Abstract
Development impact assessment is key to achieving a comprehensive planning aligned with land
sustainability. In human and natural systems studies, changes can be simultaneously examined in
two different systems. The purpose of this paper is to understand the effects of dam construction on
land prices and land use change in nearby villages of Taleghan Dam. Descriptive - qualitative
statistics were used in this research and library and field methods were used for collecting the
required information. In order to specify the land value of the four villages of the area of the dam
for four decaes, based on the prices of the year 1390, the land vlue formula was applied. Also, TM
satellite images of 1379 and 1386 were used for pinpointing land use changes. The results of these
studies indicate that dam construction in 1380s and 1390s increased land price significantly and
changes in land price affected upon land use changes in nearby villages of dam and the price of land
in the Zydasht village overlooking the dam increased dramatically.Based on the results of this
research, it can be stated that the dynamics of the land use of the area was affected by land price
that for achieving sustainability in the watershed, an effective law must be enforced to prevent land
degradation and control land prices.
)