The Role of Qanat in Iran's Sustainable Rural Development

This paper looks at qanat from a different angle. The main hypothesis of this paper is that the provision of water by the rural people themselves using qanat and its associated social network which is necessary for the maintenance, membership and use of water can be the origin of enhancing the tendency to advance, generating participatory environment, and strengthening the spirit of empowerment in the direction of the realization of the conditions of sustainable rural development. The field study in this research was carried out in two villages Davaran (with qanat) and Ferdowsieh (without qanat) in Rafsanjan county. The results indicated that, in terms of social development, a significant relationship did not exist between the two villages. But there such a relationship existed between owners and non owners which showed the importance of qanat in strengthening sustainable rural development in these areas. Also the level of empowerment in the village with qanat was significantly higher. In Davaran the owners of qanat were more empowered than non owners. The level of social participation in the two villages was not significantly different, but there was a significant difference between the two villages concerning the propensity to advance.