A Study and Measurement of the Development Degree of the Counties of Khorasan Razavy Province Using TOPSIS Technique

Authors

Abstract

Extended Abstract
Introduction
Due to the need for unified development, the analysis of human residences dependency over
regional levels is the basis of any programming in third world countries. The final goal of
analysis of regional systems is suitable distribution of population and distributing socioeconomical
development. Therefore, decreasing deprivation and inequality is an important issue
in developing countries; in fact widespread development and improvement in the future,
requires recognition of the situations of different regions. Using criteria and quantitative
methods for leveling residences in spatial system of regions not only leads to recognition of the
rate of inequality of residential places, but it is also an index for attempting to decrease and
remove the inequalities among them. This article focuses on leveling and rating the inequalities
among cities of Khorasan Razavy using TOPSIS model as one of the multi criteria for decision
making technique. This technique contains logical mathematics in ranking and using absolute
(non-comparative) data. TOPSIS measures the distance of each alternative from the positive and
the negative ideals and makes an index (Ci) for comparing alternatives, and then this technique
can be used for the purpose of this research.

Methodology
This is an applied research that uses analytic- descriptive method to survey the question of the
research. The populations under study are the cities of Khorasan Razavi province containing 19
cities based on the census report in 2006. 84 indexes were selected as indicators of development
containing infrastructure (rate of roads to city area, rate of blacktop roads to city area, roads per
100000 persons, rate or city roads to province area, rate of travel roads to city area, rate of main
roads to city area), Health (number of doctors per 10000 persons, number of dentists per 10000
persons, number of laboratory per 10000 persons, number of sickbed per 10000 persons,
number of employees in health care department per 10000 persons, number of pharmacists per
10000 persons, number of paramedics per 10000 persons, number of pharmacies per 10000
persons, number of experts per 10000 persons, number of psychologists per 10000 persons,
number of auxiliaries per 10000 persons), culture (number of libraries per 10000 persons, ratio
of books to educated persons, ratio of library members to educated persons, number of mosques
Human Geography Research Quarterly, 4 arterly, No. 72, Summer 2010
per 10000 persons, ratio of cinema viewers to population, number of cinemas per 10000
persons, ratio of educated women to city population, ratio of high educated persons to
population and ratio of high educated women to high educated men), rural development
(education rate in rural areas, education rate of women, percentage of villages that have
electricity, number of villages that have gas, ratio of rural roads to city roads, ratio of blacktop
rural roads to rural roads, ratio of rural roads to city roads, inverse of rural family dimension),
population (population relative compression, inverse of family dimension, inverse of death rate,
inverse of pregnancy rate, average population growth rate), housing (percentage of lasting
houses, inverse of non-lasting houses, ratio of permissions for high level houses to whole
permissions, inverse of number of houses with one room, ratio of four room and more to all
houses, rate of houses with one family in and rate of houses with four family in), farming
(education growth in farming employees, ratio of farms to city areas, performance of wheat
farms, performance of barley farms, rate of area under farming with water, number of fowl per
farmer, number of tractors per 100 hectares, number of reapers per 1000 hectares, ratio of areas
under farming to farmers), universe economics (employee rate, activity rate, inverse of
sponsorship, ratio of city areas to provincial areas, percentage of women employment, ratio of
industry employees to whole employees, ratio of area population to province population and
urban percentage) and education (ratio of teachers to students in initial schools, ratio of teachers
to students in secondary schools, ratio of teachers to students in high schools, ratio of
classrooms to students in initial schools, ratio of classrooms to students in secondary schools,
ratio of classrooms to students in high schools, ratio of students at university to whole
population, ratio of students to population above 10 years old, ratio of girl students to boy
students, rate of employees, rate of literate persons, ratio of higher educated to whole literate
persons, ratio of literate persons to population above 6 years old and rate of literate women). We
used IRAN Central Bank, Iran Statistics center and Statistical Annual data to measure research
variables. Then TOPSIS was used based on a mathematical model to compare the cities of
Khorasan Razavi province. Finally, Ci was the base of the conclusion.

Results and Discussion
The level of development in these cities was compared based on real data on 84 indexes in
sectors like: education, infrastructure, farming, economics, culture, health, housing, population
and rural development.
The results of the research show that Mashhad had the first position for developing rate in
the year 1385; however this city, due to political - administrative centrality, attracts facilities,
skillful human force and services from other regions and grows as a pole of the region; therefore
it preserves dominance and distinction on spatial structure. City Khalil Abad got the last grade
between 19 cities. Cities Mashhad, Sabzevar, Bardeskan, Kashmar, Rashtkhar, Gonabad and
kalat are at the top and cities Kashmar, Mahvelat, Torbate jam and Rashtkhar are at the bottom
based on different indexes. Coefficient of variance between different cities shows that there is a
kind of divergence and incongruity between areas on the structure of khorasan Razavi province
regional development.

Conclusion
We can say that the model of regional development in khorasan Razavi is "on Center- Periphery
pattern", and continuing this procedure, the present break and inequality will deepen. Therefore,
it is an inevitable necessity to notice the regional programming study of cities in development,
recognize regional residential religions in order to program systematically and offer correct and
performable guidelines toward the regional equal expansion and development.

Keywords