The Effect of Spatial Management Dimensions on Agricultural Land-Use Change (Case Study: The City of Rasht)

Document Type : Research Article - Case Study

Authors

1 Graduated in Geography and Spatial Planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor, Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22124/gscaj.2026.30496.1355

Abstract

Spatial management, through the implementation of wise land-use planning and establishing linkages among uses, aims to balance development demands with environmental conservation while achieving economic and social objectives. Within this framework, the ecological-physical, economic, and social dimensions of spatial management in the study area have presented significant challenges. Accordingly, the present research sought to examine the effects of these dimensions on changes in agricultural land use in the city of Rasht. To achieve scientific insights, a descriptive-analytical approach was employed. Data were collected through both library research and fieldwork, and questionnaires were used as the primary data collection tool. The study population included three groups: public sector managers, private sector managers, and agricultural land users (farmers) in Rasht. Using random sampling and Cochran’s formula, a total of 37 questionnaires were distributed and completed for the public sector, 105 for the private sector, and 380 for agricultural land users. To analyze the relationships among the three factors, Spearman’s correlation test was applied, while regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha in SPSS, yielding coefficients of 0.889 for the questionnaires targeting the first two groups and 0.897 for the farmer questionnaire. The research findings indicated that all three groups agreed that the negative impacts on the ecological-physical dimension were more pronounced than those on the economic and social dimensions. In other words, the indicators used in the city reflect an unfavorable condition.

Highlights

  • Allocation of social, physical, ecological-economic and agricultural land use management.
  • Spatial management and land use in sustainable development.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Borisov, B. (2015). Spatial planning in regional planning of agricultural lands and rural areas. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 21(5), 751–756.
Briassoulis, H. (2010). Analysis of land use change: Theoretical and modelling approaches. In S. Loveridge (Ed.), The web book of regional science. Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University. 
Chapin, F. S., & Kaiser, E. J. (1995). Urban land use planning (3rd ed.). University of Illinois Press.
Eftekhari, A. R., & Roknaddin Eftekhari, A. (2016). Land use planning management course [Master's degree course handout]. Tarbiat Modares University. [In Persian]
Ellis, E. (2010, September 21). Land-use. In The encyclopedia of earth. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Land-use
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2012). Global forest land-use change 1990–2005 (FAO Forestry Paper No. 169).
Fritz-Vietta, N. V. M., Ferguson, H. B., Stoll-Kleemann, S., & Ganzhorn, J. U. (2017). Local people’s knowledge with regard to land use activities in southwest Madagascar – Conceptual insights for sustainable land management. Journal of Environmental Management, 199, 126–138. 
Gilan Provincial Management and Planning Organization. (2011). Land use plan of Gilan province [Unpublished report]. [In Persian]
Gilan Provincial Management and Planning Organization. (2014). Agricultural census of Gilan province [Unpublished report]. [In Persian]
Gilan Provincial Management and Planning Organization. (2016). Statistical yearbook of Gilan province, Rasht county [Unpublished report]. [In Persian]
Haddad Yazdi, K. (2006). Identification and control of land development patterns in inefficient urban neighborhoods with emphasis on the Smart Growth approach [Master’s thesis, Tarbiat Modares University]. [In Persian]
Junjie Wu. (2008). Land use changes: Economic, social, and environmental impacts. Choices, 23(4), 6–10.
Khalifeh, E. (2016). Providing a spatial planning management model for rural areas, case study: Tehran province [Doctoral dissertation, Tarbiat Modares University]. [In Persian]
Madani, K., & Hipel, K. W. (2011). Non-cooperative stability definitions for strategic analysis of generic water resources conflicts. Water Resources Management, 25(8), 1949–1977.
Metternicht, G. (2017). Land use planning. In International encyclopedia of geography: People, the earth, environment and technology. John Wiley & Sons. 
Mohammadzadeh, S. (2013). An extension model for sustainability of agricultural land use in the western basin of Lake Urmia [Doctoral dissertation, Tarbiat Modares University]. [In Persian]
Pandey, B., Zhang, Q., & Seto, K. C. (2014). Urbanization and agricultural land loss in India: Comparing satellite estimates with census data. Journal of Environmental Management, 148, 53–66. 
Robert, M., Hocking, M., Oliver, D., & Rees, G. (2012). Agricultural land management strategies to reduce phosphorus loads in the Gippsland Lakes, Australia. Agricultural Systems, 106(1), 11–22. 
Vice Presidency for Strategic Planning and Supervision, Office of Infrastructural Studies. (2014). Analysis of policies and approaches for the protection of agricultural lands with emphasis on the Law on Preservation of Agricultural Lands and Gardens and its amendment [Unpublished report]. [In Persian]
Yaghoub Khani Ghayathvand, M. (2014). Analysis and modeling of urban land use changes in Tehran metropolitan area using the MOLAND model [Master’s thesis, Tarbiat Modares University]. [In Persian]
Yaghoub Khani Ghayathvand, M. (2014). Analysis and modeling of urban land use changes in Tehran metropolitan area using the MOLAND model [Master’s thesis, Tarbiat Modares University]. [In Persian]

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics