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Rural development in its general and broad sense has in recent decades been the focal point of spatial planning in Iran. Attention, however, is paid mainly to agricultural sector of non-urban economy rather than industrial and/or other potentials of the country's rural environment. On the other hand, the two generally accepted approaches towards agricultural development,i.e extensive and intensive methods of cultivation are hindered by physical handicaps and the availability of fertile soil and water in the first
method and the inadequate financial resources in the second. As a result rural areas still suffer from
underdevelopment and the gap has widened between towns and villages.
The introduction of small and medium size industries into rural areas would help to compensate for the shortcomings of reveneu from land cultivation, creates new employment opportunities for the unemployed or semi-employed
population of villages, discourages emigration and,


eventually, results in the regional and national development.
Some developing countries in Asia and Africa have embarked on projection and implementation of small scale industrial plans in rural areas. Some have achieved success and can be modelled by others. However, it is profoundly important to study the type and scale of industries selected
for each area. It is also necessary to observe how human
societies in a traditional world respond to new technologies.
In Iran there are more than sixty six thousand villages, predominantly with diverse ethnic, cultural and econimic charactristics, responding differently to modern enterprises. Planning should then be accompanied with consideration of special attributes as well as peoples' attitudes. In this way rural industries would undoubtedly result in the increase of
local and national products while enhancing development in the yet underdeveloped regions of the country.