علي اكبر سردره

Abstract: ‎ Recent studies have proven that‏ ‏reduction in physical distance is a stimulus for ‎increase of social interactions inside the settlement boundaries. Furthermore, existence ‎of a positive relation with one’s neighborhood can lead to higher levels of ‎psychological and physical health.‎ In Iranian-Islamic city, neighborhoods were not a mere unit of physical division for ‎enhancement of social interactions; rather, they have been places for social residence ‎according to Iranian Islamic culture. Nonetheless, taking its substantive positive ‎characteristics and historical authenticity into consideration should not prevent ‎exploring and criticizing its role in people’s life. Achieving appropriate solutions for ‎promotion of identical characteristics of Iranian-Islamic neighborhood is highly ‎dependent on a holistic exploration of person-neighborhood relationship based on the ‎everyday life experiences of residents. Considering such approach, this thesis will try ‎to investigate one traditional (Sagharisazan) and one modern (Golsar) neighborhood of ‎Rasht city. Both of these studies are based on exploratory-qualitative methods, but ‎their internal research design is different. Such difference is required to provide two ‎distinct but complementary objectives of the thesis. The objectives are as follows: : a) ‎understanding person-neighborhood relations in traditional neighborhoods and its ‎historical changes; b) understanding the current situation of this relationship in new ‎urban developments.‎ Results show that from childhood to adulthood stages, residence in traditional ‎neighborhood has completely been a social affair, and thus, neighborhood attachment ‎is mostly affected by attachment to local community, instead of being mainly affected ‎by physical features of neighborhood.‎ In contrast, presence of children and adults in public space of Golsar neighborhood is ‎so limited. Lack of suitable opportunities for the socialization of children in this ‎neighborhood can cause multiple damages to their social and intellectual growth. ‎Adult’s relations with Golsar neighborhood is entirely based on personal meanings. ‎Therefore, neighborhood attachment is dependent on those meanings that are ‎connected with home and personal continuity. Comparison of settler’s identification ‎with these two neighborhoods demonstrates that formerly proposed principles for ‎description of the process of identification with places, that includes: distinctiveness, ‎continuity, self-esteem and self-efficacy; are not sufficient for interpreting main aspects ‎of identification with Iranian Islamic neighborhood. Thus, equilibrium and Islamic ‎perfectionism should be added to these principles. ‎ Impacts of macro-level social and political events on the‏ ‏Iranian Islamic neighborhood ‎can be summarized into two main categories: place changes and social semantic ‎changes in neighborhood. Findings from the two neighborhoods confirm that social ‎semantic changes such as changes in the meaning of mosque and neighborhood; have ‎had most serious damages to the entity of neighborhood concept in Iranian Islamic ‎city. Thus, that's why the researchers should not look for a definite model or final ‎image of Iranian-Islamic neighborhood, if they want to promote its characteristics. ‎Instead, they should concentrate on the recognition of its impacts on people's life and ‎apply appropriate levers of change in accordance with contextual conditions.‎ Keywords: Iranian Islamic neighborhood, identical characteristics, person-‎neighborhood relationship.‎