Historical Analysis of the Role of Bazaar on the Formation of Iranian Islamic Urban Forms; Case Study: Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Iranian Islamic city is a physical entity that represents social, cultural and political mechanisms in the Iranian territory where forms, elements, and rules governing the interaction of the inhabitants and the environment are based on the Islamic worldview. Physical, functional, and spatial centers constitute the main form of the city. Also, Bazaar is one of the main elements of traditional Islamic-Iranian cities which has been originally developed for the fulfilment of commercial and manufacturing functions. The present study attempts to analyze these important factors in the formation process of Bazaar structure, as an important factor shaping the ancient Islamic Iranian cities, and to investigate the relationship of these changes with the changes of the urban community. In order to investigate the role of Bazaar in the integrity of the physical form and the main structure of historic cities of Iran in the present study, a combination of descriptive, historical, and comparative research method was used through reviewing texts, sources and visual documents, and the analysis of the evolution of urban Bazaars in shaping the form of ancient Islamic Iranian cities. The results of this research indicate that the physical form, performance, activity dimension, and accessibility features of Bazaar in all historical periods from the beginning of the formation of the primary basis of Shiraz as an Iranian Islamic city have been impressive in the effectiveness of the role of Bazaar in the formation of this city, except for the contemporary period (from Pahlavi Era up to now). This has led to the reduced importance of Bazaar in the formation of Shiraz city with the transformation of its social and physical structures and the arrival of modern elements and, thereby, Bazaar has lost its past position.