Urban architecture, design, development and planning
P. Alaedini; R. Shahvali
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A relatively large number of historic (traditional and old) houses have been restored in Iranian cities in the recent period. Of increasing demand in the era of the experience economy, many are used as cafes, restaurants, galleries, ecolodges, etc. Cultural heritage and urban ...
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A relatively large number of historic (traditional and old) houses have been restored in Iranian cities in the recent period. Of increasing demand in the era of the experience economy, many are used as cafes, restaurants, galleries, ecolodges, etc. Cultural heritage and urban policies have further provided a general framework and some incentives for the restoration and reuse of these houses. Leveraging a tourism development framework, this paper investigated how authenticity could be achieved in practice in the restoration and reinvention of historic houses.METHODS: A flexible policy research approach was employed to probe the current framework governing the restoration of historic houses. Another part of the analysis was based on a set of semi-structured interviews and field observations targeting restored historic houses in the city of Shiraz. Specifically, interviews were conducted with owners/operators of the most significant category of reused old houses—those turned into ecolodges—along with visitors.FINDINGS: Based on the fieldwork results, five general recommendations were provided for owners/operators of restored historic houses/ecolodges toward realizing authenticity: there is a need for pre-planning and employment of adequate knowledge and knowhow to provide authentic experiences to visitors; objective elements should leverage creativity, balance tradition and modernity, and give the establishment its own personality; subjective elements should be reflective of local culture, history, and hospitality; a major aim is to have tourists emotionally engaged with the place and easily interact with people, places, and things; and allowing for co-creation could instill an enduring sense of belonging into visitors.CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding recommendations for owners/operators of restored historic houses, tourism and urban authorities must focus on the creation of a policy framework that encourages the delivery and management of authenticity. Adopting a stronger socio-cultural approach should help to achieve additional regeneration objectives of local economic development through increased interaction among public-sector agencies, non-governmental institutions, local populations (property-owners or tenants), and investors.
Urban architecture, design, development and planning
H. Ahmadi; A.H. Taghizad Farahmand
Abstract
The growth of urban populations in recent decades requires physical elements such as residential, commercial and cultural spaces and the development of infrastructure such as streets and highways, which will open a new horizon to the historic texture of cities and how to preserve and restore them. The ...
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The growth of urban populations in recent decades requires physical elements such as residential, commercial and cultural spaces and the development of infrastructure such as streets and highways, which will open a new horizon to the historic texture of cities and how to preserve and restore them. The development of new urban textures along with the lack of attention to the historic texture and the transformation of the form and structure of the old neighborhoods of the city, promotes the expansion of new physical elements and the oblivion of historic elements. In this research, first, various management dimensions and then issues related to the restoration and conservation of historic textures, problems with these types of textures, issues procedures and legal and historic measures are discussed, then by using the field survey in the direction of achieving quantitative and qualitative findings and in the format of statistical methods an using the questionnaire, the required data for the research are collected from managers and citizens and the results will be presented in the form of a chart. In this regard, four hypotheses are tested and are finally concluded and summed up. This research seeks to answer the question of whether restoring and conserving the historic texture of the District 12 of Tehran municipality could be achieved through the formulation of management strategies or not.