Podcast Interview with Dr. Solmaz Yadollahi

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Solmaz Yadollahi about her work that centers around preserving cultural heritage through urban heritage planning. She discusses her understanding of how urban spaces operate discursively and can be thought of as assemblages. Along the way, she shares examples and stories from her research around heritage in Tehran and how conflicting narratives are negotiated in practice.

Solmaz Yadollahi is an Iranian conservation architect and urban heritage researcher. She earned her master's degree from the University of Tehran, and she holds a PhD in Heritage Studies from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. Her research is especially concerned with how heritage conservation policy and practice, particularly in Tehran, interact with urban development pressures. She explores issues like public space, social sustainability, and the gaps between policy and what happens on the ground. She has published on topics such as the Iranian Bazaar as a public space, cultural and policy assemblage in heritage, and how modernization influences historic public spaces.

Interviewers: Armin Firouzi & Brad Stephens, PhD Students in Planning, Governance, and Globalization

Made possible with the support of the Institute for Policy and Governance and the Community Change Collaborative.