Heritage tourism and place making: investigating the users’ perspectives towards Sa'd al-Saltaneh Caravanserai in Qazvin, Iran

ABSTRACT

This study examines the adaptive reuse of an abandoned heritage ensemble, Sa'd al-Saltaneh Caravanserai, in Qazvin, Iran, through ‘place making’, a multifaceted approach to create urban spaces. We applied a qualitative research approach, focusing on in-depth semi-structured interviews and on-site observations. The findings revealed that the adaptive reuse project and place making had created a positive image of the city and a popular place for citizens and tourists to visit. The results support the assertion that tourism place making, using arts and culture, could be a helpful way for heritage conservation in long-neglected historical centers and improve the image and experiences of urban places. However, the neglect of the community needs in the process of place making may hinder the realization of effective urban regeneration and sustainable tourism development. Through the case of Qazvin, we argue that the lack of a comprehensive and multidimensional approach in the process of tourism place making can worsen the situation for residents and eliminate the residential role of central neighborhoods. The study contributes to the literature on heritage adaptive reuse and tourism place making from the perspectives of different groups of stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage conservation
• heritage tourism
• place making
• adaptive reuse
• users' perception
• Qazvin

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Naimeh Rezaei

Naimeh Rezaei is an assistant professor at University of Tehran. She's got her PhD degree in urbanism from University of Sorbonne-Paris1 in 2014. She has extensive experience in both practice and research. Prior to joining the University of Tehran as an academic member, she worked for many years for the Municipality of Tehran (Urban Renovation Organization) and various consulting engineers companies. She is currently collaboration with the Tehran Municipality as a project supervisor and member of various committees. Her research interests include urban heritage, city center transformations and urban sociology. She can be contacted at: [email protected]

Zahed Ghaderi

Zahed Ghaderi is currently attached to the Department of Tourism, College of Arts and Social Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. He has over two decades of both academic and practical experience. Zahed is truly an international lecturer and researcher, worked in several countries as a faculty member and visiting professor. He conducted and managed several international projects with collaboration of international organizations such as UNDP, SGP, GEF, COMCEC, APO, UNWTO, etc. As a senior researcher, Dr. Ghaderi has conducted many quality research projects and published his research outputs in top-tier and reputable tourism and hospitality journals. He can be contacted at: [email protected]

Maryam Ghanipour

Maryam Ghanipour is graduated from Tabriz Islamic Art University with a M.S. degree in Urban Design. She is interested in urban research with a focus on urban heritage and urban regeneration. She is currently working for Urban Renovation Organization of Tehran, as a researcher. She can be contacted at: [email protected]