Environmental Researches

Environmental Researches

Identifying the Environmental Values Hidden in the Experiential Knowledge of the Society by Listening to the Narrative of the City (Case Study: Traditional Neighborhoods of Hamedan)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mehrdad Nahavandchi 1
Shahrzad Faryadi 2
1 PhD Student in Environmental Planning, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/eiap.2026.246794
Abstract
Forgetting or ignoring the environmental values in urban development plans is one of the main roots of the decline in the quality of urban environments. With the expansion of urbanization and fundamental changes in land use, many traditional public spaces in Iranian cities, including the traditional lawns (Chamanha) of Hamedan, have disappeared or decreased their previous functions. Lawns as bio cultural spaces, connected alleys and neighborhoods which played a fundamental role in the formation of social solidarity and local identity. The present study aimed to identify the environmental and social values inherent in the Lawns and to investigate the potential of their regeneration in the spatial structure of Hamedan city. For this purpose storytelling and the narrative-based approaches were used to access the local community experiences. Accordingly, using the snowball technique, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with people familiar with their local culture, their stories were heard, and the corresponding social, economic, environmental, and therapeutic values functions of lawns were extracted and analyzed. The results show that Lawns, beyond mere green spaces, have multiple values that can contribute to the process of sustainable development in the form of urban regeneration policies. It was also found that soft planning methods, including storytelling, are very effective as a tool of communication planning for identifying and applying local knowledge and strengthening public participation. Research suggestions include economic revitalization through local markets, cultural revitalization through traditional rituals, and legal protection through national registration of these spaces. The methods and approaches of this research can also be used as a model for cultural-environmental sustainability in other historical cities of Iran.
Keywords
Narrative-based
Communicative planning
indigenous knowledge
Neighborhood Lawn (Chaman)
Environmental values
Subjects
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Environmental Researches
Volume 16, Issue 32
Recerches
March 2026
Pages 25-41