Purpose: Understanding how rural communities meet their needs and enhance their well-being
while promoting social cohesion, equitable access to resources and services, and fostering
community resilience is of utmost importance when investigating the social sustainability of those
living in rural areas. Social dimensions often receive inadequate attention during the appraisal of
rural development projects. Consequently, the main aim of this study is to create social
sustainability indexes that can effectively support the evaluation of sustainable rural development.
Methods: In order to achieve this aim, a proposed methodology is presented, which utilizes
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to estimate the coefficients of indexes pertaining to rural
social sustainability (RSS). This approach constructs a Structural Equation Model (SEM), offering
insights into the potential of these indexes for driving long-term improvements in social
sustainability within rural areas.
Results: The results of the CFA analysis show the variables of quality of life (QOL), social
participation (SP), and social responsibility (SR) enhance the sustainability of rural, and the
positive effect is more prominent among rural areas that had high solidarity social. Moreover, the
construct validity of RSS-SEM model was (P = 0.166, Chisquare/df = 1.229IFI = 0.971,
CFI = 0.969, NFI = 0.861, and RMSEA = 0.054).
Conclusion: The application of the SEM (Social-Economic-Environmental) model is
recommended for assessing rural projects as it provides a comprehensive framework that
complements environmental and economic sustainability assessments. By incorporating social
factors into project evaluations, the SEM model enables a more holistic understanding of the
social, economic, and environmental dimensions of rural development, ultimately contributing to
more effective and sustainable outcomes
