Explaining the Spatial Pattern of Rural Good Governance in Karaj Metropolitan

Introduction Rural good governance is a comparative approach that can be realized through behavior, regulation, institutionalization of accountability, popular participation, transparency, legality, accountability, and consensus.  Therefore, rural good governance can be defined as the interaction between authorities and planners both in macro and micro levels for local communities with people who are affected by developmental programs. The studies on the good governance of the rural area suggest a greater attention to the sociological view of governance and that spatial dimension has been less considered. The concept of rural governance, especially its spatial dimension can be considered as a comprehensive approach to sustainable rural development, since the sustainable development approach would lead to empowerment, capacity making, increase of participation and confidence building, expansion of communication networks of villagers inside and outside the village environment, and institutional development.   Methodology This study aimed to explain the spatial pattern of rural good governance in the villages of Karaj Township in Iran with a practical nature using a survey and documentary approach. Required data are 35 rural governors, 503 Islamic rural councils and 533 rural householders who have been selected based on classification sampling during a multi-stage process. Validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using the comments of 53 experts and its reliability was verified using Cronbach's alpha test for different scales. The Chi-square test was used to determine the difference in the agreement and disagreement ratios in the components of the research. The purpose of this present study is to explain the spatial pattern of rural good governance in local government (Rural Governor & Rural Islamic council) around Karaj metropolitan and to provide practical solutions to the achievement of a sustainable local government. The analysis of their strengths and weaknesses has been implemented to answer these questions.  How spatial distribution and the level of good governance are organized in local governments? What kind of rural governance does the spatial pattern follow in the local governments? In this research, we used PROMETHEE and ANP techniques for spatial distribution and rural governance of local governments. In order to investigate the relationship between the factors affecting rural governance and the spatial pattern of rural good governance in the study area, we have used linear regression model and coefficient of determination (R2) technique. To assess the model conditions, the suitability of the fitted model was examined using variance analysis and coefficient of determination of the model.   Results and discussion The results of the research show that 53%, 25% and 22% of the studied villages enjoy good, medium and weak levels of rural governance, respectively. The results of rural good governance in local governments indicate that participation, transparency, accountability and consensus have been the most important affecting indices on local governments. The equity, efficiency and effectiveness, accountability and legitimacy have been the weakest indices. The relationship between the variables affecting rural governance and good governance indices indicates that the related variables, whether they do exist or not, play a significant role in the rural governance level in the area of study. As a result, there is a significant relationship between the variables including village size,  physical development of the village, the level of development and plurality of infrastructure in one hand and good governance indices on the other hand. The results of the research show that the most decent form of rural governance is distributed in the central district. The good governance has a decreasing trend. Of course, the spatial distribution of rural governance does not follow this pattern in some cases according to rural good governance indices. The factors in Karaj are including household and population, dominant economy, economic diversification, access to various opportunities, the extent and severity of land playgrounds, tourist attraction, the location of the Chalus Road ad the important factors affecting extent of desirability or inappropriateness of good governance indicators in the studied villages. In good governance, rural good governance enjoys more favorable situation from north (mountains) to the south (plains). The governance spatial distribution has inclination towards a centralized or clustered pattern based on good governance indices.   Conclusion In rural good governance approach, spatial processes have a special place and influence over other economic, social and institutional processes. Given the significant spatial distribution of good rural governance indicators in the study area, attention should be paid to the impact of spatial approach to rural governance on the planners of rural development agenda . The relationship between the variables affecting rural governance and good governance indicators indicates that having or not having spatial variables plays a significant role in the rural governance level of the study area. The city and the countryside as a geographic space have been changed by the inter conversion of the spatial and physical elements. The spatial functions of the city and the villages have significant differences, which are the result of the nature of the place and the spirit governing their space. For this reason, the nature of village and city relations is a valuable place in development programs, especially spatial planning. In rural good governance approach in the dimensions of spatial governance, vertical and horizontal coordination of strategies can provide the spatial development of rural areas. The physical and spatial changes of villages in recent decades have been affected by the rapid acceleration of urbanization versus rural migration, especially in the metropolitan areas of rural communities, with fundamental qualitative and quantitativechanges. Therefore, study about urban rural links and their effects on these links and trends on rural areas with regard to good governance is one of the important findings in this research.