Economy

Rural regions have experienced varied changes and social and economic reconstruction during last three decades. There exists great tendency toward functional integration between villages and cities due to increase in mobility, improvement in communication information as well as rural services. This in turn, resulted in the expansion of urban function including construction mass housing units, production, services, recreations and tourism activities in these regions. These functional changes case conversion in the nature of rural areas based on agricultural production, into consumption-orientation center. This new entities are non-homogeneous. This situation is influenced by many factors including physical conditions such as geographic location, isolation, and characteristics, climatic and sometimes human differences responsible for rural economic and social variations. Taking into account these variations and nonhomogeneities in rural area, efficient and optimum development plans are nonexistence. Increase in urban-ruralization around Tehran metropolitan has led to major physical, economic, social and cultural consequences. Lack of identification of the major relevant roots and sources has led to expansion of these negative consequences to other identical places. This in turn, demands the identification of the responsible factors and its change processes and mechanisms. Thus, the identification, explanations, exploration of those laws and frame works pertaining to urban ruralization as a major topical-spatial phenomenon is highly recommended. The first step in this regard is the determination, definition and assessment of ruralization and more specifically urbanruralization. The study area is Roobat Karim located in the vicinity of Tehran metropolitan. It is followed by determination of degree of ruralization as well as majorresponsible relevant factors.

Taking into account the nature and the objective of the study, descriptive-analytical method was chosen. Based on theoretical foundation of the study, there exist different methods and indices regarding the identification and classification of ruralization. This study concentrates on two dimensions including village’s functions and population and its growth during 1976-2011. It is followed by application of PROMETHEE multi indices decision making method in order to determine village’s functional status through emphasis on agricultural activities. This study further demands hierarchical clustering technique for classification of the villages. Finally, Clack ruralization indices as well as field survey were applied for determination of the village type in this regard. Furthermore, with respect to those villages which urban ruralization occurred, qualitative method of base theory that is Grounded theory was applied in order to identify the responsible factors. At first step interview with rural key official persons and with those with long history of residency (31) was implemented in order to find the casual conditions pertaining to formation and expansion of urban ruralization phenomena. In the second step, taking into account the methodology of the base theory, open coding was done. Regarding this step those relevant raw data were both labeled and conceptualized. Following, the second and third steps sub-classes are divided into broad concepts and those were divided into nodal concepts.

This study concludes that based on application of base theory in 8 villages, many factors including life desirability comparing with place of birth and adjacent settlements, lack of special costs, inexpensive business, lack of cultural barriers, variation in job opportunities, existence of different rents, economic and political structures are among some of the influential factors regarding urban-ruralization phenomena. It is furtherargued that income and saving level, the nature of center-periphery theory, capital accumulation system, discrimination with respect to poverty issue, imbalanced distribution of power, wealth, income and access to job opportunities are other determinant factors as well. Incapacity with respect to attraction of external capitals for creation of job opportunities, shortage of complementary jobs to combat seasoned unemployment, lack of potential for absorbing educated and well equipped social capital, lack of technical and vocational training related to appropriate agricultural technology, shortages of ample suitable agricultural lands and lack of knowledge of environmental conservation are among other responsible variables in this regard. Moreover, lack of appropriate and efficient agricultural market systems as well as cooperation’s and ware houses, need for government and other institutions supports, incapability in formation of industrial clusters, lack of tendency regarding economic background good for villages, management, the formation of two different construction types, land price and its relevant speculation, property rent, lack of effective control upon rural physical development, economic household participation and lack of social responsibility and self-reliance and easy accessibility to Tehran metropolitan all are responsible regarding degree of ruralization of Roobat Karim.

