Islamic City Planning

ISLAMISLAM IS A MONOTHEISTIC AND ABRAHAMIC RELIGION ARTICULATED BY THE HOLY QURAN AND THE TEACHINGS AND SAYINGS OF PROPHET MOHAMMAD(PBUH) THE LAST PROPHET OF ISLAM.

ISLAM IS NOT A NEW RELIGION BUT THE SAME TRUTH THAT GOD REVEALED THROUGH ALL HIS PROPHETS TO EVERY PEOPLE.

FOR THE FIFTTH OF WORLDS POPULATION ISLAM IS BOTH A RELIGION AND A WAY OF LIFE.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH ,MOST GRACIOUS MOST MERCIFUL

ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT ISLAMIC URBAN BYELAWS: These principles and guidelines are used by the Islamic planners

while planning cities and are also used to resolve the conflicts between people relating to construction and land ownership and usage. 

Harm: the spirit is that on should exercise one’s full rights on whatever is duly his, provided that his action will not do any harm to others.

Privacy: literally it refers to personal clothing and private area of the house. It also refers to the privacy of communication. The privacy of others must be respected and its invasion is prohibited, e.g. via direct visual corridors into private domain of others.

Rights of usage: this principle is used in resolving conflicts related to ownership and rights of party walls, location of windows, doors, etc

Width of streets: a public street should have a minimum width of 7 cubits(3.23m – 3.50m). The basis of this width is to allow to fully loaded camels to pass. It is preferred that the height be also 7 cubits (3.23m – 3.50m) as this corresponds to the maximum vertical height of the camel with highest load

 Any public street should not be obstructed by temporary or permanent obstructions.

Water should not be barred from others: people must share water, and the owner must give to others any surplus water he has for drinking or irrigation. This principle resulted in public water fountains in the streets of Islamic cities.

The right of usage of exterior setbacks belong to the owner of the house or building which abuts it.

 Sources of unpleasant smell, and uses that generate noise should not be located adjacent to or near masjids: this principle influenced the layout of the souq (market) which was built typically adjacent to the major city mosque.

ISLAMIC VALUES AND SOCIETAL GUIDELINES:   Encouragement to keep things clean, including the interior and

exterior setback: this principle was self regulation by inspiring guilt and shame in the person who did not practice it, particularly with regards to the exterior setbacks.

Encouragement to feel responsible and sense of public awareness: such as removing obstacles in public right of ways.

Beauty without arrogance.  Trust, respect and peace among neighbors.  Defects should be announced and not hidden when selling

properties.

1. NATURAL LAWS: The first principle that defined much of the character of the Muslim city is the adaptation of the built form and plan of the city to natural circumstances expressed through weather conditions and topography. These were expressed in the adoption of concepts such as courtyard, terrace, narrow covered streets and gar dens. Such elements were designed for coping with hot weather conditions dominating the Muslim environment.

2. RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL BELIEFS:

The religious beliefs and practices formed the centre of cultural life for these populations, thus giving the mosque the central position in spatial and institutional hierarchies. The cultural beliefs separating public and private lives regulated the spatial order between uses and areas. Thus, the town plan consisted of narrow streets and cul-de-sacs separating private and public domains, while the land use emphasized the separation of male and female users. Consequently, economic activity that involved exchange and public presence was separated from residential (private dwellings) use and concentrated in public areas and in the main streets.

3. VASTU-SHASTRA : The street plan seems to have followed vastu shastra text which contains directions for constructing buildings and for laying out and dividing settlements of different kinds.

D E S I G N P R I N C I P L E S O F T H E M U S L I M C I T Y

4. DESIGN PRINCIPLES STEMMED FROM SHARIA LAW:

The Muslim city also reflected the rules of Sharia (Islamic Law) in terms of physical and social relations between public and private realms, and between neighbours and social groups. The privacy principle was made into a law which sets the height of the wall above the height of a camel rider. This as well as the laws of the property rights, for example, were all factors determining the form of the Muslim city .

5. SOCIAL PRINCIPLES:

The social organisation of the urban society was based on social groupings sharing the same blood, ethnic origin and cultural perspectives. Development was therefore directed towards meeting these social needs especially in terms of kinship solidarity, defence, social order and religious practices (figure). Such groups included; Arabs, Moors, Jews and other groups such as Andalusians, Turkish, and Berbers as in cities of the Maghreb. These were reflected in the concept of quarters known as Ahiaa (in the Mashraq) or Huma (in the Maghreb) .

BASIC LAYOUT OF ISLAMIC CITIES

1.THE MAIN MOSQUE: It occupied the heart of the town and was usually surrounded by the Suq (market). Attached to it there was the Madrassa providing religious and scientific teaching.

2. SUQS: Located outside the main mosque provided the economic activity in the

town. Goods sold were usually spatially distributed corresponding to their

nature. The central area was also the gathering of other public activities such

as social services, administration, trade, arts and crafts and baths (Hammam) and hotels (Funduq and Waqala).

3. CITADEL:

Also known as Casbah, representing the palace of the governor, the citadel was surrounded by its own walls and constituted a district on its own with its own mosque, guards, offices, and residence.

