ثریا عزیزی

Purpose- Planning for optimum distribution of physical services and furniture in order to improve people’s welfare is one of the major purposes for rural planners. Rural furniture is the main purpose of developing rural settlements to decrease environmental side effects. The quality of human environments in villages highly depends on the quality of infrastructures of physical welfare including rural furniture. Rural furnitur e not only improves the quality of villages, but also keeps them consistent and permanent. The present study involves analyzing rural furniture and their effects on the environmental quality of rural settlements in Zoeram Dehestan, Shirvan. Design/methodology/approach- In this research we used an analytical-descriptive approach and data was gathered through library information and field study. Statistical population involves all rural families of Zoeram that equals to 258 families randomly selected through Cochran Formula with error level of 0.06. We used a questionnaire that its reliability was confirmed by a specific academic panel and its validity was calculated through α-Chronback coefficient. We also used SPSS software to analyze the data. Findings - The results obtained from Chi Square Test show that among all dimensions, aesthetic and visual beauty factors with mean of 2.70 and among all rural furniture, infrastructural furniture with mean of 3.17 are the most effective factors in increasing the quality of physical environment. Also, results from Spearman Correlation and Simple Linear Regression Models show that there is a strong, direct, and meaningful relationship (Sig: 0.000) between rural furniture and the quality of physical environment. In the end, using Gray Correlation Analysis and Vikor Method, we get the results that in these villages with different qualities in rural furniture, environmental quality is not the same level and according to Spearman Correlation there is a strong, meaningful relationship between the quality of rural furniture and the quality of environment. Practical implications- Today it is vital to consider and improve the quality of rural settlements, since it has been a major concern of local administrators and rural planners. In this respect, analyzing and measuring the level of available rural accommodations can be a helpful tool to understand and to show differences and inequalities in villages in order to provide better life quality in rural areas and be able to obtain more successful goals and objectives in establishing rural stable development and constant population growth. Originality/value- No direct research and study considering changes in the quality of rural settlements due to establishing rural accommodations have been done so far. Therefore, it is worth performing a thorough, comprehensive research and study regarding both rural accommodations and quality of environment to show the differences and innovations in this field.