Resecting An Urban Anatomy: Destruction of the historical fabric of Shiraz

By:Ali Kiafar, PhD, REFP

In the last two weeks the news that the plan to destroy a portion of the historical fabric of the city of Shiraz, south-central Iran, has entered a new phase – the actual destruction – has spread out, causing significant concerns for many Iranians, mostly architects and city planners. Under the context of expansion and development of the area around the shrine of Shah-Cheragh, the brother of the 8th Shiite Imam, this plan will destruct and remove an important centuries-old fabric of the city. While it started more than a decade ago, and has faced protests and debates all along, the actual destruction is now being carried out.

According to several media and reliable sources 360 hectares of the historical fabric of Shiraz will be destroyed and an order has been issued to raze 60 houses. Notices have been given to the residents of those houses to evacuate their properties, with further threat that continuing to stay in their home will not prevent the destruction of the houses. As reported by at least one source, Etemad Newspaper of Tehran, the residents were told under no uncertain terms that if you “don’t evacuate, we will cut off the water, electricity and gas of the house.” The response of those who cannot afford to move however, has been that we will “stay here until the house is turned to dirt.”

It has been reported by the media in Iran that the demolition of the subject urban fabric has the explicit support and approval of the highest authorities, and that president of the I. R. of Iran is in favor of it. He has been quoted as saying that this part of the city “is worn out.” In the first weeks of his presidency, he very clearly said, “During a trip to Shiraz, we learned that the implementation of ‘this project’” had started years ago, but it faced obstacles and was stopped. When it was investigated, it became clear that the problem can be solved quickly.” Subsequently a three-member committee was formed to see whether more than 200 historical houses in Shiraz, can be listed as cultural heritage. However, since in accordance with the laws and regulations of Iran, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts is the official responsible government body for recognizing the cultural heritage of buildings, the legal status of the committee formed with the support of the president of the I.R. of Iran and the Governor of the Fars Province which has jurisdiction over the City of Shiraz is very much questionable. Still, this urban demolition plan is moving forward. Interestingly enough, it does not seem to be coincidental that the demolition of historical houses started during the Cultural Heritage Week – a common paradoxical reality in today’s Iran.

While the government’ official position has been that the destruction of the historical fabric of Shiraz is for the enhancement of the old building structures and the façade of the city surrounding Shah-Cheragh, indications are that the public good and improvement of the urban conditions are not the real impetus for the actions that are intended. It has been reported that financial benefits to certain individuals and organizations – foremost of all the husband of vice president for Women and Family Affairs in the current administration in the I. R. of Iran – are at stake and that they are the force behind pushing for the implementation of ths plan.

What makes the matter more problematic and adds to the injustice imposed upon the residents and property owners in the envelope of this “expansion and redevelopment project” is that they are offered values for their properties less than the ever-escalating current prices and not even in a full, lump sum payment. They are to receive the forced sale’s price half in cash and half in installments. In the most optimistic scenario, they can lease a house in another part of the city of Shiraz, but not able to buy a property in the central city.

Aside from what seems to be an improper implementation of the buy-out, evacuation and relocation of the residents of this urban setting what has concerned social activists, cultural heritage advocates, in addition to urban historians, city planners and architects the most is the imminent cutting out of an urban fabric that has a wealth of history, culture and architectural values. Many are afraid – rightly so in my humble opinion – that the sad history and experience of the erasing and reconstruction of the urban fabric around the holy shrine of the 8^th Imam of the Shiites in the City of Mashhad that occurred fifty years ago which still faces many negative consequences will be repeated. Not being able to otherwise prevent the destruction in Shiraz from going forward many activists and professionals have turned to social media, garnering support for opposition to the plan, and petitions to stop this “expansion and redevelopment plan” atrocity – unfortunately to no avail as of this writing.

It should be noted that in addition to the historical and cultural values that such a historic urban fabric holds, there is not that much debate that the internal and external architecture of some of the buildings under destruction have artistic values. For this and other reasons a large portion of a centuries old Shiraz with all of its memories, traditions and culture must not be destroyed just for the expansion and redevelopment of the sites and urban fabric around an existing monument, as holy as it may be – even if that is the real, and not artificially stated, reason.

Nonetheless, there is a school of thought — put forward by some architects and structural engineers – that keeping these buildings intact inheritably demonstrates a danger as most of them are of brick and adobe materials. Masonry and adobe structures have shown weak responses in major earthquakes. They correctly make the point that adobe buildings are the worse type of construction and easily crumble in any movement by an earthquake. In this argument the very recent total destruction of the hundreds of buildings and loss of what at this point has exceeded 35,000 lives are mentioned as the reason that the old buildings such as those in the historic sections of Shiraz should not be allowed to stay and that they must be replaced by newer, safer and more structurally sound buildings.

I totally agree – wholeheartedly – with the position that peoples’ lives should be of utmost importance. To me lives matter, very much, and not only human beings’ lives, but all creatures’. I would never ever in my life stand to see any life being wasted. But I believe these urban fabrics, the historic buildings and complexes, are integral parts of our homeland and motherland, culture, identity, and our history. They are the manifestation of who we Iranians – regardless of where we live — are, what we have been and what we are even today. They should not be destroyed; because if they are, it is like us — everyone of us — having lost a limb, an organ a part of our body.

I very well realize that most of these buildings are not safe and they do not meet the structural integrity needed in buildings design and construction. Who can forget what happened in the earthquakes of Qazvin (Boeen Zahra) in the early 1960s, Tabas in the 1970s, Roodbaar in the 1990s, Bam in the 2000s and Khoi just a couple of weeks ago — and many other earthquakes in between. All together more than several hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, let alone very much significant properties, urban fabrics and other valuables. So, there is no point in romanticizing the old buildings and wanting to keep them as they are. I for one and for sure do not.

But it does not have to be that way. We must not just leave them as they are. There exist many techniques and solutions that can rather realistically and not at a very exorbitant cost be utilized to retrofit them and seismically improve them. There are also many real examples in other parts of the world that have taken upon such endeavors – and very successfully – that we can learn from. It just needs vision, will, stamina and management skills.

The key question for real preservation and conservation of our priceless urban heritage, and not the easy way out demolition and destruction, is this though: Are the decision makers, politicians, and holders of wealth and power aware of the various values of what is about to be destroyed and under no conditions can be relaced? Are there ways to prevent such urban heritage massacre or convince the powers that be not to proceed with this resting of an urban anatomy?

Ali A Kiafar, holds a master’s degree in architecture and a PhD in urban and regional planning. One of his fields of expertise is urban development and redevelopment. He has taught at major universities in Southern California since 1980. He is the recipient of Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of California – Riverside, recipient of Best Community Development Award from American Institute of Architects, and recipient of Architecture and City Planning Book Award from the Association of Luminaries of Architecture in Iran