Urban identity in the process of reconstruction after an earthquake: A case study of Bam

جغرافیاوتوسعه ناحیه ای

Article 3, Volume 11, Issue 1 - Serial Number 20, September 2013   

Document Type: scientific-research article

DOI: 10.22067/geography.v11i20.30706

Authors

Ali Hajinejad^* ; Mahdi Ramezanzadeh Lasbuii; Somayeh Mohammadi Abadeh; Mahmod Mahmodi

Abstract

Extended abstract

1- Introduction
The earthquake on December 2003 in Bam, Kerman province, was one of the most destructive earthquakes, which caused a lot of damage including human casualties, severity and physical damage. 80 percent of the buildings were completely demolished by the destructive earthquake. It is obvious that after the disaster, the reconstruction and return to the normal situation was one of the main duties of planners. In the reconstruction process, the principle, which must be taken into consideration, is to maintain the city's identity.
Thus, the main purpose of this study is to discus different aspects of urban identity in the reconstruction process; including unique historical attractions like the historic citadel of Bam, and natural identity (home-garden features), as well as the physical-social identity.
The method of this research is survey and based on a questionnaire. The reconstruction process has been considered as the dependent and identity as the Independent variables.This research has been accomplished to answer two main questions:
1. Have every identical aspects of the city been considered in the reconstruction process of Bam?
2. Is there any significant relationship between reconstruction and urban identity?
2- Theoretical Framework
In the reconstruction process, the principle which must be taken into consideration is maintaining the city's identity in a way that at a glance one can recognize the city as being the same at a glance; but not a new one, otherwise just the name of that city would remain in people’s minds, and there would be no guarantee for people to return to the reconstructed city. The reconstruction encompasses all aspects of life. About the relationship between identity and reconstruction, the history of the town and the predecessors should be inspired. The construction can be said to be a combination of social, psychological, cultural, economic, and political processes. In the reconstruction process, urban identity should be considered as one of the main components. Cities with a particular function should receive greater recognition. Maintaining the identity of the city is equal to maintaining the historical continuity and the relationship between the city and its history, the previous identity, characteristics and appearance of the city during the reconstruction process; in fact, it is to bring the spirit of the city back to it.
Bam used to have qualitative values due to its particular historical and cultural characteristics, especially in residential and public spaces; therefore, for a successful reconstruction, identifying and assessing these values, is important. Identifying the residence traditions, social structures and living methods of the people in Bam underlies maintaining the local and regional identity.
Such recognition leads to people's practical and actual participation in social affairs and recreates the social sense. On a small scale, garden homes form the identity base of life in the city of Bam, the background of family structure and mental comfort, and familial relationships.
3- Discussion
In order to analyze the studied variables, the SPSS software was used to calculate statistical correlation, regression, and statistical parametric T-test for independent variables.
Due to the particular situation of Bam, the most important problem is the Garden City, historical and cultural identity. In this regard, Bam's identical state was assessed from the viewpoint of its inhabitants. As the identity of a city is recognized through its environmental visual aspects, Bam's visual figures were discussed at the beginning. Although the sample has satisfied this situation and believed Bam's historical figures have been almost noticed, regarding to the significance level, they believe the historical and cultural identity has been neglected in the Bam reconstruction process. They also believe though they do not feel unfamiliar to their city, their sense of belonging to the city has roughly been reduced.
4- Conclusions
The findings show that during the reconstruction process, many identity aspects of the city of Bam have been neglected. These include the loss of the house-garden structure of the city which has resulted in decreasing the sense of local belonging.

Keywords

Earthquake; reconstruction; Historical Identity; Natural Identity; Bam; Iran