فصلنامه مطالعات جغرافیایی مناطق خشک
پیاپی 56 (تابستان 1403)

This research aims to qualitatively-quantitatively analyze the relationship between regional advantages and effective factors in rural tourism entrepreneurship.

To explain the effective regional advantages in rural tourism ‎entrepreneurship, firstly, the analyzed indicators were collected using ‎theoretical references from various sources, and a qualitative interview ‎method was used to analyze the effective factors in rural tourism ‎entrepreneurship. Then, the overall results obtained from both steps of the ‎qualitative method were coded for analysis in the quantitative part, ‎using the structural equation model by Smart PLS software, were ‎analyzed.‎

In the variable of effective factors in rural tourism entrepreneurship, in the ‎institutional dimension, the factor of easy access to institutions and ‎cooperatives supporting entrepreneurial activities, and in the social ‎dimension,  the factor of not having stress in difficult situations showed the ‎highest level of influence. In the variable of regional advantages ‎effective in rural tourism entrepreneurship, in the political-legal dimension, ‎the factor of the existence of government incentives for entrepreneurs in ‎line with rural entrepreneurship, and in the infrastructural dimension, the ‎factor of access to the gasoline and fuel distribution point, showed the ‎highest level of influence. ‎

The research results show that the relationship between regional advantages and effective factors in rural tourism entrepreneurship is confirmed with a value of 4.39.

Innovation: 

Based on the background of the studies, efforts were made to fill the research gap. Several unique approaches were made to better understand rural tourism entrepreneurship. However, a mixed method (qualitative-quantitative) was used to select the most suitable model to investigate this relationship by evaluating different points of view. The findings of this study will be useful in future planning.

 Erosion is a critical geomorphological process with significant environmental implications, including land degradation, fertility loss, and negative effects on aquatic ecosystems. It is recognized as an environmental hazard due to the substantial damages it can cause.

 This research uses geomorphometric indicators and a fuzzy approach to zoning the soil erosion potential in the Khiavchai area of Meshginshahr. Various variables were used, including slope, aspect, surface curvature, range length, Melton's roughness coefficient, stream power index, drainage density, topographic wetness index, distance from the river, vegetation, precipitation, and geological formations. The information layers were combined based on their impact on erosion using different fuzzifier functions. The fuzzy gamma operator in a GIS platform was utilized to combine and overlay the indicators. 

 The results revealed that approximately 8.4% of the study area exhibited high erosion potential. In comparison, around 18.7% had a high erosion potential, primarily located in the middle parts of the watershed. The high erodibility in these areas can be attributed to erodible geological formations, steep slopes, and high drainage density. Other contributing factors include predominantly southern and western slope aspects, longer slopes, and poor vegetation. 

 The indicators used in assessing erosion-prone areas provide insights into the geomorphological and hydrological conditions of the study watershed. The prepared erosion map can serve as a foundation for prioritizing soil conservation management measures and reducing the impact of erosion. 

Innovation:

 This research employs a combination of geomorphometric indicators and a fuzzy approach to assess soil erosion potential accurately. The practical application lies in utilizing the study's findings to prioritize areas for effectively implementing erosion mitigation and soil conservation measures in land management.

Rural development is mainly focused on poverty alleviation, better livelihood opportunities, provision of basic amenities and infrastructure facilities through innovative self-employment programs. A smart village provides long-term social, economic, welfare, and environmental activities for the village community, which enables widespread participation in local governance processes and promotes entrepreneurship. It can also improve health and well-being and strengthen the interactions of village residents. Therefore, the current research aims to identify and analyze the factors affecting the formation of the smart village approach in Iran. 

 The required information was collected in a documentary-library way. The data was analyzed using expert judgment, the field survey method (observation and questionnaire), the network analysis process model (ANP), and DEMATEL. 

 The research results show that among the factors related to the formation of the smart village approach, the ten components of the smart village include smart education, smart connection, smart economy, smart energy, smart health, smart environment, smart governance, smart infrastructure and mobility, smart agriculture, and smart tourism in this research have been identified. According to the opinion of the respondents, smart education, with 7.26%, ranked first, and smart connection component, with 4.20%, ranked second. 

Therefore, in order to achieve all-around development in connection with the smart village, effective attention must be paid to education and connection because they have the most influence in the formation of the smart village.

Innovation:

 For the first time in Iran, the components of the formation of the smart village approach based on its native capacities have been examined, which can open the way for further research in this field.

The most important purpose of this research is to identify the key factors affecting the hydropolitical relations of political-spatial units in the Gavakhuni catchment area.

 The current research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of research method. The nature of the data is mixed, and the data collection method is library, field, and survey. In this research, after reviewing the authentic documents and texts, the factors affecting the hydropolitical relations of the political-spatial units of the Gavkhoni watershed were identified, and Micmac software was used to determine the key factors. In the following, the researchers provided the provided solutions in the form of a questionnaire to the research experts to check the correctness of the provided solutions and rank them with the FBMW model.

 This research has successfully identified 43 factors that significantly influence the hydropolitical relations of political-spatial units in the Gavakhuni catchment basin. These factors, categorized as determining, two-dimensional, influential, and independent, have been further narrowed down to nine key influencing factors. 

With the view of the separation of provincial management of water resources and arbitrary harvesting in different parts of the basin, transfer of water out of the basin, and regional and provincial conflicts, it seems that with the establishment of integrated management in the basin, based on the system approach and the basic cooperation relations in the basin, we can move towards improving the water situation in the Gaukhoni catchment basin.

