Towards cultural sustainability: The potency of 'The Thousand and One Nights' in reviving the imageability of Baghdad city

Abstract

Folktales are increasingly recognized as potent enablers in evoking the 'genius loci' of cities and sustaining their cultural identity. 'The Thousand and One Nights' represents the most remarkable and memorable cross-cultural folktales, related to the Middle Eastern region in general, and the city of Baghdad in particular. Very limited research has been conducted on its impact on architecture and urban development. The current article aims to develop a conceptual framework for the notion of 'imageability', by which to explore the spatial characteristics and the physical and spiritual attributes of the depicted architecture and urban spaces of selected tales. Based on a conducted narrative-analysis approach, the article introduces an innovative theoretical-driven method to folktale interpretation and visualization. This method provides a new perspective in highlighting the perceptual and cognitive implications of the tales in defining the structure, identity and meaning of the urban context, thereby accentuating their potential role as ever-lasting resources that can revive the imageability of Baghdad city, maintain its essence, and sustain its cultural identity.

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