5. A ruler’s residence: In the early days of Islamic history, the rulers lived adjacent
to or near the main mosque in the center of the city, as well as possessing villas
outside the city. Gradually, it became the practice for the ruler’s residence to be
located toward the edge of the city, or even outside in a separate palatial city.
Some nomadic rulers from the steppes or deserts even preferred to live in tents on
designated plots of land. These practices meant that residents within the cities
were responsible for self-governance.
However, the term “Islamic city” has been used by twentieth century European
scholars to mainly differentiate these cities from European cities, and has a number
of problems as a morphological category. First, these cities were not exclusively
Muslim. For example, in Cordoba, many Christians and Jews lived side-by-side with
Muslims under the Umayyad dynasty. A similar situation existed in Ottoman
Istanbul and Safavid Isfahan, and today, Copts and Muslims coexist in historic
Cairo. Second, although the morphology associated with the term “Islamic cities”
is an organic city solely based on Islamic culture and laws, there were many densely
populated cities throughout history that grew organically. There are examples of
such cities dating as far back as the city of Ur (Lampl 1968) in around 3500 BCE.
Examples exist in other cultures as well, such as the enclosed cities of medieval
Europe. Third, the “Islamic city” is not reflected in the current-day manifestations of
these cities, nor in the new cities of the Islamic countries, such as Dubai or Doha.
Only the historic districts of these cities have the features of the “Islamic city.”
These organically developed, densely populated, enclosed cities are common in
the mid-latitude arid climate zone. This zone includes the periphery of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, West Asia, and Central Asia. The people who lived in this
area needed to make efficient use of limited water resources and fight the forces of
nature, which required them to build compact, densely populated, wall-enclosed
cities. They used stone or brick masonry, which allowed for the construction of
multistory residential structures, which in turn allowed for densely populated buildings. This morphology reflected the historical wisdom of the arid zone.
The irregular or organic development of the urban fabric that comprises these
cities warrants further consideration. Although the city of Ur developed organically,
there are numerous counterexamples, such as the geometrical cities in Ancient Egypt
and Ancient West Asia, as well as in the Greco-Roman colonies. Some early Islamic
military walled cities featured a square layout with perpendicular cross streets. It
may be concluded that densely populated enclosed cities with masonry-built
multistory buildings are a feature of the mid-latitude and arid zone of Afro-Eurasia.
In the next section we present a typology of history and local environments that
influence the nature of cities, and identify the six regions with different characteristics. In the following section we use the six regions to review the history of urban
population in relation to urban size and density. This is followed by a closer
examination of 18 megacities. The last section concludes.
5 Regional Diversity and Sustainability of Megacities in Global Historical. . .
69
to or near the main mosque in the center of the city, as well as possessing villas
outside the city. Gradually, it became the practice for the ruler’s residence to be
located toward the edge of the city, or even outside in a separate palatial city.
Some nomadic rulers from the steppes or deserts even preferred to live in tents on
designated plots of land. These practices meant that residents within the cities
were responsible for self-governance.
However, the term “Islamic city” has been used by twentieth century European
scholars to mainly differentiate these cities from European cities, and has a number
of problems as a morphological category. First, these cities were not exclusively
Muslim. For example, in Cordoba, many Christians and Jews lived side-by-side with
Muslims under the Umayyad dynasty. A similar situation existed in Ottoman
Istanbul and Safavid Isfahan, and today, Copts and Muslims coexist in historic
Cairo. Second, although the morphology associated with the term “Islamic cities”
is an organic city solely based on Islamic culture and laws, there were many densely
populated cities throughout history that grew organically. There are examples of
such cities dating as far back as the city of Ur (Lampl 1968) in around 3500 BCE.
Examples exist in other cultures as well, such as the enclosed cities of medieval
Europe. Third, the “Islamic city” is not reflected in the current-day manifestations of
these cities, nor in the new cities of the Islamic countries, such as Dubai or Doha.
Only the historic districts of these cities have the features of the “Islamic city.”
These organically developed, densely populated, enclosed cities are common in
the mid-latitude arid climate zone. This zone includes the periphery of the Mediterranean, the Middle East, West Asia, and Central Asia. The people who lived in this
area needed to make efficient use of limited water resources and fight the forces of
nature, which required them to build compact, densely populated, wall-enclosed
cities. They used stone or brick masonry, which allowed for the construction of
multistory residential structures, which in turn allowed for densely populated buildings. This morphology reflected the historical wisdom of the arid zone.
The irregular or organic development of the urban fabric that comprises these
cities warrants further consideration. Although the city of Ur developed organically,
there are numerous counterexamples, such as the geometrical cities in Ancient Egypt
and Ancient West Asia, as well as in the Greco-Roman colonies. Some early Islamic
military walled cities featured a square layout with perpendicular cross streets. It
may be concluded that densely populated enclosed cities with masonry-built
multistory buildings are a feature of the mid-latitude and arid zone of Afro-Eurasia.
In the next section we present a typology of history and local environments that
influence the nature of cities, and identify the six regions with different characteristics. In the following section we use the six regions to review the history of urban
population in relation to urban size and density. This is followed by a closer
examination of 18 megacities. The last section concludes.
5 Regional Diversity and Sustainability of Megacities in Global Historical. . .
69