Journal of Urban Environmental Management

Recreating Iranian public spaces through community gardens as a third Iranian-Islamic place

Authors

Farzad Mohammadi 1
Mahdi Mandiyeh 2

1 Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

2 Full Professor, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.48306/juem.2026.572478.1142
Abstract
Community gardens, rooted in Iranian-Islamic culture, have experienced extensive growth in recent years, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging as a widespread phenomenon in Iran's metropolises. This study aimed to recognize them as an "Iranian-Islamic third place" within the framework of urban regeneration, employing a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis based on the PRISMA 2020 protocol. A search in national and international scientific databases (2019-2025) led to the selection of 60 final studies. Qualitative analysis using MAXQDA software extracted six main themes: alignment with the characteristics of the Iranian-Islamic third place (90%) , social role in neighborhood regeneration (87%) , environmental role and climate resilience (80%) , nutritional role and local food security (73%) , contextual moderating factors (70%) , and outcomes of urban regeneration and identity revival (83%). The results indicate that by integrating Oldenburg's eight features and components of Iranian-Islamic identity, community gardens have filled the post-pandemic gap in informal interactions and contributed to reducing the urban heat island effect, strengthening food security, and the sustainable regeneration of dilapidated urban fabrics. By presenting a native framework for the "Iranian-Islamic third place," this research introduces an operational model for the integrated management of the urban environment and public spaces and suggests that these gardens be prioritized as "community-driven and resilient regeneration cores" in the planning and policymaking of urban environmental management.

