A Paradigm Model of Traditional Iranian Neighborhood (Mahalleh): A Grounded Theory Approach

Abstract

Contemporary interventions in historical Mahalleh and the design of new settlements in Iran rely on Western micro-urbanism patterns such as urban villages and new urbanism. Although the urban lifestyle in Iran affects the Mahalleh identity, this context-oriented pattern is more appropriate than the Western ones with all weaknesses and critiques; namely, social engineering and physical determinism. This paper aims to present a paradigm model for the Iranian micro-urbanism (Mahalleh), applying grounded theory methodology. The literature of micro-urbanism is discussed first, followed by exploring the categories of Mahalleh and integrating them around the core category in a paradigm model. Influenced by specific conditions: “collectivism” and “ecological balance” as causal conditions; “social identity” as an intervening condition; “physical and functional organization” as contextual conditions, “familiarity” emerges as a core category in the proposed model. Furthermore, residents of the Mahalleh have special interactions contributing to the “social capital,” “changeability,” and “parental effect.” Finally, “Mahalleh as the home of the families” is a consequence of the actions and interactions done under such conditions.

Keywords

category grounded theory Mahalleh paradigm traditional Iranian neighborhood

Introduction

Since 1907 AD, the entry of street, on the one hand, and the wave of migration to cities as well as the need for housing, on the other hand, have resulted in the construction of unified residential buildings and encouragement of mass production. The new residential style never allows the emergence of a Mahalleh, which has the natural development of a settlement; hence, the structure and content of old Mahallehs are forgotten. This study aims to investigate the indicators influencing the Mahalleh as a context-oriented pattern of micro-urbanism. Micro-urbanism refers to the small-scale urban environments that can generate a sense of togetherness in the midst of threats of ecological degradation, social fragmentation, and spatial segregation (Madanipour, 2001). There were many attempts in the past two centuries to promote micro-urbanism; from garden city movement of Howard (1960) and the notion of neighborhood unit of Clarence Perry in the 1920s about urban planning to the views of Lewis Mumford (1954) and Etzioni (1995) about city social. The idea of micro-urbanism provoked severe criticism for its emphasis on the physical rather than social environment. For these scholars, the mobility provided by car and flexibility of telecommunication have destroyed the need for physical proximity as a basis for community building. Among them, there is Melvin Weber, who presented the idea of “Community without Propinquity” (Webber, 1964). Louis Wirth, an American sociologist and follower of the Chicago School, was another critic, who developed the concept of “urbanization as a way of life” in 1938, and argued that urban life is the source of impersonal relationships and social distance. Claiming to create communities, although neighborhood planning was stopped and criticized in the second half of the 20th century, micro-urbanism in the form of urban villages, new urbanism, livable neighborhoods, and so on emerged. The following represent reasons for this recurrence: micro-urbanism, in line with the principles of sustainability, compared to the sprawling suburb or the single-use housing estate with no facilities, offers some local facilities within easy access, which can reduce unnecessary household trips. On the other hand, changing the scale of industry requires large-scale operations, and therefore, industrial development prefers groups rather than individual buildings. Furthermore, the idea of micro-urbanism as a way of urban management involves citizens in the decision-making process and promotes good governance (Urban Task Force & Rogers, 1999). Micro-urbanism, by creating “identification” with place in long time, can empower the sense of dwelling in people. When a man dwells, the world became an “Inside” (Norberg-Schulz, 1980). Relph (1976) argued that the most basic form of insideness takes place when a place experiences without deliberate thinking and unconsciousness, but full of meaning. This insideness has been experienced when most people are at home or in their hometown or neighborhood because they know those places, their people, and are well known there. Urban villages in Britain, new urbanism in the United States, and the idea of livable neighborhoods in Australia, each has formed on the basis of the issues raised in its context. With the aim of designing based on micro-urbanism and using its benefits in Iran, as it is the case in developing residential complexes, new towns, etc., the traditional Iranian neighborhood—Mahalleh—can be taken into account as a sustainable pattern of micro-urbanism with its all tripartite sociopsychological, spatial–environmental, and political–managerial role in the Iranian urban society (Zamani & Shams, 2014). Therefore, Mahalleh as a long-term manifestation of the home environment concept in Iran’s semipublic realm, encompassing the physical, cultural, and social values, needs more comprehensive study in terms of its structure and content. The outcomes of this study aim not only to develop the foundations of intervention in Mahallehs but also to improve the foundations of design of new settlements based on the context-oriented quality indicators instead of generic prescriptive ones.

