Urban Form and Social Context: from Traditions to Newest Demands. 2018 693 URBAN LANDSCAPE HISTORY AND SOCIO-CULTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS UDC 711 Ali Reza Arsiya 1 , Mehrdad Mazloomi 21 1 Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Iran, Tehran 2 Islamic Azad University Qazvin Branch, Iran, Qazvin e-mail: alireza.arsiya@yahoo.com, mehrdad.mazloomi@gmail.com AN INVESTIGATION ON THE INFLUENCE OF RIVER ON MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HISTORICAL CITY Abstract: The nature has a profound impact on urban form of historical cities. This study investigates the influence of river running through the historical part of Rasht city in Iran. As the main objective, we attempt to find the relationships between the morphological parameters of the fabric next by the river. Integrated with a quantified statistic, a sampling approach for both sides of the river is carried out. The results show that certain attributes rule the morphological aspects of sampled blocks where paths are ruling wizards between them. Orienting North- South paths, blocks are linear with small size grain. In East-West orientation, one can find a homogenous distribution of urban grain in blocks. In addition, it is revealed that geometry of parcels correlates with urban blocks and nearby path. Keywords: urban morphology, river, block, path. Introduction Urban morphological studies usually describe the history of a city and how it has grown to a city (Srinurak,2017: 3), and systematically reflect urban phenomena, with the aim of describing the evolution of a city over time (Marzot, 2016: 62). Therefore, the morphological studies about an area has changed into a large multi- disciplinary subject, in which, in addition to geography, economy, urban planning, statistics and sociology, many other subjects are involved (Caglioni, 2005: 33). A true insight into morphology helps urban planners to be aware of changes and developments in local patterns and processes (Behzadfar, 2012: 842). Urban morphological data includes various descriptions, for example, the data of roads, construction location, the data about elevation, materials, water, etc. (Sievinen, 2011: 2). In urban studies, the urban morphology is a classic study of urban forms and their formation process and basis over time (Moosavi, 2017: 1). Urban morphology is an approach to the study and design of urban form systems which include physical dimensions and urban structures such as plots, blocks, streets, buildings, and open spaces which are a part of the historical evolution of cities (Sanders, 2008: 3). The basic principles of urban morphology entail an insight into development of urban landscapes in the long run and awareness about the unique cultural, socio- economic and political influences in some specific periods that let urban landscapes be recognized as an outline of the achievements and investments in successive generations (Larkham, 2006: 123). Today, urban developments are mostly in line with modernism and with disregard to historical fabrics which consequently leads to split between the new and old fabrics. The old fabric is developed by understanding the environmental conditions (such as rivers), and this leads to a fabric which has preserved its identity and appearance based on the regional climate and culture that inspire the sense of belonging and vitality. However, the influence of modern urbanization has led to the fact that in most cities regardless of local conditions, there is a uniform architecture devoid of identity. Therefore, we should look for a process that would help identify the urban fabric and morphologically identify its dimensions and seek to solve its physical problems. Understanding this pattern helps to make a future development model for a city based on approaches and © Ali Reza Arsiya, Mehrdad Mazloomi, 2019