Keywords

Community gardens
Iranian-Islamic third place
sustainable urban regeneration
physical-social identity
urban resilience
1.پاکزاد، ج. (۱۴۰۰). مبانی نظری و فرایند طراحی شهری. تهران: انتشارات شهیدی.
2. حبیبی، س.م. (۱۴۰۱). از شار تا شهر: تحلیلی تاریخی از مفهوم شهر و سیمای کالبدی آن. تهران: انتشارات دانشگاه تهران.
3. شاطریان، م.، و اشنویی، ا.، و گنجی‌پور، م. (۱۳۹۳). طبیعت و شهر در تعالیم و فرهنگ اسلامی. کاشان: انتشارات مرسل.
4. جعفری خالدی، هانیه و خاک زند، مهدی. (۱۴۰۳). واکاوی نقش عناصر منظر شهری بر خلق مکان سوم: مروری بر ادبیات تحقیق. مطالعات طراحی شهری ایران، ۱(۲)، ۱۴۳-۱۵۸. doi: 10.22099/iuds.2025.52175.1023
5. سعیدی مفرد، س.، و روحانی چولائی، ا. (۱۳۹۲). بازبینی نقش شهرسازی ایرانی - اسلامی در ارتقای هویت فضای شهری. دومین همایش ملی معماری و شهرسازی اسلامی، تبریز. https://civilica. om/doc/289690/
6. محمدزاده مستان آباد، س.، و قربانی‌نیا، ا. (۱۳۹۴). بررسی عوامل مؤثر بر اجتماع‌پذیری و تعاملات اجتماعی در طراحی فضاهای عمومی. دومین کنفرانس ملی توسعه پایدار در علوم جغرافیا و برنامه‌ریزی، معماری و شهرسازی، تهران. https://civilica.com/doc/423680
7. Oldenburg, R., & Brissett, D. (1982). The third place. Qualitative sociology, 5(4), 265-284. 10.1007/BF00986754
8. Mehta, V. (2014). Evaluating public space. Journal of Urban Design, 19(1), 53-88. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2013.854698
9. Tomaz, E., & Tabrizi, H. A. (2024). The evolution of non-traditional workplaces: From third places to hybrid places. In Evolution of new working spaces: Changing nature and geographies (pp. 7-20). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
10. پور جعفر، ع.، و پور جعفر، م. (۱۳۹۳). فضاهای شهری نیمه عمومی سرپوشیده سنتی ایرانی‌اسلامی در مقایسه با پاساژهای فرانسوی؛ نمونه‌های موردی: تیمچه‌های امین‌الدوله و بزرگ قم. نشریه معماری و شهرسازی آرمان‌شهر، ۱۳، ۱۶۹-۱۸۲. https://magiran.com/p1406081
11. سند ملی بازآفرینی شهری پایدار (۱۴۰۳). مصوب شورای‌عالی شهرسازی و معماری ایران.
12. محمودی سفیدکوهی، ع.، و نورانی کوتنائی، ز.، و رسولی، م. (۱۴۰۰). بررسی مشارکت شهروندان در بازآفرینی بافت‌های فرسوده شهری (موردمطالعه: مناطق شهر ساری)، اولین کنفرانس بین‌المللی معماری، شهرسازی، عمران و محیط‌زیست، وولفسبورگ آلمان. https://civilica.com/doc/1359337
13. شهرداری تهران. (۱۴۰۳). گزارش طرح جامع باغچه‌های محله‌ای شهر تهران. تهران: معاونت اجتماعی و فرهنگی شهرداری تهران. https://shahr.ir
14.       Joshi, N., & Wende, W. (2022). Physically apart but socially connected: Lessons in social resilience from community gardening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Landscape and Urban Planning, 223, 104418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104418
15.       Teoule, F. (2025). Community gardens as natural third places: a conceptual framework. Contemporary Social Science, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2025.2587880
16.       Yang, E., Bisson, C., & Sanborn, B. E. (2019). Coworking space as a third-fourth place: changing models of a hybrid space in corporate real estate. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 21(4), 324-345. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-12-2018-0051
17.       Roberts, P., Sykes, H., & Granger, R. (2017). Social and Community Issues. In Urban Regeneration (pp. 99-112). SAGE Publications Ltd.
18.    Shoghi, F., Hosseini, S. M., Heidari, S., Wang, J., Mahdavinejad, M., & Attia, S. (2025). Human Interaction with Urban Morphology under the Influence of Urban Heat Island: A Systematic Review. Journal of Daylighting, 12(2), 468-490. doi: 10.15627/jd.2025.28
19.       Firth, C., Maye, D., & Pearson, D. (2011). Developing “community” in community gardens. Local Environment, 16(6), 555-568. DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2011.586025
20.       Alaimo, K., Beavers, A. W., Crawford, C., Snyder, E. H., & Litt, J. S. (2016). Amplifying health through community gardens: A framework for advancing multicomponent, behaviorally based neighborhood interventions. Current environmental health reports, 3(3), 302-312. DOI: 10.1007/s40572-016-0105-0
21.       Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., et al. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
22.       Sandelowski, M., Barroso, J., & Voils, C. I. (2007). Using qualitative metasummary to synthesize qualitative and quantitative descriptive findings. Research in nursing & health, 30(1), 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.20176
23.       Ashinze, U. K., Edeigba, B. A., Umoh, A. A., Biu, P. W., & Daraojimba, A. I. (2024). Urban green infrastructure and its role in sustainable cities: A comprehensive review. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 21(2), 928-936. https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2024.21.2.0519
24.       Ponstingel, D. (2022). The governance of community gardens as commons and its role in the socio-ecological outcomes of gardening in Austin, Texas, USA. Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 4(4), 355-376. DOI: 10.1007/s42532-022-00133-7
25.       Raneng, J., Howes, M., & Pickering, C. M. (2023). Current and future directions in research on community gardens. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 79, 127814.                            https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127814   
26.       Madanipour, A. (2021). Whose public space? International case studies in urban design and development. In Public space reader (pp. 436-443). Routledge.
27.       Erfani, G. (2022). Reconceptualising sense of place: Towards a conceptual framework for investigating individual-community-place interrelationships. Journal of Planning Literature, 37(3), 452-466. https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122221081109
28.       Kukukaite, D., Bartorila, M. Á., & Gutiérrez-Antonio, C. (2025). Improvement of the General Resilience of Social–Ecological Systems on an Urban Scale Through the Strategic Location of Urban Community Gardens. Urban Science, 9(6), 229. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci9060229
29.       Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(1), 37-46. doi: 10.1177/001316446002000104
Journal of Urban Environmental Management
Volume 4, Issue 1 - Serial Number 13
Winter 2026
Pages 133-145

  • Receive Date 07 February 2026
  • Revise Date 25 February 2026
  • Accept Date 06 May 2026
  • First Publish Date 06 May 2026
  • Publish Date 21 March 2026

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us