نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
موضوعات
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
While tourism development policies with economic objectives during the Second Pahlavi era transformed the social and spatial fabric of certain Mazandaran villages into urban structures, the transformation of the village of Ālasht into a town occurred under different and exceptional circumstances—driven by political and propagandistic motives and the emergence of a particular form of political tourism. Accordingly, the present study, through a historical research method and the use of archival documents, seeks to explore and answer the following question: What impact did political tourism—based on the political and propagandistic aims of the government during the Second Pahlavi era—have on the transformation of Ālasht’s status from a village to a town?
The findings indicate that, unlike several villages in Mazandaran such as Fereydunkenar, Noshtarud, Mahmoudabad, and Motelghoo, whose rural structures were converted into urban ones as a result of economically motivated tourism development policies, the case of Ālasht was shaped by a distinct political tourism with promotional and ideological objectives. The necessity of providing infrastructural facilities for the arrival, visitation, and short stays of travelers to the birthplace of the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty stemming from the regime’s propaganda policies to present Reza Shah as the “Father of Modern Iran”—led to the formation of this unique type of political tourism in the village. Following the Second Pahlavi government’s efforts to develop political tourism in Ālasht, the village obtained certain urban features and amenities, such as public welfare and health services, roads, water, electricity, and telephone networks, as well as administrative institutions like a municipality, gendarmerie station, and a courthouse. Consequently, Ālasht was classified as an urban district in administrative divisions. Nevertheless, its structural texture remained unchanged and continued to preserve its original rural character.
کلیدواژهها English
