Ladder of participation in rural upgrading projects of Western Iran

The main purpose of this survey study was to investigate the quality of rural people's participation in some upgrading projects, known as Hadi plan, in Iran. A survey methodology was utilised to assess the type and level of participation by local people in so-called projects. Out of 483 male accessible population of the Sangestan village located in Hamedan county in Iran, where the project had successfully been implemented; a sample of 150 participants were selected through systematic random sampling. To determine the types of rural participation in a typical rural upgrading or Hadi project, the Veneklasen et al.'s typology of participation was utilised. Findings revealed that both in the study and implementation phase of the Hadi projects, participation by consultation had mostly been used by the authorities; perhaps only trying to legitimise the projects. It is recommended that more attention should be paid on active and quality participation of local people by project authorities.