Comparison of children - neighborhood relations in traditional and modern neighborhoods; study of sagharisazan and golsar neighborhood in rasht city, iran

existence of a positive relation with one’s neighborhood can lead to higher levels of psycho-logical and physical health. Therefore, many researchers have been trying to suggest various solutions to revive this social unit in urban life. Achieving to this goal is dependent to attaining a deep knowledge about the process of person-neighborhood relations among different social groups. Due to the importance of neighborhoods in shaping place identity among children and fostering local identity among next generations, this paper is devoted to study and com-parison of children- neighborhood relations in both traditional neighborhood of Sagharisazan and modern neighborhood of Golsar. Results of this kind of comparison can lead to proper solutions for enhancing Islamic identity in Iranian neighborhoods. This research is qualitative one; Resident Employed Photography is applied to explore chil-dren- neighborhood relations in Golsar neighborhood. Children were described to take pic-tures from those places, individuals, and things in their neighborhood environment that trigger them to like their neighborhood. After taking pictures, they have provided descriptions about the reasons for capturing each photo in an individual in-depth interview. They also mentioned to different aspect of their living in neighborhood during the interview. In case of Sagharisazan neighborhood, mapping narrative method is applied to help partici -pants in the age range of 50 to 70 years to recall their memories and living experiences inthe neighborhood from almost more than a half- century ago.Results show that residence of yesterday’s children in Sagharisazan traditional neighborhood had been a completely social affair. They were engaged with the social and physical environment of their neighborhood from early childhood stage. This engagement ultimately leads to deep attachment to and identification with the neighborhood. But, children of contemporary neigh-borhood of Golsar are encountered to different pressures and limits for being present at their neighborhood. These restrictions can lead to crucial damages to their social and mental growth.