Poverty is one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity. It is said that poverty is almost related to natural resources, while it is also because of some other factors like natural and human capitals. Villagers are considered among the poorest and most vulnerable within human societies, especially in the countries of the third world. If the purpose of development is obviously that of poverty alleviation and eradication through employment generation for the rural and urban poor, supplying the minimum of basic requirements acceptable to everyone, increase of productivity, causing more balance between geographic areas and socio-economic classes, decentralization and people involvement in the process of decision-making, having emphasis on collective and national self-confidence, finding balance and the recovery of living conditions, then we can consider the rural communities as one of the most significant factors causing the above objectives come true. So, rural development plays a vital role in achieving the overall objectives of development at the national level. Approaches and paradigms are always provided by scientists and theorists to assist us achieving the above objectives. In 1980s, sustainable livelihoods (LS) and sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) was proposed to be used a new approach in poverty eradication. The main emphasis of this approach was based on a comprehensive and integrated thought for poverty eradication and rural development. In a short time, this approach could attract the attention of many researches. Since, livelihood capitals is an important aspect of sustainable livelihoods approach and because of the important role of these assets in the livelihood of families, especially rural ones whose condition is influenced by tourism activities, in this research we decided to investigate the impact of tourism activities on livelihood capitals in mountain tourism villages of Bala-Taloqan in Taloqan County so we can find out the answer to the question that which villages are better in the case of this kind of capitals.

As a city of Alborz Province, Taloqan County is located at a distance of 90 km from the center of the province and within the northwest of it. In 2012, the city had 2 parts of central and Bala-Taloqan. It was also consisted of 8212 households and a population of 23765. Bala-Taloqan as the study case of this research consists of two rural districts: Kenar-rood and Joestan (central district) with 48 residential villages. In this paper, we have selected 10 mountain villages which have been affected by tourism. The purpose of this study is to investigate the issue of prioritization of capitals resulting from tourism activities in mountain tourism villages of the district of top Talogan, among inhabited households using analytical- descriptive method with an emphasis on library work, field studies and completing the questionnaires. Meanwhile, hierarchical Filler Triangle was used as a model to weighting each indicator along with Oreste method for ranking and prioritization of the mountain tourism villages in terms of investigating the condition of tourism assets and capitals.

Considering livelihood capitals, Galird has the best and the village of Manglan has the worst condition. Galirad village, according to its proper position relative to the connecting roads and its distinctive tourist attractions, i.e. the old house of Ayatollah Taleqani, enjoys a certain reputation that has caused more tourists go there. Moreover, Guidance plan has been already implemented in the village that is important in the improvement of connecting roads quality and making easy-access roads. After Galird, Karkbud village is located in the second place. Its famous waterfall is the most important attraction of the village which has given it a national reputation. Although, it has located at an altitude of 2200 meters and it is difficult to access it, the attractive waterfall has compensated for this limitation and attracted tourists. Additionally, the village is very rich in terms of natural capital, but tourism has not developed enough and has failed to make the promotion of other capitals. The results of interviews conducted with residents indicate that they are dissatisfied with tourists there and think of them as a contributing factor to environmental degradation and the rise of social abnormalities. Joestan has also dedicated to the third place of this ranking. Vicinity to Shahrood River and the presence of tomb shrine of Haron the son of Muses, are the most important attractions of this village. Although it is the center of Top Talogan district, it has failed to accomplish its central role. So, many people have left the village over time as even the tomb shrine as a strong religious attraction with lodging facilities has not been able to properly accomplish its role of attracting tourists. For this reason, it is only social capitals, and partially, financial capitals, which have perfect situations here. Other villages have similar status and in spite of having human and natural attractions they have not been successful enough in collecting capitals. Of course, it must be mentioned that in this district tourism is mostly found in the form of Daily tourism and second home tourism by a more percentage of Daily tourists than the second-home ones. Because in the mountain villages studied, due to the lack of access to adequate lands with sufficient slopes in order to construct housing units, there have always been lots of limitations for constructing second houses for the non-native. Additionally, in some villages such as Karkbood, native people refuse to sell lands to the non-native and this could affect the status of financial capital of the village.

