The Capacity of Rural-urban Linkage and Spatial Changes in the Rural Settlement (Case Study: Damavand County)

Purpose: This study investigates the capacity of rural-urban linkages and the spatial flows of ru-ral settlements. Thus, the study explores the spatial flows that influence various rural spatial as-pects in Damavand County as the capacity of the rural-urban linkage. Methods: The present quantitative study adopted a descriptive-analytical approach to study 370 households selected randomly from the research samples of 29 villages from 83 villages in Damavand County. Results: The findings of spatial evaluation revealed that If established correctly, these flows will cause a consistent transformation in the rural space s social, economic, ecological-environmental, and physical aspects. However, overlooking the capacities of rural-urban linkage in the framework of spatial flows would cause incompatible changes in indices, including the population, economy, land use, physical features, and housing in villages. Conclusion: The results of the structural equation method revealed that the flow of people had the most significant impact on spatial transformation in the studied area and goods. In contrast, service flows had the most negligible considerable implications in the studied region.