Environmental impact of Binaloud industrial estate on social-ecological sustainability of rural settlements

Development of industrial areas in villages can produce numerous positive socio-economic outcomes. Results of many studies show an improvement in the living conditions of villagers after the establishment of industrial areas in villages. The present study is intended to investigate the impact of Binaloud Industrial Estate on social sustainability of rural settlements in Ahmadabad district of Mashhad. This research is an applied study in terms of purpose, whose results can be used in planning. To measure the effects of the industrial estate, its social dimension (including four components of population, education, welfare and service) has been considered, which has been evaluated by multiple questions. Out of 58 villages in Ahmadabad district of Mashhad where Binaloud Industrial Estate is located (research statistical population), 42 villages were chosen. To determine the number of sample villages, demographic factor (villages with more than 100 inhabitants) was used. Afterwards, considering the factor of distance dimension and access to Binaloud Industrial Estate, 10 villages were selected out of 42 villages and were applied as the population of the research sample. Based on Cochran formula, unlimited population size was used to determine the sample size. Accordingly, the sample size was obtained to be equal to 279. The sample size of each village has been estimated with respect to the proportion of the household size in each village. To compare the average of respondents' opinions concerning the impact of industrial estates on social sustainability of rural settlements, the mean of this variable was compared with number 3 (medium) using t-test, whose results suggested that p-value divided by 2 of this test is less than 0.05 and t-statistic is positive (16.732). Therefore, it can be concluded that the mean effect of the industrial estate on social sustainability of villages is more than medium. Accordingly, it can be stated that the establishment of industrial estates is effective in social sustainability of villages.