An Urban Design Method for Rehabilitating Historic cities in Iran: The Case of Shiraz Historic Fabric

Historic cities are valuable, cultural, economic and identity assets of each nation that project a culture’s characteristics, beliefs, lifestyles and arts. They present the socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political identity and traditions of residents of many ethnicities in established societies. In this regard, there is a large body of research and empirical actions to conserve, revive, renew and rehabilitate these precious centres for future generations and for people around the world as both national and international heritage. For many decades, and indeed, centuries, in Middle Eastern countries, charters that were mostly established by European and western experts were used to preserve heritage. These charters do little to support the different layers of rehabilitation of historic Islamic cities in Middle Eastern countries, partly due to lack of recognition of religion in socio-demographic patterns, as well as the influence of religious law on the structure of city development, urban activities and socio-economics. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop an urban design method to establish new principles for rehabilitation of historic cities in Iran. The conceptual framework firstly reviews theories and practical experience of rehabilitation of historic European and Islamic cities to link existing knowledge to current experience in Iran. It then introduces livelihood theory as a theoretical solution which can support the rehabilitation process in Shiraz and in other historic cities in Iran. Both qualitative and quantitative research strategies are employed to integrate ethnography, urban morphology and urban rehabilitation techniques. The research strategy is used to analyse the historical development of the city and identify key aspects of socio-spatial, socio-economic, socio-cultural, religious and physical form components, in relation to livelihood of residents. Data-collection techniques include: analysis of maps, governmental and historic documents; building surveys; questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The data supported the formation of initial proposals for rehabilitation of historic cities in Iran, with particular reference to Shiraz historic core. Final recommendations were formulated which inform the policies for this objective. The findings reveal that: the historic core does not meet the needs of contemporary life due to inaccessibility and buildings which are left in a state of disrepair; the livelihood of residents has not been considered in the implementation of rehabilitation plans; collaboration between local government departments needs to be improved; residents’ participation could be a valuable tool in the implementation of a rehabilitation strategy, due to the local knowledge and skills possessed by the residents and the potential financial benefit in upgrading the skills of some residents; the interrelationship between religious policies and socio-cultural and economic factors should be considered of foremost importance in the process of rehabilitation of historic Iranian cities, particularly in Shiraz, and the effect on residents from new approaches to rehabilitation must be considered. Key recommendations, which address the key findings, are presented as a series of short, medium and long-term projects at both micro and macro scale in the historic core. The contribution to knowledge of this research is the integration of livelihood theory and urban morphology to develop an urban design method to establish new principles for rehabilitation of historic cities in Iran.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2019

Author dc:creator

• Seddighi, Mohammad Javad

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cooper, Jon

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/70vt-3y15

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:6bafeb32-3cf2-4142-a499-d9a4e5aa83cc:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1