World heritage and social justice: Insights from the inscription of Yazd, Iran

Abstract

UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) are known to add value to destinations. While the diverse impacts of WHS status have been investigated in relation to sustainable tourism development in various contexts, social justice perspectives remain poorly developed in the literature. We used netnographic research on social media supplemented with semi-structured interviews to investigate social justice issues arising from the WHS inscription of Yazd, Iran. Findings reveal a complexity of benefits (e.g. greater community well-being) and costs (e.g. higher prices and increased traffic) that are unequally distributed among stakeholders. We also found that cultural values represented by the WHS marginalize certain groups. Participation in decision-making processes is all but non-existent, leaving residents powerless to act upon concerns about tourism and cultural change. The research contributes to the emerging field of social justice in heritage tourism and heritage conservation. It offers theoretical and empirical insights that highlight the importance of social justice as an aspect of sustainable WHS management.

Keywords:

• social justice
• sustainable development
• UNESCO world heritage site
• heritage tourism
• resident perceptions
• participatory tourism planning

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and Tazim Jamal for the invaluable feedback provided on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raymond Rastegar

Dr. Raymond Rastegar holds a Ph.D. in tourism management and is a lecturer and researcher in Tourism at the UQ Business School, University of Queensland. His research focuses on sustainable tourism development in developing countries with specific interest in local community livelihood, participation, empowerment, and environmental conservation.

Zohreh (Zara) Zarezadeh

Zohreh (Zara) Zarezadeh is a Ph.D. Student in Tourism at the UQ Business School, University of Queensland. Her research area is tourist information search with a focus on online sources, especially social media platforms.

Ulrike Gretzel

Dr. Ulrike Gretzel is a senior fellow at the Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California. She received her Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the role of technology in tourism, marketing and sustainable development.