Tehran as a metropolitan area and as an economic, social and political area has
multiple relationships with its surrounding villages and towns at national and
regional levels. Functional changes in the rural areas under the influence of Tehran
are among important changes that have occurred in the years after the Islamic
revolution in Iran. Accordingly, people living in the villages located at the South
West of Tehran began to migrate to Tehran during the last thirty years as a result
of changing the political system of the country, the lack of suitable planning, the
rage of an eight years war between Iraq and Iran and the lack of resources in most
parts of the country, especially in rural areas. Consequently, the villages in the
South West of Tehran have undergone radical functional changes. This study
examines the functional changes of the rural settlements over 1978-2014. To this
end, a descriptive-analytical research design was used. The sample under study
consisted of 374 heads of households in the sample villages selected using cluster
sampling. The results indicated that villages in the Southwest of Tehran during the
revolution years were involved mostly in primary functions such as agriculture,
animal husbandry and horticulture while the industry and services in rural areas
were at the lowest level. However, the changes made in socioeconomic structure
of the whole country plus the developments made in the last few decades have not
been aligned with the environmental capabilities. The presence of industries,
factories and workshops in agricultural lands surrounding villages, low prices of
agricultural lands and the expansion of communication networks have extended
various functions including industrial and service functions.