Valuing the Industrial Architectural Heritage of Khorasan Razavi

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• vahid fani ¹
• mohsen vafamehr ²

¹ PhD candidate, Department of Architecture, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

² Professor, Department of Architecture, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/cauds.2025.94869.1023

Abstract

Industrial architectural heritage, as part of the historical-cultural capital of nations, reflects the process of industrialization and socio-economic developments. Although criteria, charters, and guidelines have been developed internationally for valuing this heritage, little effort has been made to adapt and evaluate these criteria in Iran’s local context. The main research question is: "How can a framework be designed for valuing the industrial architectural heritage of Khorasan Razavi based on international criteria? And how are these reflected in studied examples?" This research aims to develop an efficient framework for valuing the industrial architectural heritage of Khorasan Razavi based on international criteria; a framework designed by identifying and categorizing effective criteria and capable of being tested locally. The approach is interpretive and qualitative, using document content analysis to extract concepts. In the evaluation stage, field analysis based on a questionnaire was used. First, by analyzing scientific sources, charters, and international criteria, a set of components, indicators, and valuation criteria were extracted and integrated. Then, 14 key industrial buildings in Khorasan Razavi were selected and evaluated by experts using a questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. Results show most buildings have high economic value but are weak in social value. Findings can serve as a basis for developing assessment tools, conservation decisions, and revitalizing industrial architectural heritage regionally.

Keywords

• Heritage valuation
• industrial architecture conservation
• qualitative content analysis
• sustainable regeneration
• industrial buildings of Khorasan Razavi

©2025 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)

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