Perception of Place(A Study of Visitors to Tehran’s Modern Malls and Grand Bazaar)

As in many other places, the urban landscape of Iran is undergoing rapid transformation. In this paper, we examine the effects of rapid urban transformation from the perspective of citizens and how these changes affect their perception and interpretation of urban spaces. This article focuses on consumers in modern retail malls and the traditional "Garand Bazaar" in Tehran.Inspired by the methodology of phenomenology, which explores facts through people’s lived experiences, we use in-depth interviews and observational methods to investigate the experiences of contemporary urban residents. Forty residents of Tehran were interviewed for this purpose. All of them were mall shoppers younger than forty years of age.Despite the undeniable role that contemporary shopping centers play in the lives of many of these individuals, none of them feel a sense of belonging in shopping malls. Residents have difficulty recalling and imagining any other dimensions of a modern shopping mall, including a place for social interaction, rest, and aesthetic qualities that remind them of their cultural heritage; consequently, these malls do not meet their expectations. In contrast, the fact that Baazar is a place where visitors can purchase goods, spend their leisure time, and appreciate the architectural beauty based on their culture and history renders it a multifunctional location that provides greater consumer comfort and familiarity. As a result, individuals visit modern shopping malls to satisfy their routine requirements and the Grand Bazaar to eat, drink, stroll, and spend time while shopping for necessities. In other words, they consume commodities in shopping centers while filling cultural voids at the grand bazaar.As long as city planners disregard citizens’ cultural and social needs while constructing new shopping centers not only do consumers feel an attachment to any shopping malls due to their disregard for individuals’ historical and cultural heritage, but these economic monuments will not accommodate their constructors’ desire, which is earning profits, because these buildings may lose their appeal to those who have visited the mall multiple times.