Sustainable economic rural development system pattern in Ghaemshahr: an application of the developed TOP-MARD core model

Abstract

Attention to rural development is an important and undeniable necessity of regional and<br>national development in any country. As a result, in this study, this issue has been assessed<br>in the villages of Ghaemshahr city of Mazandaran Province in Iran. In this regard, the<br>developed model of TOPMARD Core Model and 382 samples of villagers in Ghaemshahr<br>city have been used. Vensim software has been used to analyze the information. Indicators<br>used in this model include economic, social, environmental, physical, tourism and welfare<br>indicators of villages. Three scenarios of agricultural support, non-agricultural support and<br>environmental education were simulated. The model simulation results for existing conditions<br>indicate that the welfare of villagers is declining over the coming years and the<br>migration process from village to cities are increasing. The results of various policy simulations<br>showed that the implementation of policies to increase the guaranteed price of purchases<br>of agricultural products, increase the input support along with environmental education<br>in order to understand the amount and manner of using fertilizer and pesticide and<br>improvement in infrastructure and physical facilities such as creation, educational, health,<br>cultural and rural infrastructure, including suitable roads for easier and less costly access to<br>the market, as well as the presence of tourists to the villages, can play an important role in<br>improving of the well-being of villagers, reducing poverty gap and reducing migration to<br>the cities.