The Effect of the Existence and Expansion of a Cemetery on Its Adjacent Neighborhoods (Case study: of Imamzadeh Soltan Ebrahim Cemetery of Quchan City)

 and Statement of the problem: Having a space for keeping humans’ soul-less bodies in towns creates spaces called cemeteries that was respected in the past and existed in the main structure of the city because the connection between the world of the living and the dead was much greater. Today, because of fear of death and lack of connection between cities and cemeteries, these spaces are known as rejected spaces. The importance of the cemeteries space is to the extent that some scholars consider the beginning of sedentismto bury the dead and build the cemeteries in a specific place. Cemeteries as the ultimate home of human beings are among the urban spaces where citizens find themselves at the intersection of life and death. The design of these places should strive to create a suitable environment that will heal citizens and provide them with reflective space in addition to  bury the dead. However, much of the studies in this area have focused on issues such as the location of cemeteries and their cultural and historical landscapes and less on the impact of cemeteries on the surrounding context. Population growth, in turn, increases mortality rates. Therefore, more tombs and cemeteries are needed as municipal services. This is possible in a variety of ways, such as extending the old cemeteries, creating new cemeteries, making graves multi-level and increasing their number. Goals: One of the ways to meet the need for graves is the expansion of the old cemeteries and the direct and indirect impact of cemeteries on the whole city or its neighboring neighborhoods, in the short and long term, must be investigated. The present research seeks to investigate the effects of cemeteries on their adjacent texture in terms of various physical, social, economic, environmental, landscape, etc. dimensions.

The current research is applied in terms of type and the method used is qualitative, Delphi technique in two rounds was used to compute the indices. At first, using Delphi method (10 experts), the important indicators in assessing the effects of cemeteries on adjacent tissue were examined, then 21 in-depth random interviews with residents and business districts (including 52% men, 48% women and 43% between 39- 20, 38% between 59-40 and 19% over 60 years( were done.

Imamzadeh Soltan Ebrahim cemetery near Quchan City was selected as the case study. The research findings show that the existence or expansion of the cemetery affects different dimensions of the adjacent neighborhoods. The effects of the cemeteries are mainly manifested as traffic and access problems; psychological problems; fear and insecurity, especially among women; as well as environmental problems such as unpleasant smell, noise caused by traffic, and visual uniformity. The residents’ views also affect these issues: if they live in this space from childhood, they will not leave the site and land prices will not change much; but if people find this environment as an isolated place, they will try to leave the environment and the area will be vacant. Therefore, urban planners should pay attention to the appropriate distance of the cemeteries from the residential buildings to reduce the neighboring residents’ problems. Some services may also be modified due to the residents’ needs, or new services may be created. The spread of cemeteries may affect the performance and efficiency of some land uses, for example, sales and income will fluctuate. Therefore, the performance of under-effect land uses, especially their economic performance, should be examined to minimize the damage to the surrounding businessmen. Meanwhile, the radius of access to important uses should be re-calculated in order to better answer the neighborhood residents’ needs. Creating a calm atmosphere and reducing the sense of fear and insecurity by creating a safe environment also may modify the residents’ attitudes towards the afterlife (The Cemeteries next to the Imamzadeh give more comfort to the surrounding residents and visitors because of the religious beliefs of the people, and because of the historical nature of the imamzadehs, historical building issues should also be considered.) It sould decrease the mental turmoil of the visitors by creating interesting scenery and visual variety. The cemetery planning must prevent environmental problems by keeping proper distance and prevent contamination of water, soil, etc. The placement and extension of cemeteries should also be such that the dominant wind from its side should not be toward the particularly residential regions. In addition, the deployment of protective green space is another consideration that should be taken into account when planning Cemeteries. By providing a scenic environment, planners should also try to connect this environment with the surrounding texture and create a more interactive space, as they did in the past.