Literature Review: Traditional Iranian Neighborhood (Mahalleh)

The history of Mahallehs dates back to ancient Iran. During the Sasanian era, Mahallehs were formed based on the guild system (Soltanzadeh, 1988). With the advent of Islam in Iran, cultural–religious indicators in addition to socioeconomic factors become extremely important in the structure of cities and Mahallehs (Kamanroudi, 2009). Most Iranian-Islamic cities consisted of three major elements: the bazaar, the citadel, and the isolated residential neighborhoods known as Mahallehs (Figure 1). The public life of the bazaar and the private and semiprivate environments of Mahallehs were located via a hierarchical system of pedestrian networks leading from the wider and more crowded passages (Gozars) to the semiprivate and narrow alleys or cul-de-sacs in the residential areas (Figure 2) (Kheirabadi, 1991).

Figure 1.

Tehran in 1858 (Madanipour, 1998).

Figure 2.

Model of the Hierarchical Movement Network in Traditional Iranian Cities (Kheirabadi, 1991).

Literature on Mahalleh classifies into three categories: (a) Physical approach to the Mahalleh, through which the physical features of Mahalleh are represented as enclosure, human scale, proportion, and differentiation (e.g., Tavasoli, 1997). (b) Social approach to the Mahalleh reflected in the works of people who have recorded the narrative literature and social history of the Iranian people after the constitutional (Mashrute) era mostly focused on the hard conditions of people’s lives and backwardness, and have forged a negative view on traditional society. The theme of most of them refers to issues such as the despotism of the rulers, the low value of women, belief in superstitions, unawareness of people, poor health services, patriarchal community, the interaction between home and community, and the influence of the elders (e.g., Afghani, 1961; Alavi, 1998; Al-e-Ahmad, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1958, 1971; Daneshvar, 1969; Dowlatabadi, 1978; Shahri, 1990, 1992). (c) Sociophysical approach to the Mahalleh—according to a number of scholars (e.g., Mirgholami & Sintusingha, 2012), the formation of Mahalleh is influenced by Iranian religious beliefs. In traditional Islamic cities, the need for privacy is reflected in the introverted layout of houses around a courtyard. In doing so, the private realm of houses and the public realm of the city was divided through the transitional and semiprivate realm of twisty alleyways and cul-de-sacs (the Mahalleh typology). Another theorist focused on the design of residential neighborhoods in Islamic cities believing that “the mosque has been one of the major determinants of physical dimensions of Mahallehs, and it has provided many social, cultural and political needs.” In his view, in the context of most Muslim cities, the hierarchy of mosques in terms of the approximate range of performance can be seen. The core of the Muslim neighborhoods was the temples like shrine Imamzadeh, mosque, etc., but the mosque is the most important (Figure 3) (Pourjafar & Pourjafar, 2012).

Figure 3.

Curve of Land Value in Islamic Cities (Pourjafar & Pourjafar, 2012).

Kheirabadi (1991) believes that Iranian cities are the products of interactions between their cultural and natural environments. The major natural factors are the harsh climate, lack of water, and bowl-shaped physiography of Iranian plateau, and major cultural factors including religious and sociopolitical history and its rich cultural heritage. For example, it cannot be claimed that the courtyard in Iranian houses was created only for the purpose of separating women (which is considered fundamental in Islam). Despite this religious obligation, the courtyard has existed in pre-Islamic Iran and its roots were much more related to defense needs and climate considerations rather than Islamic culture. As such, Mahalleh as a confined sociophysical unit of the city and the smallest urban planning and management unit with specific subjective–objective boundaries and limited pedestrian scale functions, provides daily needs of residents promoting face-to-face relationships and ultimately leads to a sense of belonging and community identity (Abdolahi, Tavakolinia, & Sarrafi, 2010).

Methodology

Grounded Theory

Grounded theory is a form of qualitative methodology developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) for the purpose of constructing a theory grounded in data. This study was carried out from October 3, 2016 to February 14, 2018; and among all variations of GT, it took the systematic framework of Corbin and Strauss (2015) to guide data analysis, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Steps of Systematic Grounded Theory.

