(Re)Introducing water to public spaces: The blue-green network of Lahijan, Iran

Water is and has always been the vital element of life. The history of urbanization is tied to the sources of water and it contributes to the higher quality of a space in many different ways. While water and waterscapes have been considered a great asset to the cities for centuries, the growing problem of pollution of water resources and its risk to public health made the waterscape unpleasant to people, and resulted in elimination, and later disappearance of water from urban spaces. Moreover, the modernist urban planning and design of the cities contributed to less use and weakened presence of water as a visual pleasure and aesthetic quality in urban spaces. The emergence of urban water system, albeit solving a series of problems and facilitating access to clean water, was yet another reason to domesticize water and to decrease aesthetic, social and cultural significance of waterscapes in the cities. Lahijan, a small city in northern Iran is used as an example to study the multi-dimensional role of water in life of the city of the past. The paper argues how the traditional techniques can act as guiding lines to (re)define the role of water in functional structure of the city, and to (re)introduce waterscape to its public spaces. Through studying the history of Lahijan pond and its role in urban water system, the paper seeks to introduce smart techniques based on traditions to contribute to creating of generative places, and improving the wellbeing of the community and aesthetic qualities of the city.