Urban Morphology: Belief, Function, Climate, and Sphere of Influence

A settlement is known as a city by having a high population density, a special type of construction, physical structure and texture, and a special function of organizing its zones and textures, as well as with the ability to regulate the surrounding areas. Regarding the description of how cities are formed, four topics: "belief, function, climate, and sphere of influence" are prominent and foundational.

The City and the Discourse of theoretical knowledge

Aside from the specific and practical indicators that are given for the city based on the size and density of the population and political-administrative actions, and thus separate it from the village, as evidenced by many writings and sayings in the field of urbanism and knowledge related to it from various aspects, still a Discourse of knowledge in the framework of theoretical dimensions and criteria for the city is not found. Each of the thinkers defines the city based on highlighting one or more indicators or urban functions.

The political-administrative position and government institutions are the most basic identification indicators of an urban center from the point of view of "Ahmed Moghdisi". The emergence of surplus agricultural production and the need to sell it in the market, followed by the establishment of a more comfortable life, from Ibn Khaldun’s point of view, becomes the basis for the formation and development of the city. "Max Weber" highlights three indicators of the permanent market, self-governance, and dominance of commercial links in the emergence of urban centers. A residential center can be called a city when first, it can give order to an area and second, it can create a continuous zone of functions in an area. "Ames Rappaport" introduces the organization index as the most basic feature of a city.

Consumer, production, merchant cities

The discourse of the city, whatever it is, the big challenge in the first step is how cities are formed and in the next step, the mechanism of their physical-structural transformation over time. "Theory of historiography" in urban studies knows the emergence of surplus agricultural products in an area, the trading of those products in a trading center (market) which is mostly at intersections and commuting routes, and the expansion of transportation as prominent indicators of the emergence of cities. Following this, the transformation of constructions and the physical expansion of urban tissues to the outside, over time, based on the view of "the social ecology of the city" and in the framework of Chicago's view and based on the "Ernest Burgess" in the form of circles with one center with the gravity of the commercial area (bazaar), the city expands with the establishment of different housing zones for different social classes. "Max Weber" considers the emergence of cities from the combination of two elements, one "fortress" and the other "market". Although he considers the origin of the first cities to be in the emergence of the market and then with the constant connection of commerce between the city and agriculture, by insisting on the self-governance of the city administration. He highlights the political-administrative position of the city and considers the creation of a "military fortress" to continue that position and as an indicator to protect the autonomy of the political-social-economic life of urbanization. Based on his point of view, cities will continue their lives throughout history by following the path of transformations in the form of consumer or producer, or merchant cities.

From organic growth to modernization in the city

The same point of view was used by "Abedin Dorkoosh" and based on this, the emergence of cities took place following the military-administrative position in them, with towers and ramparts and gathering centers for economic functions, especially commerce. Over time, these elements have been considered the roots of human cultures and civilizations. "Hoffer" considers the emergence of the city as a result of the combination of six types of structures and positions: economic structure (trade), social structure (social stratification of people), physical structure (buildings and roads), legal position (self-governance), geographical position (powers of the surrounding area) and political life (administrative-political-military centralization). The emergence and growth of the city occur when all the above indicators occur together. If there are only two or three indicators in the city, the city will remain small and may appear as a village. From the aspect of physical-structural change, the process of transformation of urban centers in a comprehensive way from organic growth with dense textures and winding roads to cities that today are given the title of being modern and whose background is rooted in the European Renaissance period. Modern cities reflect features such as industrialization, standardization of life, sustainability, and insistence on the economy in three modernist experiences in urban development: 1- Construction of straight and long streets for easy access and commuting, 2- Making a checkerboard network as the root and basis of the emergence of new home-building textures, 3- Creation of various urban zones for riding or walking by insisting on leaving memorial elements such as statues, fountains, memorial columns, etc. to create symbols with aesthetic effects on viewers and citizens.

Sources: The Persian translation of the sources has been used.

 - ابن خلدون. 1352. مقدمه. ترجمه محمد پروین گنابادی. بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب. تهران.

- راپاپورت، امس. 1366. منشا فرهنگی مجتمع های زیستی. ترجمه راضیه رضازاده. جهاد دانشگاهی علم و صنعت. تهران.

- عابدین درکوش، سعید. 1364. درآمدی بر اقتصاد شهری. مرکز نشر دانشگاهی. تهران.

- مقدسی، ابو عبدالله محمد بن احمد. 1361. احسن التقاسیم فی معرفته الاقالیم. ترجمه علی نقی منزوی. شرکت مولفان و مترجمان. تهران.

- وبر، ماکس. 1369. شهر در گذر زمان. ترجمه شیوا (منصوره) کاویانی. شرکت سهامی انتشارات. تهران.