Compact City As A Sustainable Urban Form Case Of Yazd City Iran

Abstract

Urban sprawl has become a noteworthy characteristic of urban development worldwide inthe last decades. Recently the "compact city" model has come to agenda as an antithesis for urban sprawlin order to reduce the economic, environmental and social disadvantages of urban sprawl. Although theconcept of compact city seems as a new issue in field of city planning, scrutinizing historical fabric ofsome cities reveals critical clues about the roots of this concept. Yazd city located in central part of Iranwith a rich historical and cultural background and an idiosyncratic architecture and city fabric is a significant example of compact city. The city has always been known for its unique compact urban fabric and adaptability of its architecture and city planning to the region`s hot and arid climate. The city, however, has gradually misplaced its consistency in its physical and social context because of the rapid population growth and uncontrolled urbanization which has led to urban sprawl and loss of compact urban form within several decades. The resulting urban sprawl has caused various problems that are still unsolved. This study aims to analyze the characteristic of the city`s historical fabric to extract successful urban design principles adopted based on deep knowledge about the climatic and natural features of theregion. The findings of this research reveal how traditional urban patterns can inspire planners to makecities more sustainable