Developing a Theoretical Framework of Heritage Value for the Persian Qanat

Protecting and improving values is among the major purposes pursued by cultural heritage conservation and requires a proper understanding of cultural heritage. The Persian Qanat is a valuable heritage inscribed on the World Heritage List. Because of their close ties with human settlements and the environment, Qanats have many values associated with them. Although there are different classifications of heritage value in national and international documents and research findings, little or no research is yet conducted on the values of Persian Qanats, a comprehensive classification, and a theoretical framework that could be applied to conservation practices. This research aims to identify and classify the values of the Persian Qanat and develop a theoretical framework. Three questions were posed in this study: a) What are the principal values of the Persian Qanat? b) How are these values related to the classification of values in national and international literature? c) What are the relationships between these values in the theoretical framework? This study adopts the qualitative approach and content analysis strategy to explore existing research. It later draws on logical reasoning to develop a theoretical framework.  The Persian Qanat was nominated for inscription based on two of the six criteria of the World Heritage Center; however, its true values excel well above those and are associated with the sociocultural context of Iran. Optimal conservation of Qanats calls for an understanding of all these values. According to the findings of this study, seven value groups for the Persian Qanat are presented and defined: aesthetic, sociocultural, economic, technical and engineering, ecological, and functional, and their related sub-categories are also explained.