Socio-cultural and socio-economic development studyCase study: Bilesavar city

Abstract

Development requires change, and development that aims to advance society will not occur without profound changes in socio-cultural structures.
This research, with the aim of investigating the socio-cultural barriers to development in the city of Bilesvar, has used the survey technique on the one hand and the grounded theory method on the other. In this regard, the statistical population of the research, in the quantitative part, was 400 citizens of this city aged 20 and above with at least a high school diploma who were employed in various occupations, and in the qualitative part, 15 university professors, managers, and people with expert positions in the social and cultural fields of Bilesvar, who were selected using a purposive sampling method and theoretical saturation, were examined.
The results of the quantitative part indicate a significant relationship between all independent variables: social capital, human capital, spirit of exuberance, modernist attitude, dependence on government power, cultural capital, and development of Bilesvar. The findings obtained in the qualitative section also showed that the development of the city in the city of Bilesvar was influenced by a series of specific conditions. These conditions are classified into three main categories: causal conditions including: lack of modern attitude, weak social capital, dependence on government power, weak human capital. Intervening conditions including: weak cultural capital, inefficiency and effectiveness, and lack of spirit of exaggeration. Background conditions including: ecological situation and low investment rate. The aforementioned conditions, in general and in conjunction with each other, have caused a phenomenon called unbalanced development (core category) and its elements to enter the city of Bilesvar, against which the people of this city adopted specific strategies that can be categorized in the form of conflict with the status quo and adaptation to the prevailing conditions, the consequences of which, considering these conditions, are the continuation of underdevelopment, migration, and low quality of life of the residents of this city. Considering these findings, it can be said that experts interpret the causes of underdevelopment of the city of Bilesvar as uneven and uncoordinated development.