. For the last four decades in Iran, the rural development issue in general and the strategy or strategies of rural development in particular has been the subject of discussion among scholars and experts from various related fields on the one hand, and the policy makers and programmers on the other hand. In the study at hand, this issue is examined through the exploration of the published viewpoints of scholars within the framework of the defined concepts and time periods. In the belief of the article writers, in this time that we yet – and maybe more than ever – need to develop and execute a coherent and efficient rural strategy, these viewpoints, as the most important authorities in defining the rural development strategy, could be the guidelines and the solvers of the problems that are growing more complex and more important day by day. As for the methodology, this research project is based on the content analysis method. It is worth noting that in the exploration of the scholars and experts’ viewpoints, there has been no bias, preconception, or even an effort to introduce and define any specific strategy.
Through the examination of the defined set of rural development resources, this study has scrutinized 613 suggested(case) viewpoints regarding the rural development strategy in Iran. Based on the content analysis, these viewpoints, which have initially been divided into 5 approaches, including managerial-institutional, economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and spatial-physical provide 18 macro-strategies and 76 strategic categories for rural development in Iran. According to the analysis of the strategic problems in rural development, the managerial-institutional approach from approaches, the strategy of “capacity-making for rural economic improvement” from strategies, and the issue of “poverty and deprivation removal and modification of the treasure distribution pattern” from categories have attracted the most attention from the rural development . |