Transformation of Historic Neighborhoods: How Tourism Is Changing the Historic Center of Kashan, Iran

ABSTRACT After a long period of decline and deterioration, conservation efforts over the last two decades, influenced by global trends, are revitalizing some of the historic centers in Iranian cities. In a country-wide first, old abandoned houses in the historic core of Kashan have gradually become attractive to private investors and transformed into tourist spaces, generally boutique hotels. This paper investigates the impacts of these private investments on the surrounding neighborhoods by analyzing the attitudes and perceptions of local community members toward these transformations. Data were collected through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 35 participants including residents, shopkeepers and local visitors, in 2018–2019. The findings of this study illustrate the positive attitude of local people towards conservation and adaptive reuse projects, although some residents noted problems resulting from the implementation of these projects. The results indicated that it is necessary for urban authorities to take measures to mitigate the impacts of the tourism gentrification process and to maintain the neighborhood’s long-term residents.