Comparative Analysis of Ab-Anbar Role in Spatial Structure of Iranian Historical Cities (Case of Study: Yazd and Lar cities)

The cities with warm & dry climate in Iran، has always been accompanied by condensed physical texture and main elements such as mosques، markets، plazas and water reservoirs. The water reservoir is the element that it has been usually seen in cities with warm & dry or humid climates. Many of the researchers have studied only the details and appearance of water reservoirs and have not surveyed the role of this element in spatial structure of historical cities. The aim of this study is to survey the role of water reservoirs in spatial structure of historical cities in Iran. As regards the wide ranges of these similar cities are in Iran، this study specifically focused on two cities of Yazd and Lar. The methodology of this study is comparative analysis based on Library resources and field observations. Research findings show that although water reservoirs have a physical presence in urban spaces of Yazd and Lar city، but the impact of this element is more in spatial structure of Lar city. Locating in central zone of every neighborhood، water reservoirs have formed a radial network and stellar structure of roads and accessibilities. Also the orientation of residential units has changed according to the central location of water reservoir in every neighborhood. While water reservoirs in the city of Yazd do not have much impact in shaping the basic structure and in addition، the space around the water reservoirs do not associated with other public spaces.