Zoroastrianism in Yazd from the Perspective of The Right to the (Creative) City

Zoroastrianism, the main religious tradition of Persia until the Arab conquest of Persian Empire, embodies a wide range of cultural heritage, from religious settings and sacred sites as tangible, to unique rituals and traditional festivities as intangible ones. Zoroastrianism in Yazd, to a large extent, constitutes the exceptional identity of the city and enriches its cultural diversity. When considering the role of associated heritage community in preservation, transmission, and promotion of the cultural legacies, the vital role of Zoroastrian community of Yazd is justified. While the mainstream of this research is related to cultural heritage, this examines The Right of Zoroastrians to Their City (Yazd), so that to find out the capabilities of the context to provide the required ground for inclusiveness of the associated heritage community, enhancement of cultural diversity, and ultimately for Yazd to function creatively. Throughout this research it is understood that Zoroastrianism potentially contributes to foster creativity indices in Yazd, while there are some gaps identified that systematically marginalize the community and prevent their active engagement for participating in social and cultural production of the space. Moreover, by addressing the role of regulatory systems to monitor and protect cultural heritage of Zoroastrians in Yazd, it is understood that focus of regulations and considerations barely speak out intangible dimensions with major concentration on preserving architectural heritage of the site, that avouch the passive contribution of Zoroastrian cultural heritage to creativity of the city. Keywords: Zoroastrianism, Yazd, Right to City, Creative City, Cultural Heritage