Comparison and asking questions are two basic analytical strategies used throughout the research process. There are two different types of comparisons: constant comparisons and theoretical comparisons. At first, constant comparison was used to conceptualize data from interviews and texts related to the Mahalleh, then initial codes were compared for similarities and differences, and grouped together to form categories (open coding). Theoretical comparisons consisting of close-in and far-out comparisons were used to stimulate thinking about properties and dimensions of categories, and questions such as why, how, and what consequences about each category were answered. To reach the point of saturation for each category, theoretical sampling was used. The gathering of data based on analysis of previous data is termed theoretical sampling. The purpose of the theoretical sampling is to collect data from places, people, and events that will maximize opportunities to develop concepts in terms of their properties and dimensions. In this manner, subcategories and components of paradigm for each main category and then paradigm of Mahalleh were identified (axial coding). In axial coding the paradigm is an analytical tool to help analysts carry out coding around a category and to make connections between context and process. Paradigm consists of conditions, actions–interactions, and consequences or outcomes. Conditions answer questions about why, where, and when, and are divided into three types: intervening, causal, and contextual conditions; actions–interactions answer questions about how; and outcomes answer questions about what consequences (Corbin & Strauss, 2015). In selective coding, familiarity as a core category of the Mahalleh was discovered, and the story of Mahalleh with focus on familiarity was generated. Table 1 shows an example of using the analytical tools in the axial coding step.

Table 1.

An Example of Using the Theoretical Comparison and Theoretical Sampling in Coding Process (Paymanfar, 2018).

Categories	Initial codes	Theoretical comparison	Properties and dimensions			Theoretical sampling
Categories	Initial codes	Theoretical comparison	Why?	How?	What consequences?	Theoretical sampling
a) To provide something needed	a-1) Several mosques in the Mahalleh	Far-out comparisons: the negative consequences of parents’ impotence in children’s needs fulfillment: 1) Low physical growth of their children (physical growth) 2) Improper upbringing of their children (spiritual growth)	Mahalleh as a provider	To provide spiritual needs	Spiritual growth	Q a-1) What are other factors which contributed to the spiritual growth in the Mahalleh? Support the poor by the rich
	a-2) Paying attention to per capita land uses		Mahalleh as a provider	To provide physical needs	Physical growth	Q a-2) Are Mahallehs self-sufficient in all of the physical needs? Poor health services, initial facilities
	a-3) Self-sufficiency of Mahalleh		Mahalleh as a provider	To provide physical needs	Physical growth	Q a-3) What are the consequences of providing physical needs for neighbors (other than physical growth)? Social credit of Mahalleh in the city
a1) Training	a1-1) Several mosques in the Mahalleh	close-in comparisons: Children go to school as a training place, in certain days and hours (Direct training)	Mahalleh as a provider	Direct training	Spiritual growth	Q a1-1) What are other places for direct training in the Mahalleh (other than mosque)? Women’s programs at home
	a1-2) Supporting the poor by the rich	Community-based learning (Indirect training)	Mahalleh as a provider	Indirect training	Spiritual growth	Qa1-2) What are other evidences of indirect training in the Mahalleh?Resolving quarrels between neighbors
b) Social justice	b-1) To avoid luxuries	Far-out comparisons: The rich in comparison to the poor:1) Lifestyle (content): to wear branded clothes2) Form: expensive cars and houses	Common beliefs	Social justice in a level of content	Social justice in a level of the form	Qb-1) What are other evidences of social justice in a level of content? (Saturation point was met)
	b-2) Residence of every household in one room		Contentment	Social justice in a level of a content	Indirect training	Qb-2) Are there any evidences of social justice in a level of form? The harmony of residential facades against the diversity of interior design
	Main category	Subcategories	Components of paradigm			Paradigm
	Main category	Subcategories	Conditions	Actions–Interactions	Consequences	Paradigm
	A) Parental effect	A1) TrainingA2) Social justice	- Direct training- Social justice in a level of content	Social justice in a level of form	Indirect training

Case Selection

Using the method of purposeful sampling, Dardasht was selected for data collection because it is one of the initial Mahalleh’s in the Isfahan’s¹ historic core whose primary nucleus predates to the Seljuk² period and was completed during the Safavid³ period. Furthermore, as a livable Mahalleh, people still reside in Dardasht and its main physical–spatial fabric including bazaar, mosques, and a number of houses has remained unchanged. As a part of the Isfahan’s 3rd district, Dardasht is located in the northeast of Isfahan adjacent to the Jame Mosque of Isfahan, Atigh⁴ Square, main bazaar, and two main urban landmarks (minarets) as the significant elements of the remaining historic fabric (Figure 5).

