The Role of Water Element in Formation and Making of Sustainable Place in Safavid Isfahan City

Natural factors are one of the most important and vital elements of the city, where water and its supply and use play an important role in the formation and prosperity of the city. Due to the large surface area of Iran in hot and dry climate, the presence of water and its various effects in Isfahan was one of the factors that persuaded Shah Abbas to choose this city as the capital. Zayandehrood and its water supply networks have had a significant impact on the physical, functional and semantic structure of the city. Besides its roles in agriculture and irrigation, it has improved the environmental qualities in the city and created a sustainable place in the urban structure. What is being studied in this article is the investigation of the role of water and its manifestations in physical, functional, environmental systems and especially semantic system of the Safavid city which has led to the formation of a garden city. For this purpose, the historical books and travelogues of the Safavid period and the theoretical foundations of Isfahan Urban School were first explored in order to achieve different features and roles of water in the structure of the city and its people’s lives. Then, by a comparative study of the components of sustainable place, it was concluded that the design and application of water element in Safavid Isfahan increased some of the sustainability indices as well as enhancing the constructive qualities of urban spaces and ultimately provided a context for making the sustainable place.