Transborder Interactions and the Comprehensive Development of Border Cities

Border areas are considered as some part of the spatial structure of the countries with an opportunity towards changing the transnational regional economic system. In this regard, the border cities of Iranian Kurdistan have had deep relations with other sides of the border through formal and informal joint border markets in previous years. This study aims to explore the relationship between transborder interactions and the development of Baneh and Marivan cities. This was done by quantitative and survey methods from the perspectives of two sample groups, including border trade activists and family heads. Based on the results, transborder interactions in the region under study have experienced an increase, especially after the fall of the Ba'ath regime in Iraq. The descriptive findings also showed mean values of 3.26 and 3.11 for transborder trade activists and family heads in terms of urban development, respectively. Then, in response to the main research question, a significant correlation was found between transborder interactions and the urban development of border cities. This correlation has been evaluated at the intermediate level. According to the Pearson correlation results also showed that economic interactions among different dimensions of transborder interactions hold the highest correlation with components of urban development.