The city of Semnān, in the central part of the Iranian plateau, is one of the most significant examples of Iranian-Islamic cities in the medieval era. Its traditional water system, which still operates in most parts of the city represents a meaningful integration between urban structures and water infrastructures in Iranian cities. Recognizing the various aspects of this integration with the urban structure will lead us to understand the various facets of traditional water infrastructures in the Iranian urban structures, and more deeply to rethink the role of water infrastructures in the urban morphology of modern Iranian cities.
By following the relations between the water infrastructure and biophysical as well as physical and spatial structure of the city, this article tries to highlight the various aspects of the integration between water infrastructure and the urban structures of Semnan. In this paper, the role of residential quarters in shaping the urban structures and water infrastructures formed the core of the research.
By putting into question the role of the residential quarters in the urban structure as well as the water network structures, this paper tries to reread the integration between water infrastructures and urban structures through the social, cultural, juridical and economic relationships among and between the residential quarters in Semnan.