Figure 5.

Boundary of Dardasht Mahalleh in Isfahan and Its Most Significant Elements (Paymanfar, 2018).

Data Collection

Semistructured interviews, observation, and texts provided the necessary tools for data collection in this study. These interviews were conducted in three stages to achieve the theoretical saturation with 17 residents of Dardasht aged between 40 and 80 years. The interviewees were the owners of a residential home and lived at least half of their life in Dardasht. The age and gender distribution of the interviewees are shown in Figure 6. The researcher first interviewed the familiar members of Mahalleh who had been selected by the chain sampling method and then the theoretical sampling method was used. In chain sampling, research participants recruit other participants for study. The study took a semistructured interview method with open-ended questions for deeper understanding. Examples of initial questions for this study are followed: How was the Mahalleh in the past? How were alleys, houses, and neighbors in the past? What did neighbors do together? Was it something to bring people together? How was the relationship of shopkeepers with people? Was there any particular behavior that you were told to follow in the Mahalleh? Subsequently, questions were asked based on the responses provided by the participants. How did more than one family live in a house? Were these families, strangers, or relatives? What was the cause of intimacy?

Figure 6.

Participants’ Profiles (Paymanfar, 2018).

Results and Discussions

Open Coding

Data were collected from texts, observations, and interviews, conceptualized line-to-line for extraction of the initial codes by NVivo⁵ 10. Totally, 64 initial codes from interviews, 71 initial codes from texts, and 7 initial codes from observations were extracted. Since the site of Dardasht has been intervened, the number of codes obtained from observation is low. Subsequently, similar concepts are categorized into 24 subcategories that have a higher level of abstraction.

Axial Coding

At this stage, subcategories were enriched on the basis of properties and dimensions, and similar subcategories were classified into main categories (see Table 2).

Table 2.

Types of Categories and Their Properties and Dimensions in the Study (Paymanfar, 2018).

