Over 1,000 People Migrate to Tehran Every Day
Professor Gholamreza Alizadeh defined migrants as "any person or group who move from their hometown."
He said that social, political, economic, cultural, and psychological problems are the main factors behind migration and stressed that if industry is not expanded in villages, the active work force in the agricultural sector will migrate to metropolitan and industrial cities.
Talking about the lack of facilities in rural areas, Alizadeh noted that small industries should be developed in rural areas and small cities, saying that this could encourage workers to relocate to less densely populated areas and prevent the migration of unemployed youth to industrial cities, especially Tehran.
He added that Iran could increase agricultural production by about 30-35 million tons annually through transforming and modernizing industries. He said that establishing industries in rural areas could greatly benefit villagers and prevent migration.
On the negative points of migration, he noted that migrants feel exposed in large cities. He added that they also compare the facilities available in urban centers to those of rural areas, something which could create terrible social and political results.
Alizadeh mentioned the huge social and economic costs of migration. He classified migration into three categories: micromigration, middle migration, and macromigration. He stated that at the micromigration level, we should prepare the ground for industrial development based on the capacity and potential of every region.
He said that it will cost 800 trillion rials to create jobs for over 3.5 million Iranians, an amount equal to the revenue produced by 10 years of oil sales, which is not feasible, so foreign investment is necessary.