Investigation of developments and changes in Mashhad Spatial Organization

AbstractA city is a socializing process that creates civilization, so mere physical formation and development cannot lead to the development of a town. Cities are a collection of interconnected organs formed by an identity community. The city is a cohesive and relative whole; each part plays an important role. Every sector plays its part in achieving a unique goal. In systematic analysis, the city consists of the elements that make up its spatial organization. In Iran's traditional cities, for example, bazaars have formed a longitudinal structure along the direction of the town. In contrast, religious centers such as shrines and mosques have included circular designs in the middle of cities.As one of Iran's historical cities, Mashhad emerged in the 3rd century AH on the outskirts of the Toos and Tabaran villages. The development and expansion of Mashhad throughout history have always been affected by the town's religious center (the holy shrine of Imam Reza ). During the city's development, the sacred shrine of Imam Reza played a decisive role in how the city's spatial organization was formed and changed. Since Mashhad's formation, urban development has always originated in the central zone. Consequently, a cohesive and homogeneous relationship with the surrounding environment has been a characteristic of holy shrines during the urban development. The city constituents always served this place, such as neighborhoods and access roads. Since the Safavid era, the continuous organic relationship between the center and other Mashhad Urban Spatial Organization components has been broken due to fundamental changes in urban development plans and governmental interventions, which this study try to clarify.This study seeks to conduct a historical-analytical investigation of how Mashhad's broad foundation formed, changed, and contributed to the destruction of Mashhad's urban identity community within the region's constituent parts, including its center, structure, neighborhoods, and urban realm.