Analysis of the Rural Development System Using the Integrated Regional Network Pattern (Case Study: Iraq, Kirkuk Province)

Analysis of the Rural Development System Using the Integrated Regional Network Pattern (Case Study: Iraq, Kirkuk Province)



1. Introduction
Various approaches of rural development has been developed and each of them have given consideration a different dimension of it. One of the new approaches of development, is a regional integrated network analysis. Researchers has used statistical models from 60 years based on network analysis. The purpose of this models is to test the quantitative of social relationships attributes between a specific network components and it’s agents (Rezvani, 2007: 48). In fact, it seems that network analysis method can be used as an appropriate way in making balance of relations between urban and rural areas. It also can be useful in order to make balanced and sustainable development of regions.
Even though the urban and rural areas as the main component elements of the network have always been a certain relationship to each other, but industrialization can make dependence cities to villages to meet food, raw materials and human resources. The villages are greatly dependent to urban areas in order to meet their economic and social needs. This interdependence has been facilitated with access to new forms of transportation, and other means of mass communication (Fesharaki, 1994: 42).
Therefore, this study aim to analyze and examine the challenges confronting rural development in different dimensions in Kirkuk province using the conventional scientific research methods and then offer solutions to fix the current problems.

2. Methodology
Method of this research is survey one. The population of this study includes the villages located in Kirkuk province. This province consists of Kirkuk, Havije, Daghugh and Debs townships. This township is also consists of 16 districts which contain 894 villages.Total population of these villages include 79096 household and 383600 people. Totally, 27 village was selected as sample. The villages were selected based on the amount of population and distance from the township centre through cluster sampling method.
The required information collected from documents and survey methods. In survey method household and organization questionnaire was used. Totally, 400 questionnaire distributed among sample villages.

3. Findings
In the process of study the most important question is identifying of the type of rural development pattern. In this purporst the primary interpretation has formed based on a hypothesis in which rural development system lacks integrated regional grid pattern and is based on non-organizational models. Villages were classified in three category of organic, half-organic and non-organic, after studying the situation of spatial streams in sample villages of Kirkuk provinces. So that, 7 villages categorized in organic, 8 in half-organic and 12 in non-organic from 27 sample villages.
Study the effects of leading pattern in spatial streams of rural and urban relations showed that the lack of regional integrated network has been caused rural deprivation in the study area.
In other words, the level of deprivation or enjoyment level of villages has a significant statistical relationship with interacts of households to cities.
Therefore, it can be infer that the level of deprivation has a significant statistical relationship with household non-organic relations to cities.

4. Discussion and conclusions
In this study which analyzed rural development system using regional integrated pattern in Kirkuk province, following two arguments raised:
1. Spatial distribution of studied villages is in a significant tendency towards the villages of villages with non-organic relationships. So that, more than 74 percent of the studied villages located in non-organic to half-organic category. So, it can be argued that the present system of rural development follows non-integrated pattern and is based on the non-organic models.
2. The lack of integrated pattern formation based on the organizational model has increased the level of deprivation in the studied villages and vice versa the development of interactions has reduced the levels of deprivation in the these villages.
Therefore, it can be argued that the pattern of non-integrated and non-organizational model has caused deprivation in sample villages.
In general, rural development with an emphasis on integrated regional network is a reaction to ability of access to a variety of services of social, cultural, infrastructural, economic and physical in the context of environment which can play an important role in economic and social development in local and regional arenas.
In this concept the aim of rural development is to make grounds in order to reduce the development gap among different geographical areas through an integrated network pattern. Thus regional differences will decrease by increasing the enjoyment level.
Key words: Analysis of the Rural Development System Using the Integrated Regional Network Pattern (Case Study: Iraq, Kirkuk Province)