The Role of Small Urban in Rural Development: A Case Study in Iran

In Iran by performing the policy of changing villages to cities, many rural regions have been changed to cities especially during the last two decades. The current town of Mohammadabad in Zabol city, Sistan and Bluchestan province, is one of the towns which have been changed into a town in 1999. The purpose of this paper is to study the role and function of Mohammadabad town as a small civic center in the development of rural regions in its surrounding. In this direction by choosing 6 functions in the form of 35 variables and using network analysis method we have studied and compared the current affairs and relations in the understudied village in two intervals before and after Mohammadabad becomes a town. The results of studies indicates that Mohammadabad town as a central place, have played an important role in giving services to the regions in its surrounding which has consequently caused to reduce the dependence of rural regions to city center.