Ancient City Structure and Its Transformation in Islamic Period

The four interrelated chapters of part I deal with the influence of historical factors on the historic town structure, considering socioeconomic and cultural aspects. This chapter discusses the ancient city structure and its transformation in Islamic period. It identifies that origin of urban forms is not confined to one culture. This leads to some comparative studies in all chapters. Altogether, because of the shortage of information, result of wars, invasions, and natural disasters, scholars usually are reluctant to give a clear image of ancient city form. Information clarifies that although we have a limited knowledge about the physical aspects of ancient city form as a whole, we understand the role of power and centrality in shaping urban form.