The role of construction and exploitation of the Alavian dam in the evolution of the spatial system of rural settlements in Maragheh and Bonab areas (1995-2017)

Dam construction is one of the most important development activities to respond to the increasing demand of potable, agricultural and industrial water. The effects and consequences (positive and negative) of a dam, as is directly visible in each component that are considered as a part of geographical spaces has also various visible and invisible signs and symptoms. In this regard dam construction has spatial dimensions and is considered within the spatial planning framework. So as various structures and functions (environmental, social, cultural, political, etc. are considered in spatial systems, therefore reviewing the structural-functional changes caused by the construction of dams and irrigation networks is necessary since it causes organization or disturbances/disruption of a spatial system. This paper aim to investigate the role of implementation and exploitation of Alavian dam irrigation network (which is operating with more than twenty-three years) in organizing the spatial system of rural settlements. The research method has been logical and by using quantitative and qualitative methods, the required information was collected. 370 households were selected using Cochran formula as the statistical sample. For analyzing the data, descriptive and inferential statistics has been used in SPSS (Kendal correlation test, Chi-square, Independence squared, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). The results has been showed that structural-functional changes due to the implementation of the project, in terms of top-down approach did not lead to the organization and development of the spatial system of rural settlements in the study area. Also, there is a significant relationship between the location of settlements, political-administrative divisions of the districts and the developments of the spatial system and the dam, in such a way that the construction of the dam has caused uneven development and disturbance of the spatial system between upstream settlements of the dam (in reservoir area) and downstream of the dam (irrigation network) and in Maragheh and Bonab.