Main categories	Subcategories	Properties and dimensions	Text and interview excerpts
Collectivism	Common interests	In a level of- Form- Function- Meaning	Previously, the alley was cul-de-sac. These three households live in a sibeh. [Sibeh is an alley that is cul-de-sac and has the entrance door and a room on it]. (Female, at age 60).
	Common values	Origin of values:- Community traditions- Religious beliefs	Islam said that sulk should not be more than 3 days. In the past, people adhered to it. For example, they fought with each other over children in the morning, but were conciliated in the evening. They quickly greeted so anger was released. They did not allow sulk to last more than 3 days. (Female, at age 60)
	Attachment to group membership	The bond between the person and- Mahalleh- Neighbors	Native Mahalleh is the best place for living where a person knows about his/her neighbors. (Male, at age 40)
	Priority of group over individual	Evaluation in line with- Down to up- Up to down	Since people know each other, they take care of their behaviors. For example, my son out of the house does not talk to the neighbor’s daughter because they know each other. Although it is not necessarily the same in places where they do not know each other. (Female, at age 55)
Ecological balance	Natural growth course	In a level of- Natural- Artificial	Shopkeepers sold things on credit but it is harmful now because prices are changeable. (Male, at age 70)
Organic physical organization	Scale transformation	Applied order- From low to high	Sometimes a main Mahalleh also has several sub-Mahallehs (Pirbabaei & Sajadzadeh, 2011).
	Size	- Height- Width- Whole space- FunctionsIn reference to user.	These dark and narrow alleys have been known as the reconciliation sidewalks so that people come face-to-face and if they had been annoyed, they would have been reconciled by greeting. (Soltanzadeh, 1997)
	The main structure of Mahalleh	Types of elements of main structure:- Independent- Dependent	The basic principle that the physical organization of the old cities of Iran was based on is the spatial chain between the elements of the collection: (a) city center, (b) Mahalleh centers, (c) main passage, (d) Square, Tekiye, or Hosseinieh (places to hold Ashura ceremony) (Bagheri, 2009).
Functional organization	Resources and facilities	The radius of functions:- Outside of the Mahalleh- Inside and outside of the Mahalleh	We just had a well, and then we were the first to plumb in Dardasht. Therefore, we left the door open, and laid a pipe into the garden so that neighbors would come in and take water. (Female, at age 70)
Social identity	Representative	Indicators:- Individual- Group	This alley is named Sayedan because all of the neighbors were Sayeds (prefix in first/last name of person, showing he is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad –PBUH-). (Female, at age 54).
Social identity	Social credit of Mahalleh in the city	By evaluation of- Residents- Functions	The socioeconomic credit of each Mahalleh depends on a number and strength of the wealthy in it (Soltanzadeh, 1988). Not only did it cause the construction of buildings and public spaces, but it was also an important factor of “Mahalleh’s reputation” in the city.
Social capital	Social interactions	Interaction limits:- inside of the house- At the door of the house- Inside of the Mahalleh	At night, in the yard, men talked to men and women talked to women. There was not any party unless it was Yalda ceremony when people invited each other. (Female, at age 60)
	Trust and security	Security display in- Form- Function- Meaning	The doors of the houses were open. Since several households lived in a house, the women wore a veil and we used to go to neighbor’s house without prior notice. (Male, at age 70)
	Participation	Participation type:- Social- Organizational	Neighbors of each Mahalleh worked together and built up the necessary spaces by providing necessary laborers and costs (Soltanzadeh, 1988).
	Social networks	The degree of official:- Official- Unofficial	On Sundays we have a Qur’an class. We learn the Qur’an and have an interest-free loan. All of the women participate. (Female, at age 55)
	Institutional reciprocal action	In a level of:- Physical- Spiritual	One neighbor was a tailor so the girls of this house went there and studied her art. Another one was a hairdresser so they went to shave their faces. It was not monetary. It was compensatory. (Female, at age 60)
Parental effect	Training	Through learning:- Direct- Indirect	When a businessman went bankrupt, an old man in the bazaar gathered money and lent it to him. (Female, at age 60)
Parental effect	Social justice	In a level of:- Form- Content	The neighbors were friendly and informal. They had Korsi (the table with a quilt on it and coal fire under it. People went under the quilt at night and it was very warm). In the winter, they sat around Korsi and ate dinner. (Male, at age 65)
Changeability	Multifunctional spaces (Variance)	In . . . realms:- Private- Semipublic- Public	Dwelling in a traditional house was carried out in a “non-distinguished” area; in fact, the rooms did not have specific names and were used according to the needs of the family. Since no especial furniture existed, the efficiency and diversity of spaces increased (Haeri Mazandarani, 2009).
	Adaptation	Adapted to . . . situations:- Natural- Social- Functional	In warm and dry areas, narrow alley of Mahalleh has a vault named “Sabat.” They have defensive value; in addition, they facilitate the movement of inhabitants by creating shadows (Soltanzadeh, 1997).
	Flexibility	Way of relation between realms:- Separation- Aggregation	Sometimes several houses near the center of Mahalleh purchased and built a public space such as mosque, Hosseiniyeh, etc. (Soltanzadeh, 1988).
Familiarity	Imageability	In a level of- Form- Function- Meaning	Changing of enclosure, setting of the tight and the loose, and alleys arching in some points, caused diverse spaces in Mahalleh (Zamani & Shams, 2014).
Mahalleh as the home of the families	Reciprocal effect between home and community	Relation type:- Mutual	In traditional Iranian cities, individuals with the same interests or background would be grouped in their Mahallehs to provide more comfort, protection, and security (Bagheri, 2009).
Mahalleh as the home of the families	Spiritual provision	Needs level:- Secondary needs	All happenings in the community are reflected in the family of Zari (Daneshvar, 1969).

Paradigm

In the following account, paradigm for each main category and then paradigm of Mahalleh are explained:

Collectivism: Mahalleh, as neighbors’ birthplace and their ancestors’ dwelling, was considered a background for “attachment to group membership.” This issue, along with “common values” such as community traditions and rituals led to “common interests” that more than anything linked neighbors together. Therefore, residents of Mahalleh as part of a community saw their survival and comfort indebted to the efficiency and power of the Mahalleh, as their first “priority” (Figure 7).

Figure 7.

Paradigm of “Collectivism” in Mahalleh. “Collectivism” as a Core Category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Ecological balance: In the past, factors such as poor health, high mortality rates, and the constraints on agricultural products created conditions to increase the balance of growth in natural and artificial elements. Growth balances in natural elements such as population, balance the supply and demand and regulate the market by price stability. On the other hand, this was a mutual relation in which the market balance was effective in birth rates (Figure 8).

Figure 8.

