A Case-Study in Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf

The role of economic growth in coastal culture: a case-study in Qeshm Island, Persian Gulf M. Mohebbi & A. S. Mahmoodi Department of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts, The University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran Abstract This paper arises from the quest of reaching a path for economic growth in a port in Qeshm Island located in the Persian Gulf [3]. Currently this port is a town, but in the near future it will become a special economic zone and will play an important role in the economy of the Persian Gulf. We intend to realise its condition and also find a proper way to respect cultural elements while programming and designing for this port. Recently, there has been an attempt to make some investments in the island in order to attract tourists to Qeshm. One possible approach for tourist attraction could be through existing resources on the island, i.e. navigational attractions, which could be appropriate and sustainable. The major task of this study has been to find an answer to this question: “How can we respect cultural values while technology affects our life in this age?” Keywords: globalisation, coastal culture, Persian Gulf Bridge, dhow, navigation, sea-museum, tribal values, economic growth, respect. 1 Introduction Culture has production, death and life (Ashouri [2]). It changes in the process of time, but it has the fixed factors, which if considered as the basis in the social and economic development, the primary values of a society will be protected while implementing the local changes. Culture is also a powerful means of controlling cities, it plays a leading role in urban development strategies based on historic preservation or local “heritage” (Zukin [28]). It is a basic resource for sustainable economic growth (Santagata [24]). In the economic growth of the regions with ancient Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender, K. Morgan, J. Sanchez, C. A. Brebbia & A Voiskounsky (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-726-4 346 Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender background, the shaping of a place is the outcome of power struggles between varies, cultures and fears within the existing social order (Greed [11]). In every growth and development, as the first insight, we should search for the meaning of the region. The meaning is marked out by identity (Graham [10]). It is us who make things mean. Meanings consequently, will always change, from one culture or period to another (Hall [12]). So, the meaning of region where we are studying on, should be discovered and then affect on the final plan. In this sense, many doubts and uncertainties can confound designers’ task. How well will her/his work been received by clients and users and will it really satisfy their needs? (Lawson [17]). Users are much important, means natives and we should make a clear communication with them to find what they really need. Communication enables us to identify claims about values (Forester [8]), claims about what natives want to gain, or care about enough to put on the table for discussion. When a region is studied to be made developed, planners should try to reach the fact of the existence of the region. Then they can design or program considering all details about the region. “Design is a conscious exercise. The unconscious can more than likely never infiltrate a design because the designer makes her/himself aware of every detail” (Bernard [6]), and the meaning of region is the most significant detail, which includes culture as the main consideration. Design at different scales can have a significant influence on the social and cultural relationships (Talebi [25]). In this century, the global commercial forces and technological developments are influencing the cultures of cities. In many people’s opinion, development is considered as a threat for identity. But, in this discussion, we try to make a debate about the correlation between the local culture and technology, but in a different way. Technology can affect culture positively, if designers or planners try to find to what extent each of them can affect our life. 1.1 Economic growth and information technology Social scientists are only now coming to grips with information technology (IT); because it is the main consideration which can be useful in the process of transformation, especially cultural transformation (Henry [13]). It is a fact that we can maximise the usefulness of new information technology in the workplace when we understand culture. IT is inevitable in the age of globalisation, and technology is only half of what IT is about (Henry [13]). Thanks to IT, planners, investors and ordinary people (Esp. in the developing countries or traditional societies) will be able to achieve better ways to use natural resources. This will end in stable development and progress towards what we call “Social Welfare”. The first way to change the current situation and to take advantage of the environmental factor is to promote social welfare. This will end in economic growth by itself. Economic growth can be considered as a direct consequence of IT. We have considered economic growth as the main result of IT in the present study. The latter can lead the society towards better use of environment. This can even happen in a simple Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender, K. Morgan, J. Sanchez, C. A. Brebbia & A Voiskounsky (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-726-4 Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender 347 rural area as an economic change. The site is an example of rural areas, which is considered to be developed as a special port. 1.2 Aims - To respect all values while developing a place. - To reach proper spaces to consider in this ancient area; which can help us to revive the local values. 1.3 Research methodology (Case-study) Methodology should be a conversation about everything that could be made to happen (Jones [7]). The methodology of this research includes: 1. Literature Review, 2. Surveying, 3. Field works. The comprehensive plan of this port was first reviewed, then analysed the equipment considered in the plan. Also, we spent more than 2 months in the port and performed several field-works including interviews and filling questionnaires. We analysed the collected data based on the native people's opinion about what we can do to respect the cultural values in the plan. The final section discusses the creation of cultural spaces. 2 The site (the Persian Gulf, Qeshm Island, Loft Port) Ancient Iranians were the first great navigators of the world. (Nourbakhsh [19]) The Persian Gulf is an area of the world with a seafaring tradition of over 5,000 years in age, it had been considered as the most suitable region for sailing and evolution of human civilisation for its calmness and warm waters” (Amir Ebrahimi [1]). The name of “Qeshm” as the biggest island, is a testimony to Elamites long stay in this area [21]. The island is approximately 120 km long in an east-west direction, and between ten and thirty kilometre wide [22]. Qeshm has a native population of over 85,000, a majority of them are Sunni Moslems. The activities of native people is mainly centred around fishing and shrimp trapping, ship building, palm farming, trade and folk art [23]. Loft is one of the most important towns, which is considered to be developed as a special port in the long-term strategy of the Qeshm development plan. There are three considerable factors in the future development of “Loft”: Gavarzin Gas Field, Hara Sea-Forest and The Persian Gulf Bridge, fig. 1. 3 The proposed plan In the original comprehensive plan prepared for the Qeshm Island, the chapter of “Loft Development”, the following subjects were evaluated (Pajouhesh [20]): 60000 square metres is considered for religious-cultural functions, fig. 1. In that classification, “religious” and “cultural” functions have been separated. However, it would have been more appropriate to use the term “cultural” as a major criteria that includes many sub divisions, i.e. “religion”. Culture is about different ways of approaching knowledge, different areas which are discussed Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender, K. Morgan, J. Sanchez, C. A. Brebbia & A Voiskounsky (Editors) © 2004 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISBN 1-85312-726-4 348 Human Perspectives in the Internet Society: Culture, Psychology and Gender while others remain tacit (Veltman [26]). In this context, the ancient culture of navigation is the most considerable factor, which should be evaluated separately. The coastal bounds have been determined in about 300 metre from the edges of the beach. Also, 50% of this area has been considered for public functions. About 30% of these spaces are located at the perspective of the old context of “Loft”, fig. 1. As considered in the comprehensive plan, public functions include hotels, shopping centres and environmental protected parks. This kind of approach to the coastline architecture and urbanism cannot be acceptable. Because public spaces are the primary site of public culture, they are a window into the city’s soul (Zukin [28]); and “Loft” port is a city of culture, does not possess an abundance of historic and artistic resources, but is able to generate culture (Santagata [24]). In the present, there is a peerless perspective of the valuable native architecture from the Hara sea-forest side, fig. 2. We should respect this unique view and try to revive the main meaning of dominant elements, which has been forgotten in the visual mind of “Loft” port, along the economic growth. We should define sea bounds by some elements, which are valuable in the aesthetics or functional viewpoint; e.g.

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