Introduction
The interaction and mutual cooperation of rural and urban areas in developing countries is different from the developed ones. The type of relations between villages and town can affect different aspects of rural lifestyle, one of them is its effect on food security. Researches show that the range of effectiveness of such relations include property, the use of new technology, supporting relatives and acquaintances, availability of local markets, pricing policy and market access, development of off-farm income, and consequently, availability of foodstuffs, and increase of food variety and consumption that can all affect food security. Due to the increasing flow of urbanization in Zanjan County, in this research we are studying the economic rural-urban relations on food security. There are two main questions mentioned here: How is the security status of food among rural households? How can we define the economic rural-urban relations on food security?
Methodology
This is an applied study which has been done using descriptive- analytical method of research. Rural households from villages of Zanjan County contain the statistical society of the present study. In 1390, there was 97225 villagers, 26429 rural households, 13 rural districts, and 248 inhabited villages in Zanjan County. Among these, a number of 14 villages have been selected as samples using modified Cochran formula. Since it was required to select 54 out of 248 villages to study in case analysis, all the 248 villages were checked to recognize how far they are from the urban area. Then, they have classified into 5 groups. Finally, using simple random sampling, due to the frequency of each population class, 54 of them have selected randomly. Those 54 villages, contain of 11662 rural households and a population of 289547 people. Because of using the household unit as the analytical unit of the research, the required number of then for accomplishing the questionnaires has been calculated 290 households within Cochran formula. The required data has been collected by the use of library and field (for questionnaires) methods. Data have been analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U and T groups). To calculate the amount of food security two methods of food insecurity scale and standard calories have been used.
Discussion and conclusion
Findings from the study implies low food security within the studied rural households. Classifying food security within the rural households based on food insecurity scale indicates that only 31.1 percent of them are taking advantage of food security, the rest 68.9 % are struggling against food insecurity. The followings are reported according to the descriptive findings obtained due to the different times of rural household's visits to the town: 11.54 % visit the town once a week, 17.77% twice a week, 16.44% three times a week, 26.66% four times a week, and 27.59% five times a week or more. In other indicators, no significant effect has reported within the economic relations of villages and towns. Maybe it is because of the weak rural-urban relations within the studied areas. Therefore, the followings are suggested according to the new findings of the study:
- By strengthening agricultural infrastructures in the villages of high environmental potentials it will be possible to accelerate the process of agricultural development of the studied area, create appropriate conditions for money-making, and improve food security.
- Considering the impact of direct selling of agricultural products on food security, the government can make a vital role by its broad support of guaranteed purchase of agricultural products to increase food security and incomes of rural households.
- In the studied villages, the improvement of rural routes and shops can increase the access of rural households to food.
- Development of tourist-oriented activities in high potential villages can provide a good condition of rural-urban relation formation.

Objective: The rural entrepreneurial ecosystem plays a pivotal role in stimulating entrepreneurship and employment in rural areas. By leveraging entrepreneurship in rural regions, it is possible to address the challenges faced by these areas and create dynamic and innovative economies. Despite favorable climatic, geographic, connectivity, and accessibility conditions, Alborz province has experienced inappropriate economic conditions in its rural areas in recent years, including rising unemployment rates, low economic participation rates, and income disparities between rural and urban households. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the status of the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem in Alborz province as a key economic indicator.
Methods: This research was conducted within a quantitative research methodology. Data collection was carried out through a combination of library research and field surveys, with questionnaires being the primary tool in the field. The statistical population comprised the villages of Alborz province, from which a sample of 33 villages was selected. Using the Cochran formula, a sample size of 380 individuals was determined for completing the questionnaires. For data analysis, statistical tests such as chi-square, one-sample t-test, ANOVA, Duncan’s post hoc test, and Kriging interpolation were employed.
Results: The research findings indicate that the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem in Alborz province is in a suboptimal state. Out of the ten key indicator groups examined, including business indicators, financial indicators, educational indicators, human capital indicators, support indicators, market and customer indicators, social indicators, cultural indicators, infrastructure indicators, and innovation, research, and development indicators, only two groups were found to be in a favorable condition, while the remaining eight groups were in an unfavorable state. Additionally, the geographical distribution of the rural entrepreneurial ecosystem's status varies across the province.
Conclusions: The presence of hard infrastructure such as access to transportation networks and urban centers is insufficient on its own to foster the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Concurrently, the development of soft infrastructure, including financial services, education, various support systems, human and social capital, and research and development, must also be prioritized.