Explaining the process of merging villages to cities in warm and dry climate of Iran

Mohammad Mehdi Azizi ¹ (Professor, School of Urban Planning, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran)
Esfandiar Zebardast ² (Professor, School of Urban Planning, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran)
Reza Akbari ³ (Faculty Member, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Yazd, Yazd, Iran)

Submited date : 2019-08-27 accepted date : 2020-05-11

Keywords: Iran's warm and dry climate, explanation of merging process, typology of rural-urban textures, merging villages to cities,

Abstract :

In recent decades, urban exogenous development has led to unilateral but multidimensional movement in the physical, social, cultural and economic fields to the surrounding villages which forms the merger and encounter of urban-rural systems and creates pre-urbanization. In this process, the villages in pre-urban interface gradually adopt urban features and merge into it insofar are known as a part of the city. The merging villages to city in warm and dry climate regions has occurred frequently due to the proximity of villages to the city through shared traditional water networks in Iran (Qanat) and created different types of urban-rural areas in the cities. To answer this question that what steps are being taken in the process of merging villages to city, the general process of merging villages to city has formulated in this research. This process is based on the three stages including " start merging "(Creating transformation and transition areas between the city and villages), " degree of merging " (Complete, slow and incomplete transmutation) and " merging effects ". This process is elaborated in case studies include Yazd, Kerman and Kashan (selecting middle cities in warm and dry climates among a plurality of samples) and Ultimately, a special process of merging villages to city in warm and dry climate cities is produced. To convert the general process of merging into specific one in a warm and dry climate, the first step is typology of variety urban-rural areas and recognizing specific features of any one. Accordingly, in case studies analysis and evaluation, three urban- rural species including urban type (with dominant urban characteristics), urban-rural type (with both rural and urban characteristics) and rural type (with dominant rural characteristics) are achieved by using the cluster analysis and k- means method based on three factors. These factors are “physical oriented", " community oriented " and "natural oriented ". The results of the general process of merging analysis indicate that the degree of merging villages in the city (second step of the merging process) is determined Based on "rural location in the city", "type of development" and the mutual relationship between "population density", "area" and "construction density". It also shows that Environmental inequalities are formed in the first step, where Created a transition area that has directly proportional to the distance from the city and established push-pull forces based on the exchange, interaction and contrast forces between the city and villages, and in the second step, degree of merging villages in the city, fixed by battle of pull-push forces. Finally, by presenting a special process of merging villages in the cities of warm and dry climate, the level of environmental inequalities in types is presented. Study of the process of merging villages to the city is a new and effective action to achieving the root causes of inequalities and planning for them, which ultimately can provide a well-defined framework for investigation and analyzing past, existing and future rural-urban trends in the city in order to develop them more sustainable.