Muṭāli̒āt-i Mudīriyyat-i Gardishgarī (Sep 2022)
Identifying the Tourism Route in the Historical Context of Bushehr with the Culture-Based Tourism Approach
Abstract
Today, historical contexts have been forgotten with the expansion of cities and their rapid growth. The design of urban spaces for the passage of cars has caused historical context destructions and the removal of pedestrians from these spaces. In addition, the presence of valuable elements in these contexts has made the need to protect the old context of cities even more apparent. The historical context of Bushehr city also contains a rich cultural heritage. Problems such as the buildings' destruction and the unfavorable visual condition, distinctive architecture, the lack of spatial connection between valuable historical elements, and cultural customs that are being forgotten, formed the idea of this research. This research solves these issues to identify the tourist route in the historical context with the culture-based tourism approach using a descriptive-analytical method. The information required for this study was extracted through library and field methods. After scrutiny of the studied area, it was analyzed by various methods such as interviews and related software. The research results indicate many tourism potentials in historical-cultural, religious, commercial, and customs fields in the historical context of Bushehr. In order to introduce these potentials to tourists, three different scenarios of tourism are defined in the historical context of Bushehr, which has been tried to have the most significant tourism potential. It is appropriate to introduce these potentials to local and foreign tourists by defining specific tourist routes in the historical context and leading to boost the residents' economy and brand the historical context of Bushehr.IntroductionThe historical context of Bushehr, which dates back to the Afshariya period, is one of the few historical contexts in Iran that have been provided for the formation of its urban skeleton in three different periods. Identifying tourist walking routes to establish spatial connections between valuable historical elements is one of the ways to save the historical context from decay and destruction. The lack of spatial communication through these routes leads to the forgetting of the context, the loss of identity and the forgetting of the authentic culture and old traditions of Bushehr, the absence of a good mentality towards the context, the lack of attention to the needs of the residents and the provision of the services they need, the destruction of the building and destruction of the urban landscape, lack of economic growth, and finally migration of primary residents and destruction of historic fabric. This research has been done to develop and facilitate tourism in the historical context of Bushehr with a tourism-based approach. Now, the critical issue is how to help attract tourists to Bushehr by regenerating the historical context of Bushehr city and identifying the tourism route in it. Materials and MethodsThe present study, in terms of purpose, has been applied to the research group. In terms of method, it has a descriptive-analytical and qualitative approach. The required information related to the research sample has been obtained through observation, field observations, interviews, and completed questionnaires from people living in the area and tourists.The research analysis is in such a way that criteria are determined for the extracted indicators so they can be checked. These criteria have been analyzed and checked by spatial analysis in the Arc GIS software. According to the 2016 census, the population of the historical context of Bushehr is estimated at 11,940 people. Based on the mentioned number and using Cochran's formula method, 372 questionnaires have been completed in the old context. Discussion and ResultsThe indicators of the presence of mixed-use and the existence of service and welfare facilities have been analyzed to investigate the performance component. Due to the location of commercial-service areas along the principal axes, access to residential areas located in the center of the neighborhoods is unfavorable. The mobility and accessibility component includes priority indicators for pedestrian versus vehicular movement, emergency vehicle passage, and access to public transportation stations. In general, the state of public transportation and the level of people's acceptance and use of it in Bushehr is unfavorable. The component of comfort and convenience has been examined by the index of the absence of noise and noise pollution, and the indicators of the presence of vegetation and green space and good sun exposure and shading have presented the environmental component. In order to examine the physical component, several indicators, such as centers and historical elements with capacity for development, the presence of physical permeability, and the rest, have been used. The safety and security component has been measured with two indicators the presence of night activities and the presence of residential units along the axis. The lack of night activities and lighting in the old context has reduced security at night. Social and cultural values include two indicators of cultural, historical, commercial, and religious signs and buildings (tangible cultural heritage) and collective and ritual ceremonies (intangible cultural heritage).CunclusionsThe first step in reviving the historical context of Bushehr is to identify the valuable historical and cultural elements. In order to determine the path of tourists in the historical context and design the selected route, three scenarios have been considered. In each scenario, the effort has been to cross the route with more historical monuments while maintaining the average length of the route and the proximity to the public transport station and passing nearby or the routes that can provide appropriate relief. The first scenario, the trip to old Lian, is 1.92 km long and mainly passes through the historical cores of the neighborhoods. In addition, this route passes through well-known and restored buildings. The second scenario is called the lost mansions, and with a length of 2.22 km, it connects the centers of the old neighborhoods of the past like a ring and, on its way, introduces many historical mansions that are less known to tourists. The third scenario is called market walking, and with a length of 1.48 km, it passes through the lines of the old market. In this way, it has been tried to introduce tourists to some historical and religious monuments and various ceremonies in addition to passing through the old market. By scoring based on the extracted indicators, the second scenario (lost mansions) was introduced as the best scenario.
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