Environmental problems such as air and water pollution, urban garbage and climate changes in urban areas are the results of human behavior. Only change in human behavior can reduce these environmental problems. Thus studying attitude and behavior of people is a precondition to change this situation. So the main objective of this study was to find out individual and social factors affecting environmental behavior of urban citizens. To achieve this objective a conceptual framework derived out from review of literature to examine relationships among personal factors, attitude towards environment and environmental behavior. To examine this conceptual model, 1200 individuals of Tehran residents were randomly chosen and interviewed about their environmental behaviors, opinions, knowledge and sources of information on environment. The data were analyzed using correlation analysis, student's t test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and path analysis by SPSS software. It is emerged from the present study that education and improving problem-based knowledge of Tehran residents can change their environmental attitude and increase their feeling of stress towards environment. These changes in turn improve their preparedness to act friendly with the environment, particularly with the help of environmental legislation. Results of the study showed that environmental behavior of people in urban areas directly and indirectly are under the influence of variables like age, gender, income, education, problem-based knowledge, environmental legislation, environmental attitude, feeling of stress and preparedness to act of the residents. All these together can influence and change people's behavior to preserve urban environment.
Abstract:The objective of this study was to examine the factors influencing fragmentation of landholdings commonly regarded as a major obstacle to agricultural development in Iran. A sample of farmers was selected and household and village-level data from 12 villages of Ramjerd sub district in Fars province were used to test these factors empirically. Required data were collected by questionnaire from 151 farmers who were selected through a stratified random sampling design from 12 villages of Ramjerd sub District of Marvdasht County in South of Iran. The findings indicated that the fragmentation is the result of several processes (including social, culture, economic, physical and operational processes), working either together or independently. The influences of these factors on land fragmentation were calculated by linear regression model. Results indicated that household average annual income, per capita arable land, size of land rented by household, labour force of household, family size, number of crop planted by household and size of land rented out, contributing to land fragmentation.
Most published rural/agritourism segmentation studies were undertaken in the 1990s and 2000s and concentrated on developed countries. This study predicts tourist segments by surveying a sample of potential agricultural tourists in Qazvin, Iran. Qazvin is capital of the province of the same name and is in a unique position for agritourism development, due to its very important historical, natural, and agricultural attractions. A factor-clustering method and combined approach identified 3 distinct agritourists segments, one of whom not previously described, who exhibited the greatest concern for food safety. The study presents a spectrum of agritourists needs that allow us to compare the priorities of agritourists in emerging markets with those of industrialized countries.
Problem statement: Rural population in Iran live in an unstable
environment and geographically, villages are extremely diverse and more than 65%
of them have population less than 250 persons, which do not provide sufficient
population threshold for most of services and sustainable economic and job creation
activities. Only 7.5% of rural areas have population more than 1000 persons. Therefore,
the main purpose of this study is to find out major challenges of Iranian rural
communities for achieving sustainable development. Approach:
To fulfill this objective, 60 rural development experts who are engaged in government
organizations relevant to rural development, were randomly selected. Questionnaire
was used to collect data and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbachs
alpha of 0.83. To arrive to consensus of experts opinion, factor analysis
was used to achieve data reduction and extract factors. Results:
In total, 5 factors, including "economic", "management and planning",
"environmental", "social" and "physical challenges"
were identified. These factors explained 65.52% of challenges to achieving sustainable
development in rural areas in Iran. Conclusion: Diversification
of rural economy, supporting job creation activities, promoting sustainable rural
tourism, business and industrial activities, establishing a stable urban-rural
network are among important agenda which can create an appropriate condition for
sustainable development in Iranian rural communities
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