The Role of Governments in Iran Regional Development (Case Study: Tenth Government)

Development is a multi-dimensional process which has evolved over time with conceptual challenges and has undergone different dimensions to complete the word. One of its important dimensions is paying attention to social justice within the framework of regional equilibrium. The present article tries to investigate this important dimension for the tenth government in Iran. With the aim of analyzing regional equilibrium process and providing priorities for the development of the provinces can play an effective role in national policies to promote regional equality and decentralization. Using multi-dimensional decision making (MADM) and Topsis model, after the formation of a Regression and Matrix model with 21 indicators and 157 sub-indicators for the developmental level of the provinces, it was revealed that Tehran and South Khorasan provinces placed first and last respectively and using the cluster model Iranian provinces were categorized into five groups from which one province was a highly developed province, six provinces were  developed, 11 provinces with moderate development, 12 undeveloped provinces and 1 was considered as a deprived province. Among other results of the study, we can mention the direct relationship between the development of regions with population growth and its indirect relation with the spatial distance from the capital for groups of 5 in the cluster method. Also, a ranking of the provinces is presented in terms of institutional indicators.