An Analysis on the Role of "Sarcheshmeh Qanat" in the Developments of Spatial Structure of Zanjan City in the Qajar Era

Iran is a country that has been faced with the problem of water shortage due to its proximity to the arid belt and desert of the Northern Hemisphere and also due to the direction and location of the Alborz and Zagros Mountains. This factor has long been a key factor in human activities and has played an important role in the development of human settlements. For this reason, most cities and villages in our country are formed in proximity to water and depend on it. Zanjan city is one of the old cities of the Iranian plateau that its creation and development was influenced by the Zanjan River and its qanats built in and out of it. One of the qanats built in this city was "Sarcheshmeh qanat" which was the most watered qanat in Qajar era. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of these qanats in the spatial structure changes of Zanjan during the mentioned period. This research is a kind of historical research that has been researched by descriptive-analytical method and data collection has been done by library and field methods. Although the early core of Zanjan was formed in the vicinity of "Zanjan River". But the river was used only for farming in the adjacent lands. And the drinking water needed by the citizens was provided by wells dug in the backyards and springs at the northern slope mountains of the city. The increasing population of the city on the one hand and the frequent and severe droughts on the other hand led to the construction of numerous qanats in and out of the city, which "Sarcheshmeh qanat" was one of the largest and most congested in the qanats. This qanat had eight branches and it flowed through the city's corridors, it spawned many changes in its spatial structure. Such developments may include shifting the city's development from longitudinal to transverse, dividing the city into Yokharibash (uptown) and Ashghibash (downtown) areas, creating new neighborhoods, defining streets, land uses and Government facilities pointed out.