Exploring Cultural Landscape Values in Riverfront Development: An Examination of the Shatt Al-Arab Riverfront in Basra, Iraq

Abstract

Cultural landscapes embody historical significance, illustrating the interplay between humankind and nature over time. These landscapes epitomize the social and cultural history of regions, vividly portraying societal characteristics, events, and activities. They express the fundamental values intrinsic to these societies, encapsulating human development, and forging a connection between populations and their historical past. Cultural landscapes enhance the local cultural character, fostering human interaction on physical, sensory, and symbolic levels. They mirror lifestyle philosophies and the ideologies behind place creation, providing a consistent representation of events and locations throughout history. A knowledge gap has been identified concerning the definition of cultural landscapes and their values that could potentially foster the development of riverfronts. This paper endeavors to bridge this gap by investigating the values of cultural landscapes across various categories and their correlation with riverfront development. The research adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology, with an extensive review of previous literature to construct a theoretical framework. The study relies on the vocabulary derived from this framework to explore the realization of these values through an examination of a section of the Shatt al-Arab riverfront in Basra city, Iraq. The research verifies the efficacy of cultural landscape value indicators in riverfront development. These include spatial values represented by context, location, and historical influence, tangible and intangible heritage values, functional values pertaining to spiritual and recreational functions, social values embodied in social integration and community participation, and aesthetic values associated with place memories, elements of natural and manufactured landscapes. Cultural values are manifested in landmarks, buildings, and cultural spaces. Cultural landscape values have been found to contribute to sustainable development, steering and revitalizing numerous cultural activities and events. This has fostered enhanced vitality, deepened the sense of identity and place values, rendered the city globally competitive, and augmented its cultural value.