Analysis of Development Indicators in Border Regions to Meet Sustainable Security (Case Study: Border Townships of West Azarnaijan Province)

Since the various regions have not experienced a uniform development in different times and places, there are numerous regional inequalities, in all scales, across countries; as there are various special regions with better position than others in terms of various indicators. Therefore, studying economic, social, cultural and political inequalities among groups, classes, ethnics and geographical regions or divisions of the civil is a necessary and fundamental task for planning and making reforms in order to meet economic growth and to realize sustainable security, particularly in the sustainable regions. This study aims at analyzing the differences and inequalities among border townships of West Azerbaijan Province in terms of enjoying 63 indicators. Economic, social, educational and physical indicators as well as ranking these townships in terms of enjoying the mentioned indicators are among the most studied indicators. It’s an applied research in which analytical-comparative method was used. Electer and Topsis method, which is one of multi-criteria decision making methods, was used for analyzing data. Regarding the results it was demonstrated that development indicators have not been distributed equally among townships of the province. Piranshahr, Sardasht, Uromiya were the first to third townships in terms of enjoying these indicators, while Mako, Oshnaviyeh, and Chaldoran were deprived cities in terms of the studied indicators. Regarding the results of Topsis method, social indicators of Sardasht, social indicators of Oshnaviyeh, economic and physical indicators of Uromiya were in the first ranks. Ranking townships in this study can be useful in optimizing the status quo and organizing development levels and sustainable security in this province.