Owner & Primary Publisher: University of Tehran; Journal of Rural Research 2008-7373 14 1 2023 05 22 Spatial Analysis of Rural Settlement in Borderline Areas of the Country Using a Passive Defense Approach (Case Study: Rural Settlements in Piranshahr County) Spatial Analysis of Rural Settlement in Borderline Areas of the Country Using a Passive Defense Approach (Case Study: Rural Settlements in Piranshahr County) 20 37 91094 10.22059/jrur.2023.346445.1761 FA Mohammad Hassan Nami Associate Professor, Department of Political Geography, Farabi University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran. Journal Article 2022 07 30 One of the undesirable consequences of the country's development policies in the border areas is the rupture in the spatial structure, which reflects these policies in the form of disruption of the balance in the endogenous growth of settlements at different levels, disorder in the spatial system of the complex human problems and discontinuity in spatial relations and disorder in economic, social, cultural, administrative and physical functions and finally geographical isolation and underdevelopment are evident. With an overview, it is possible to find the weak position of the border and marginal regions in comparison with the central regions of the country in the process of spatial development, comprehensive security and social justice. The current research with the statistical population of rural settlements in Piranshahr City in West Azarbaijan province is of a practical application type, with a descriptive-analytical method, a systemic problem-solving approach and library-documentary and survey-field information collection tools based on rural development plans. And the emphasis on the passive defense approach has been done as a security-building and defense-oriented approach. The spatial findings were analyzed by GIS and using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy logic. The obtained results indicate that out of 147 villages of the city, more than 60 villages, which constitute more than 40% of the population of rural areas, are very vulnerable. Also, the highest level of vulnerability is observed in the rural settlements of three western Lahijan, Piran and Western Mangur districts, which are border districts. One of the undesirable consequences of the country's development policies in the border areas is the rupture in the spatial structure, which reflects these policies in the form of disruption of the balance in the endogenous growth of settlements at different levels, disorder in the spatial system of the complex human problems and discontinuity in spatial relations and disorder in economic, social, cultural, administrative and physical functions and finally geographical isolation and underdevelopment are evident. With an overview, it is possible to find the weak position of the border and marginal regions in comparison with the central regions of the country in the process of spatial development, comprehensive security and social justice. The current research with the statistical population of rural settlements in Piranshahr City in West Azarbaijan province is of a practical application type, with a descriptive-analytical method, a systemic problem-solving approach and library-documentary and survey-field information collection tools based on rural development plans. And the emphasis on the passive defense approach has been done as a security-building and defense-oriented approach. The spatial findings were analyzed by GIS and using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy logic. The obtained results indicate that out of 147 villages of the city, more than 60 villages, which constitute more than 40% of the population of rural areas, are very vulnerable. Also, the highest level of vulnerability is observed in the rural settlements of three western Lahijan, Piran and Western Mangur districts, which are border districts. https://jrur.ut.ac.ir/article_91094_db8aba6e55d2e03455dbbeafaaae3fba.pdf