Paradigm of “ecological balance” in Mahalleh. “Ecological balance” as a core category in relation to its other subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Organic physical organization: In physical organization, which represents layout and organization of mass and space, the “main structure of Mahalleh” is considered a context that provides conditions to organize other components. At the same time, paying attention to “module,” human scale, in the functions and design of the spaces caused the hierarchical movement network in Mahalleh from vestibule and cul-de-sac to main passage connected to bazaar, and Mahallehs including sub-Mahallehs (Figure 9). Social Identity: Based on the social identity paradigm (Figure 10), individual and functional credits have a mutual relationship. Individual characteristics of the residents, including financial and social power contribute to the functional promotion in the Mahalleh. On the other hand, the functional promotion of Mahalleh, in terms of utilities and positive image in the city increased the neighbors’ reputation. Therefore, neighbors with a sense of belonging to Mahalleh in a functionally responsive context were joined to the Mahalleh groups.

Figure 9.

Paradigm of “Organic Physical Organization” in Mahalleh. “Organic Physical Organization” as a Core category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Figure 10.

Paradigm of “Social Identity” in Mahalleh. “Social Identity” as a Core Category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Social Capital: Based on the social capital paradigm (Figure 11), the presence of “social interactions” and “trust and security” in Mahalleh provided the necessary conditions for “participation” in “individual and social tasks.” As a result of these conditions and interactions, “social networks” became stronger in Mahalleh, which in turn strengthened “social interactions” and “trust and security.” Parental effect: The “social justice” in a level of content along with “direct training” provided conditions to do “social justice” in a level of form. Neighbors, seeing justice done in speech and action, did not have any grudge against each other. Being in difficulties, they tried to solve problems and helped each other which resulted in “indirect training” (Figure 12).

Figure 11.

Paradigm of “Social Capital” in Mahalleh. “Social Capital” as a Core Category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Figure 12.

Paradigm of “Parental Effect” in Mahalleh. “Parental Effect” as a Core Category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Changeability: Adaptation to the context provides conditions for spaces to be aggregated or separated based on temporal requirements. As a result, diverse spaces were formed to respond to multiple functions (Figure 13). Mahalleh as the home of the families: The paradigm shown in (Figure 14) implies that providing physical needs is the basis for spiritual needs, and as such, a process through which the lives of the residents of Mahalleh are affected by its conditions and other neighbors and vice versa. Familiarity: Formal and functional imageability in mutual relationship contributed to the realization of Mahalleh and neighbors and, ultimately, semantic imageability took place (Figure 15).

Figure13.

Paradigm of “Changeability” in Mahalleh. “Changeability” as a Core Category in Relation to Its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Figure 14.

Paradigm of “Mahalleh as the Home of the Families” in Mahalleh. “Mahalleh as the Home of the Families” as a Core Category in Relation to its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Figure15.

Paradigm of “Familiarity.” “Familiarity” as a Core Category in Relation to its Other Subcategories (Paymanfar, 2018).

The Mahalleh is a multifaceted phenomenon affected by a number of specific conditions (Figure 16). In this paper, the causal conditions are collectivism and ecological balance. Collectivism refers to the preference for interests of the Mahalleh over those of individuals, and ecological balance allows the natural process of growth in different fields such as construction and population growth rate considered as the reasons for creating the pattern of the Mahalleh. Social identity as an intervening condition in the emergence of Mahalleh could reduce or modify causal conditions. Despite the fact that the causal conditions were provided, if the Mahalleh were not reputed in the city, it would never have been a desirable place for its inhabitants. In addition, if a hero lived in a Mahalleh, it would compensate for other deficiencies creating a social identity for neighbors. The physical and functional organization, as the contextual conditions, is a special set of conditions which are gathered at a specific time and place to create an opportunity for co-presence. Neighbors in Mahalleh have special interactions as social capital, changeability, and parental effect, the first of which is a social strategy, the second is a physical strategy, and parental effect refers to a sociophysical strategy. As a result of the actions and interactions done by individuals and groups under such conditions, the Mahalleh was formed as the home of the families.

Figure16.

Paradigm of Traditional Iranian neighborhood (Mahalleh). “Familiarity” as a Core Category in Relation to the Main Categories (Paymanfar, 2018).

