of villagers to live in rural areas. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the physical impacts of the implementation of RGPs from villagers viewpoint, so that the degree of the effectiveness of plans to be evaluated. The methodology of this study is mainly descriptive and the main data used in the research has been obtained from a field work through the use of questionnaires which has been analyzed using a number of statistical methods. The main findings of this study are: 1. The Implementation of RGP has been effective in term of improving the level of public services in the selected villages. 2. Implementation of RGP has increased the new constructions and has improved the construction methods, durability and outlook of buildings. 3. Implementation of RGP has increased rural resident's willingness to live in their villages which has led to the gradual reduction of rural-urban migrations. 4. Despite the positive physical impacts and improvement of public services in the villages, implementation of RGPs has not been successful in terms of economic pint of view and job creation.