A Typological Exploration of the Pathways in the Historic Urban Fabric of the Iranian Cities, Case Study of the Historic Urban Fabric of Shirāz (Irān)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor of urban design at the School of Art and Architecture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

2 MA Urban Design, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran. Iran

Abstract

Background: Historical pathways have been a network of the interconnected routes that shaped the form, scale and the spatial distinctiveness of the public domain in the historic cities. The diversity of the form and physical characteristics of the pathways could lead to the development of a typological approach in which various criteria like how to form and the design, the shape, the lateral surfaces, the material and fabric of the surfaces, the indicative elements and the spatial proportions are taken into consideration.
Objectives: The objective of this article is to review the characteristics and metrics of the historical pathways in Shiraz for the purpose of their analytical typology.
Method: This article deals with the typological exploration ofthe historic urban fabric of Shirāz. So, a sample of twenty pathways which were of the most important ones of the urban fabrics with an appropriate dispersion has been analyzed. Using the analytical criteria derived from the previous studies and the field survey, the physical characteristics of each pathway have been recognized, analyzed and listed.
Result: In the Iranian historic cities, the pathways give rise to a distinct image for its different parts. Accordingly, the variety of form and content, while sharing the same characteristics that can be conceived in each city for historic pathways, creates a distinct image for any of the city’s quarters; the unique features which characterize the historic and cultural realms of cities. Understanding of these place values and their re-evaluation of historical environments can serve as a mechanism for refining historical spaces and using them as redesign patterns.
Conclusion: The results showed that despite the common basis of all the pathways as the components which form an interconnected network throughout the historic city, the characteristics of each pathway stemmed from the cultural context, location, function and its specified role leads to a diverse range of pathways, observing the design considerations which make the spatial diversity and continuity tangible. This diversity perfectly demonstrates the vast capacity of the historic urban fabric to create a multiplex integrity of the distinguished linear elements, the pathways, as a dynamic urban network.

Highlights

In Iran's historic cities, pathways have identified the territories of urban life and culture.

They define the interconnected structure of neighborhoods, stabilizing the boundary between homogeneous clusters, and restricting access scale, recognizing different parts of a city, and creating a distinct image for each.

These parts have been to such an extent that the name, form, length, and width of each pathway, and the variety of physical and functional features, have itself been a factor in the recognition of each part of the historic city.

Keywords

References

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Urban Planning Knowledge
Volume 3, Issue 3 - Serial Number 8
December 2019
Pages 83-108

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History

  • Receive Date: 07 March 2019
  • Revise Date: 14 November 2019
  • Accept Date: 19 November 2019

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