Selective Coding

The core category in relation to Mahalleh is the “familiarity.” There are some criteria for choosing a core category. It must appear frequently in the data. This means that within all, or almost all, cases there are indicators that point to that concept (Strauss, 1987). Familiarity is mentioned in the interviews, examples of which are as follows:

(Social capital/Trust and security/Security display in Function: Selling things on credit by shopkeepers): A shopkeeper said: “I would sell things on credit because everyone knew each other.” (Male, at age 70)

(Collectivism/Attachment to group membership/The bond between the person and Mahalleh: Being native): “How is a good Mahalleh? Native Mahalleh is the best place for living where a person knows about his/her neighbors.” (Male, at age 40)

A core category must be sufficiently abstract so that it can be used as the overarching explanatory concept tying all the other categories together (Strauss, 1987). Here is the story of the Mahalleh with focus on the category of “familiarity”:

The Mahalleh for neighbors was a familiar and imageable environment. This familiarity was considered at three levels of physical, functional, and semantic. Physical imageability in “diversity” of spaces and accumulation of “landmarks” such as minarets and domes helped neighbors to define the border and center of Mahalleh. Functional imageability appeared in the “nodes” that played a stamping ground and “functions” that had more exterior appearance such as mosques. These functions formed more “collective memories” in the neighbors’ minds. Semantic imageability was related to the sense of the rootedness which was the result of long-term dwelling; therefore, a man knew his neighbors and found his way through the roundabout ways of the Mahalleh without being lost. In addition, familiarity in Iranian culture had a special place so that degree of inhabitants’ morality increased from city to Mahalleh and then to residential houses, and people showed acquaintances more respect. The core category is traceable in each of the other categories. In relation to collectivism, familiarity is the underlying component of the “native” code as a subset of “attachment to group membership” category, creating intimacy, unity, and solidarity among neighbors. Ecological balance that is influenced by the natural growth of elements means the predictability and imageability of the natural and artificial components. The physical organization of Mahalleh follows the predetermined order; that is, the linking of spatial chain between the elements of the collection which is referred to as semantic imageability. Social identity is closely related to the familiarity (knowing) category. Social identity is affected by individual and functional credit so that well-known and influential neighbors would promote the functions of Mahalleh and vice versa. The category of parental effect is influenced by “training” and “social justice.” “Indirect training” due to the help rendered by the rich to the poor and “social justice” in the level of content due to lack of luxuries and formalities because of the knowing neighbors, leading to the easy interaction between each other. Familiarity is shown in all codes of the social capital category at the level of activity such as interactions of residents, provision of credit by shopkeepers, participation in the ceremonies of the neighbors, ladies’ common plans at home and Taarofi—take a small dish to a neighbor. Based on the category of changeability, spaces are aggregated or separated according to the need arising each time. It requires understanding the architecture and potential of spaces in order to respond to the needs. Based on the category of Mahalleh as the home of the families, Mahalleh responds to mental and psychological needs of neighbors so that needs for protection and security are satisfied in a familiar and predictable environment and in association with familiar people.

Conclusion

This research has discussed a paradigm model for Mahalleh in the architecture and urban planning literature in Iran applying the grounded theory method. Based on the theory explained, the categories associated with Mahalleh at all levels of conditions, actions–interactions and consequences have combined social and physical factors. As such “familiarity” as a core category in the proposed model can be expressed at three levels of physical, functional, and semantic, and being influenced by specific conditions: collectivism and ecological balance as causal conditions; social identity as an intervening condition; and physical and functional organization as contextual conditions. Furthermore, the Mahalleh residents have special interactions contributing to the social capital, changeability, and parental effect; the first of which is a social strategy, the second physical strategy, and parental effect refers to sociophysical strategy. The consequence of the actions and interactions done by individuals and groups under such conditions implies that Mahalleh is to be taken into accounts as “the home of the families.”

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Sepideh Paymanfar

Notes

Author Biographies

Sepideh Paymanfar earned her PhD in urban planning at Art University of Isfahan, Iran; master’s in urban design at Art University of Isfahan, Iran; bachelor’s in architecture at Art University of Isfahan, Iran. She is a member of academic staff (assistant professor) in the architecture department at Ayatollah Boroujerdi University, Iran; her fields of interest are interdisciplinary research on the interface of architecture, urban design, and social sciences.

Bahador Zamani earned his PhD in urban design at Newcastle University, UK; bachelor’s and M. Arch in Architecture at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. He is a member of academic staff (associate professor) in urban planning department of the architecture and urban planning faculty at Art University of Isfahan, Iran, where he practiced, researched, and taught architecture and urban design.

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