تحلیل رابطه فاصله از مرکز استان با ابعاد محرومیت چندگانه (مورد پژوهی: استان آذربایجان شرقی)

Introduction

Spatial inequality is a fundamental issue in regional development, reflecting the uneven distribution of resources, opportunities, and services across space. In many countries, particularly those characterized by centralized spatial structures, this inequality manifests as a persistent gap between core and peripheral regions. The concentration of economic activities, employment opportunities, and development infrastructure in central areas reinforces cumulative advantages in these locations while weakening development capacities in peripheral regions. Within this context, deprivation has emerged as a key concept for measuring regional inequalities, referring to conditions in which regions or populations face structural constraints in accessing essential resources, services, and opportunities. Recent studies emphasize that deprivation is inherently multidimensional, encompassing various domains such as employment, education, housing, health, and access to services. Among the factors influencing deprivation patterns, spatial distance from major economic centers has been identified as a critical determinant, as distance can affect access to labor markets, specialized services, and economic opportunities. However, most previous studies have examined deprivation as a composite index and have paid limited attention to the heterogeneous effects of spatial distance on its different dimensions, particularly at subnational scales. Accordingly, the main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between spatial distance from the provincial center and the different dimensions of multiple deprivation at the county level in East Azerbaijan Province and to explain the role of distance in shaping regional deprivation patterns.

Data and Methods



This study adopts an applied and analytical approach. The data were obtained from the 2016 Population and Housing Census and the Statistical Yearbook of East Azerbaijan Province. The unit of analysis consists of the counties of East Azerbaijan Province. A set of indicators related to key dimensions of deprivation, including education, housing, health, employment, and access, was compiled. To identify the underlying structure of deprivation and reduce data dimensionality, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed. The adequacy of the data for factor analysis was confirmed using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) index and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. After extracting the underlying factors, factor scores for each deprivation dimension were calculated and normalized to enable spatial comparison across counties. Subsequently, to examine the relationship between spatial distance and deprivation, a simple linear regression model was applied. In this analysis, the Euclidean distance of each county from the provincial center (Tabriz) was considered as the independent variable, while the factor scores of each deprivation dimension were treated as dependent variables. Spatial distances were calculated using Google Earth Engine based on the geometric center of each county. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS, and key indicators such as regression coefficients, coefficient of determination, and significance levels were examined to assess the strength and significance of the relationships.

Findings

The results of the exploratory factor analysis confirmed that the selected indicators were significantly grouped into five main dimensions of deprivation: educational, housing, health, employment, and access deprivation, and the extracted factor structure demonstrated satisfactory statistical validity. The regression analysis revealed that the relationship between spatial distance from the provincial center and deprivation is not uniform and varies significantly across different dimensions. Employment deprivation exhibited the strongest positive and statistically significant relationship with distance, indicating that counties located farther from the provincial center experience higher levels of employment deprivation. Similarly, educational deprivation and housing deprivation showed significant positive relationships with distance, suggesting that these dimensions are closely linked to the province’s centralized spatial structure. In contrast, health deprivation demonstrated a weaker relationship with distance, and the relationship between spatial distance and access deprivation was not statistically significant. These findings indicate that while spatial distance plays an important role in shaping certain forms of deprivation, it does not fully explain all dimensions of deprivation. Some dimensions appear to be influenced more by institutional arrangements, public policies, and the spatial distribution of services than by distance alone.

Conclusion

The findings of this study demonstrate that the relationship between spatial distance and regional deprivation is complex, multidimensional, and dimension-specific. Spatial distance from the provincial center plays a significant role in shaping employment, educational, and housing deprivation, reflecting the concentration of economic activities, job opportunities, and development resources in the provincial core. At the same time, the weak or insignificant relationship between distance and certain dimensions, particularly access and health deprivation, suggests that not all forms of deprivation can be explained solely by geographic distance. Institutional factors, planning decisions, and the spatial allocation of services also play a critical role in shaping deprivation patterns. These results indicate that regional deprivation is not merely a function of spatial location but rather the outcome of the interaction between centralized spatial structures and institutional processes. Therefore, regional development policies should not focus exclusively on reducing spatial distance but should adopt targeted and dimension-specific strategies tailored to different forms of deprivation. By providing empirical evidence at the subnational scale and highlighting the heterogeneous effects of spatial distance on multiple deprivation, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of spatial inequality and offers important insights for more effective regional planning and policy-making.