بازاندیشی برخی توان ها، چالش ها و جهت گیری های توسعه اقتصادی منطقه یزد[Rethinking Potentials, Challenges, and Development Directions in Yazd Region]

Article 242 of the Development Plan mandates the preparation of provincial development documents with explicit attention to local capacities, constraints, and development directions. This paper examines the economic development prospects of Yazd region in light of its distinctive natural and geographical endowments—including solar and wind energy potential, livestock resources, desert vegetation, opportunities for desert tourism, interdisciplinary desert studies, its central geographical position in Iran, and abundant mineral reserves. At the same time, Yazd faces critical demographic and human resource challenges, such as an aging population structure and a second demographic wave, rapid urbanization, the growing number of depopulated villages, rising unemployment, low levels of literacy and education among the private-sector workforce, and the disproportionate expansion of employment in the services sector. Moreover, the region’s productive sectors confront environmental pressures in agriculture and low labor productivity in industry. The analysis suggests that Yazd’s future development strategy must simultaneously capitalize on renewable energy and desert-based opportunities while addressing structural vulnerabilities in human resources and production systems. Such a dual approach is essential for aligning regional development with broader national objectives of sustainable and balanced regional growth.