Land Use Change in East Guilan and its Consequences

Abstract

These issues and the economic instability resulting from the implementation of neoliberal policies have led to the commodification of land and housing, which has attracted capital. One of the main consequences of such a situation is that on the one hand, the destruction of natural resources, land erosion, environmental degradation and the occurrence of devastating floods have been increased, and on the other hand, unjustified class division and transfer of villagers from productive activities to unproductive businesses, such as security guard, villa caretakers and services of travel and transportation companies, have endangered the social and food security of Iran. In this article, land use change has been studied using satellite images of East Guilan (Lahijan, Siahkal, Ashrafieh and Langrood counties) in 1989, 2000 and 2015. The information needed to identify the factors affecting land use change has been collected through visits, purposeful interviews in different parts of the area, and the study of written sources and archives of local offices. These data were analyzed using the "grounded theory" method in the Max Kiuda system. Findings show that land use changes in the region are related to various ecological, social, economic and political factors. Increased population pressure along with technological developments, land use policies, development plans, investments, land speculation and personal exploitation have each had some effect on land use change. State of nature has little dependence on tax revenues due to its natural resource revenues; As a result, it is not accountable.