The aim of the present study is to analyze the role of lack of motivation for public participation and mutual distrust between people and officials in weakening economic development programs in the city of Noorabad Delfan. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Data were collected through a questionnaire and multi-stage cluster sampling method. The statistical population was residents of Noorabad Delfan with a reported population of 71,006 people. The sample size was reported in the methodology section as 786 people, but the available statistical analyses were mainly based on 387 valid questionnaires; therefore, the inferential findings were interpreted based on the available valid data. The results of correlation and multiple regression show that lack of motivation for public participation and mutual distrust between people and officials have a negative and significant effect on economic development programs. Lack of motivation for public participation with a standardized coefficient of β=-0.153 and mutual distrust with a standardized coefficient of β=-0.095 in the regression model were among the variables explaining the decrease in the effectiveness of economic development programs. In addition, the conflict between tradition and modernity, the feeling of social inequality, and the lack of a sense of social security also had a negative and significant effect on the dependent variable. The findings indicate that economic development in less privileged areas is not achieved by simply injecting financial resources, implementing development projects, or expanding administrative mechanisms; rather, it requires rebuilding institutional trust, expanding real participation, strengthening transparency and accountability, reducing the feeling of inequality, and paying attention to community-based capacities.