Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This workshop aims to elucidate how the concept of “time” contributes to inclusiveness in cities by incorporating past-present-future of a city center and the age-gender groups of users. In collaboration with audience, the main purpose of the workshop is to investigate how the current city centers worldwide respond to various age-gender groups of users in a 24/7 time span as well as in a historical time frame. A variety of physical and mental concerns in city centers such as safety, accessibility, mobility, recreational facilities, and commercial features have been largely studied in an international context; however, “time” as a transcendent incorporating concept amid all these characteristics is yet to be investigated. To this end, this workshop invites participants to explore the different-scale city centers they are familiar with – both inhabited and visited – in three scopes. In a sequential order, this includes: 1) historic buildings in city centers and how they create chronological-social identity for different generations of citizens; 2) variety of functions and the subsequent interplay between functions and divergent age-gender groups of users in a 24/7 time span; and 3) occasions (such as festive season) and the degree of responsiveness of city centers to various age-gender groups. As the workshop is based on some of the key findings of the researcher’s current postdoctoral project, it will be started by exemplifying her different-scale case studies of Tehran and Belfast. This would thus motivate the audience to simultaneously ponder ‘scale’ and ‘time’ while discussing their selected city centers.