The innovation of this research is identifying key factors affecting the hydropolitical relations of political-spatial units of the Gavakhuni watershed using the opinions of academic and executive experts.

The ever-increasing population of cities has created many problems for city management. Solving these problems has become a big challenge for urban management. Scientific and research centers and international organizations have introduced the approach of "good urban governance" as the most effective, least costly, and most sustainable method of urban management. Urban governance is a process formed based on the interaction between the official organizations and institutions of the city administration on the one hand, and non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations on the other. This article aims to analyze the feasibility of good governance in the urban management of Maku City by examining the indicators of good urban governance.

 The research method is descriptive-analytical and is of a functional type. The statistical population of this study includes two groups of citizens and experts (municipality and city council). Statistical tests using mean comparison (T-test and ANOVA) were used to analyze the data collected from the questionnaire.  

 The findings of this study are significant. From the citizens' viewpoint, all the indicators of good urban governance are at a low level. However, experts believe that only the participation index is low. Furthermore, all neighborhoods of Maku city are at a low level in terms of good urban governance, with significant differences observed in three indicators: rule of law, justice index, and strategic insight index. In summary, this study's results underscore the urgent need to improve the realization of good urban governance in Maku city.

Innovation: 

This research stands out from previous studies as it comprehensively examines eight indicators of good urban governance, both from the perspective of citizens and experts. The findings of this unique approach can be instrumental in various planning initiatives, particularly those that prioritize the decentralization of the urban management process.

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the positive and negative effects of the implementation of the steel project in joveyn city on the environment around it using the rapid impact assessment matrix of RIAM, and it has been done by separating the project and its environment into constituent factors.

The present research is analytical and applied in terms of method (quantitative and qualitative) and type, respectively. The environmental impact assessment method is suitable for achieving sustainable development goals. In this study, the important effects related to the construction of Joveyn Sabzevar steel plant were investigated using the RIAM matrix method in order to analyze the effects due the construction  of the unit in the construction and operation phase.

The findings show that the effect of project activities on physical and chemical factors, in the final summation in the physical and chemical environments related to soil erosion and sound effects (insignificant negative effects and changes), ground shaking, drainage, air quality and climate changes (significant negative effects) and in biological-ecological environments, it is related to the change of agricultural and garden land use (insignificant negative effect) and the effect on vegetation changes (significant negative effects). Cultural, social, economic, and technical environments showed positive effects and changes.

The results of this research showed that the construction project of the Jovin Sabzevar steel plant has 18 negative effects and changes and 10 positive effects and changes on different environments. Also, according to the results, compliance with environmental requirements should be considered.

application of the results evaluation and implementation of the steel project with the matrix method can determine the possibility or impossibility of implementing the project with less cost and time.

Extreme rainfall fluctuations are one of Iran's environmental challenges. The heavy rains of 2019 and the relative drought of 2018 and 2021 show the unevenness of rainfall.

This study utilized the daily rainfall data from 360 weather stations spanning the years 1990 to 2021, along with the synoptic indices of the winter seasons of 2019 and 2021. The geographical range of the data, spanning from latitude N 10-90 to longitude E º 10-90, was chosen to provide a comprehensive view of the Iranian climate.

The probability of drought is 42%, drought is 35.5%, and normal conditions are 22.5%. Markov chain indicated the highest probability of normal drought to drought at 57% and consecutive drought at 46.2%. ANOVA showed a significant difference between the climatic variables of wet and dry years. Observational conditions showed that in the wet year (2019) sample year, the Siberian high-pressure center operator had more pressure (1054 megabytes) in 2019 and 1032 mb in 2021. In the wet year, the frequency of cyclones and the temperature difference at the level of 500-1000 are higher, but the omega values are lower. These conditions are for the drought (2021), the amount of pressure in Siberia, the temperature difference between 500 and 1000 is less, and Omega is more (stable air).

The amount of rainfall in Iran fluctuates from year to year, and low rainfall years occur more often than high rainfall years.

Innovation: 

Planners should increase the risk of water supply and development and plan based on the minimum amount of precipitation. The physical capacity of the country's ecology should be reviewed, and population concentration in limited areas should be avoided to reduce the vulnerability of the country's geographical environment.

 Valuing goods, functions, and ecosystem services is necessary. Not considering their long-term value has unfavorable consequences for society.

 In this research, the economic valuation of habitat services use the opportunity cost approach, including market-based techniques. An opportunity cost is the cost of passing up one opportunity for another. Data related to annual development incomes (GDP), such as industry, mining, and settlements, were extracted from statistical reports. Using the habitat quality index, we calculated the GDPR. To estimate the economic value of habitat services, habitat quality maps and spatial statistical analyses were used.

 In South Khorasan province, habitat services were worth 544,465.16 billion rials in 2020. LUT Desert has the highest total value within ecological boundaries or subbasins, while Lut Desert (3.32) ranks third among the four subbasins in terms of economic value. In part, this is due to the vast expanse of the Lut Desert and its nonhomogeneous conditions. The value of habitat ecosystem services per hectare in the province was estimated to be around 36 million rials.

 The research findings indicate valuable areas in the northeast with a favourable climate and higher rainfall than the rest of the province. However, the western half of the central region in South Khorasan province has similar conditions but is more arid. Biodiversity protection planners must consider the impact of mining activities in this area.

Innovation: 

Shifting the economic valuation approach towards spatial analysis methods (space-based), which can provide landscape managers with a more powerful tool for making informed and wise decisions. The quantitative and spatial findings from this research are crucial for evaluating environmental impacts, creating development plans, and estimating damages during decision-making processes.