Role of bazaars as a unifying factor in traditional cities of Iran: The Isfahan bazaar

A city is a vital organism that lives and grows like other organisms. Therefore, implementing development plans that would provide a sense of unity and integration in relation to the city as a whole is necessary. Traditional Iranian architecture is full of samples evolved during the course of Iranian history that can serve as architectural paragons of the city. In Iran's traditional cities, a sense of unity exists in various urban areas. The traditional city of Isfahan is one of the most valuable samples and was selected as the case study in this research. Accordingly, the most important questions of this research are as follows: (1) What is the role of bazaars in creating a sense of unity in the traditional cities of Iran? (2) How do bazaars play out their role in the integration of these cities? This research focuses on the concept of a “traditional city” to determine the role of bazaars in such cities. The results show that bazaars are crucial in giving a sense of integrity to the concept of a traditional Iranian city. Bazaars provide cohesion among the different parts of cities, such as residential areas, as well as socio-political and trade centers. This condition means that traditional bazaars play two important roles in traditional cities: (1) they interconnect the different parts of the city's physical structure; and (2) the crucial role of bazaars in a city's social and cultural structure brings about unity among the citizens in the city. Bazaars as a unifying element connect the main urban functions and guarantee the city's economic and social life.