Iranian Cities Formation and Development by Masoud Kheirabadi, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000, 89 pp.)

Abstract

During the lase three decades, there has been a growing interest among cholars
of Iranian studies in examining the process of urbanization in Iran in it historical
context as well as in light of contemporary developments. Usually, such
works deal primarily with rhe history of major Iranian cities and their significance
from the point of view of culture, religion, and politics, and in the broader
context, of the model oflslamic City. Some scholars also have studied architectural,
geographic, sociological, and economic aspects of certain cities in
Iran. While most early work deal only with one particular Iranian city or another,
in light of its role and function, or in response to the needs and requirements
of Islam, this book attempts to rectify this deficiency by demonstrating that the
fonnation and development of cities in Iran, as elsewhere, were the result of
interactions between numerous interrelated physical, geographic, economic,
historical, and cultural factors.
Traditional Iranian City structure was a response to many factors, such as
topography, climate, geography, religion, cultun:, defense, and political needs.
Taking all these into consideration, Kheirabadi studies the processes of the formation
and development of Iranian cities in relation to three sets of factors: the
physical; the commercial and economic; and the religious and sociopolitical.
Thus, the five factors are each given a chapter. The book is arranged in accordance
with the priority and importance of factors that contributed to the emergence
of Iranian cities. Numerous plates, pictures, aerial photos, and three useful
appendices on Iran's irrigation system, structural elements of the bazaar and
the mosque are also attached.
Kheirabadi examines the spatial patterns and physical morphology of the
Iranian cities, and analyzes the process of their development throughout Iran's
history. Factors that played important roles in the emergence and development
of Iranian urban centers ranged from physical environment of the Iranian
plateau to trade, historical events, and the religious, social, and political structure
of the country. The overall objective of the book, however, is to demonstrate
the forms of the city as they relate to both the Iranian-Islamic structure
and culture and the physical environment of the country ...