Recognition of Factors Affecting the Reclassification of Rural Settlements into Cities, case of Shalman City

Nowadays, in the recognition of cities, the classifications that are presented in statistical, political, legal or functional terms are emphasized. in Iran, the criterion of having a municipality is used to distinguish a city from a village. In this research, Shalman city in the eastern part of Guilan province has been chosen for studding the factors affecting the reclassification of this village to city. the reasons for choosing this settlement are: more than three decades have passed since it became a city, the lack of study on cities that emerged in eastern part of Guilan province unlike other regions, Shalman's location on border of three counties. Current research, is practical and qualitative, and the grounded theory method has been used for data analysis. The sample was selected by snowball sampling among local informants, and a semi-structured interview was used to obtain information. Findings show that the reclassification of Shalman into a city occurred due to the establishment of a permanent municipality in 1993 and through the synergy of 6 key components in the form of 13 main factors. These components and factors are: The presence of seignior families and the desire to seek excellency (mentality); Having basic facilities, a growing economy, having a suitable population, favorable geographical location (facilities and resources); Consolidation of several settlements (aggregationism); political administrative background and historical cultural background (background); Follow-up of trusted and elders and desire and follow-up of people (requests); Political intervention of managers and representatives and central government policies (policies).