Future Study of Development Hobby Farms in Agricultural land’s Kermanshah Province

Hobby farms or second rural homes account for a new kind of urban life that is growing rapidly in suburban areas due to their relative vicinity to urban areas and pleasant climate. Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth of such second homes across Iran, in general, and in Kermanshah Province, in particular.  Surveys indicate that a great portion of such residences lack the required construction permits; hence, their development might have dire environmental and economic consequences for the target rural areas. It was the objective of the present study to investigate the future trend of hobby farm development in agricultural zones in Kermanshah Province. For this purpose, the Fuzzy Delphi method was used in three rounds. For population studies, 20 experts in land use conservation were selected based on criterion sampling. Moreover, expert answers were converted into definitive quantities using the fuzzy statistical method. The findings showed that environmental pollution due to wastewater release and waste disposal into agricultural environments, land use changes leading to farms or orchards being wiped out, rising farm land prices, and increasing unemployment in rural areas are among the already known consequences that are highly likely to occur in future. The manuscript concludes with practicable suggestions to planners and authorities as measures to reduce the irreparable consequences; these include adopting deterrent measures and punitive laws to ban land sales, implementing participatory programs, and empowering local communities to preserve their agricultural property.