Evaluating the impact of large-scale urban interventions on the historic Urban Fabric with emphasis on economic effects (Case Study: Buffer zone of Sahib-ul-amr complex in Tabriz)

The historic urban fabric of any city is its historical heritage and identity. It is also known as a valuable asset due to its cultural, social and economic role in the city. Historic urban fabrics have undergone physical, social and economic changes due to various factors such as interventions and actions of urban management Among these, economic changes are of special importance because the formation and spatial-physical and functional transformation of cities is affected by the economic variables and acts on it. The city as an economic center plays an important role in the economic development of the country. Economy is one of the most important factors that affects the vitality and viability of historic urban fabrics. Lack of attention to the historic urban fabric has consequences such as a decline in investment and decay. The implementation of urban projects is intertwined with the economics of urban fabrics. Among the urban interventions in the historic urban fabrics are large-scale urban projects and flagship development projects that are designed and implemented with the aim of increasing economic vitality and improving the quality of the environment in the historic fabric. The implementation of these urban projects affects land prices. Land price as an economic indicator reflects features such as the social and economic value of urban fabrics. Tabriz is a historic city that has a lot of tangible and intangible heritages. The historic urban fabric of Tabriz -covering 1336 hectare is located in the central part of the city. This region has undergone physical, social and economic changes in recent decades due to various factors such as urban management activities. The present study aimed to investigate the economic impact of urban planning on buffer zone of Sahib-ol-Amr complex in Tabriz-as an example of historical context- in order to investigate the economic impact of urban projects on this area. The Sahib-ol-Amr complex is part of the Sahibabad complex in the ancient core of the city. Sahibabad is one of the most important and valuable architectural and urban complexes in Iran in terms of antiquity, pattern and spatial and physical structure, which has been formed and evolved during the historical developments of the city. Despite its historical value, it has degraded over time. In this research, mixed quantitative and qualitative research method have been used and quantitative data related to the price of urban lands in the study area in the period 1992 A.D. to 2014 A.D. have been collected and analyzed. Simultaneously, qualitative data related to functional components, land use and activity of functional units, data related to physical-spatial components, forms and patterns of ownership as other economic manifestation, through library studies, urban documents and data such as master plan of Tabriz and aerial photographs were analyzed. Moreover, observations and field studies were interpreted using inference. The results show that the implementation of large-scale development projects in the historic urban fabrics has led to an increase in the price difference between residential and commercial properties and a decrease in the value of housing in the historic urban fabrics. In addition, the implementation of such projects in the study area has eliminated the linkage between textures and their failure to attract capital and economic activity has exacerbated the recession in the historic urban fabric.