Abstract:
Population density exerts signifcant influence over socioeconomic characteristics and
sustainability of rural communities. Despite such understanding, studies on the roles of population
density on socioeconomic backgrounds and sustainability of communities in rural areas are often
overlooked. Thus, the understanding of population density in rural areas has become an important
issue to be studied. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of population density
on the rural communities’ sustainability with a special focus on Shaqlawa, one of the major districts
in Kurdistan, Iraq. This study aims to fnd the particular signifcance of population density as an
important theme in understanding the sustainability degree of settled rural communities, where
disparity and falling density here presents practical problems for rural planners. Data were gathered
from mixed-method approach involving two data sources: interviews as well as governmental
and non- governmental records. Statistical and content analysis were used to analyse the data and
then triangulated to examine the causal relationships. The quantitative information was obtained
mainly from available secondary data, while the qualitative data was the result of the responses to
the structured and semi- structured interview questions that focused on community sustainability
addressed to fve stakeholders (District administrators) plus 24 key informative, Commninity
leaders, four from each of the six participating villages. In discussing the outcomes, this study
has established that rural population density is an important variable in describing and evaluating
rural sustainabilities. In Shaqlawa, people from low density villages led lives of relatively lower
sustainability whereas people from high density villages led lives of higher level of sustainability.