4. RESIDENTIAL QUARTERS:

They were described by Eikelman ( 1981) as clusters of households of particular quality of life based on closeness (Qaraba) which is manifested in personal ties, common interests and shared moral unity.

They were usually dense and each quarter had its own mosque used only for daily prayers, Quranic school (Madrassa), bakery, shops and other first necessity objects.

They even had their own gates which were usually closed at night after last prayers and opened early morning at early prayers time such was the case of Algiers and Tunis .

Figure . Old city of Dubai (the Bastaa) Source: UNESCO (1981, p.27)

STREET NETWORK: Connecting between these quarters and to the central place was a

network of narrow winding streets consisting of public and private and semi-private streets and cul de sacs. WALL: A well-defended wall surrounded the town with a number of gates. EXTERIOR: there were the cemeteries (Muslim and Jews cemeteries), a weekly market just outside the main gate where most animal suqs were held in addition to private gardens and fields.

SHAHJAHANABAD

•The city was planned according to Hindu planning principles of Shilpashastra from Vaastushastra• The site was placed on a high land as in the Shastras and was Karmukha or bow shaped, for this ensured its prosperity. •The arm of the archer was Chandni Chowk •The string was Yamuna.•The junction of the two main axes is the most auspicious point in the whole region and was therefore the Red Fort.

PLANNING OF SHAHJAHANABAD

The designed infrastructure of Shahjahanabad comprised: • The fort,• The Friday mosque, • The other major mosques.• The bazaars around the Friday mosque• The elaborate system of water channels

SHAHJAHANABAD PLANNING

REDFORT

CHANDNICHOWK

JAMA MASJID

The city originated, when The fort at Agra faced the agonizing heat, coupled with insufficient accommodation and space for Shahjahan’s lavish lifestyle and his grand ceremonial processions.

The Fort and its buildings cost nearly 6 million. On the auspicious day of 8th April 1648, Shahjahan finally entered Shahjahanabad. From 1803 to 1857 the East India Company virtually controlled Delhi. The city was taken over by the British after the defeat of the Marathas at the battle of Patparganj in 1803.

ECOLOGICAL FACTOR•Irregular pattern of lanes block dust storm , summer wind.•Compact settlement is conductive to heat conservation in winter.•Passive cooling & shading due to projection on upper floor.

STREETSCAPES•There emerges a hierarchy of streets in the layout of the city.•The secondary streets were the ones which entered the south of the city from Chandni Chowk. (thus they were perpendicular for some distance and then assumed an organic form once deep in the city). •The secondary street structure also includes the streets that are parallel to the city walls- forming a concentric ring so to say, in the southern part of the city. They then intermingle at chowks with the third layering of streets, which derive their character from the fact that they are perpendicular to the main mosque, Jama Masjid

THE CITY FORM- MORPHOLOGY ELEMENTS

•The urban infrastructure was laid out in a geometric pattern.•Shows traces of both Persian and Hindu traditions of town planning and architecture with the Persian influence largely accounting for the formalism and symmetry of the palaces gardens and boulevards.

The designed infrastructure of Shahjahanabad comprised-•The fort•The Friday mosque.•The other major mosques, including the corresponding waqf properties.•The two main boulevards.•The bazaars around the Friday mosque.•The elaborate system of water channels.•The major gardens and the city wall.•The arrangement of these planned elements was influenced by certain site features, which precluded absolute geometry.

The Red Fort and Jama Masjid were thorough fares that framed the city. From Lahore Gate ran a broad avenue with a covered arcade designed and paid for by Jahan Ara- that housed over 1500 shops. Today known as Chatta Bazaar.The remainder of Shahjahanabad took shape within the city walls with its havelis mansions, mosques, temples, Sikh shrines and the gardens of the nobility. The walled and guarded establishments of these grandees included private living quarters for the nobles and their harem.

THE FORT & THE MOSQUE

PRIMARY MOSQUES

Masjid Fatehpuri, Masjid Akbarabadi, Masjid Sirhindi, Masjid Aurangabadi, Zinat-al-Masjid, Sunahri Masjid, Masjid Sharif-ad-Daulah, Fakhr-al-Masjid. They were located next to the two main lines of

communication which subdivided the city. Second in rank to the Jama Masjid was the Fatehpuri

Masjid .

Secondary mosques were the mahallas mosques :- Numbering about 200 in Shahjahanabad, these mosques often bear the name of their founders and they are mostly located on ‘secondary streets’. They were at the bottom of the hierarchy and lay scattered all over the city. They served the people in the immediate vicinity and were built by prominent or wealthy residents of the respective Mahallah or by guilds of the merchants or artisans.

WATER SYSTEMS AND CANALS:

The hot dry climate of Delhi made it necessary to develop an hydraulic strategy . Shahjahan ordered his architects to restore the Firoz Shah canal and extend it to the new city. The canal ran through the outskirts of the city, watering gardens and fields. It entered the city through the Kabuli Gate in the north-western part of the city and then split into two branches. One flowed down the middle of Chandni Chowk. The other one passed through the gardens north of Chandni Chowk and then entered the palace through the Shah Burj.

BAGH The north area of Chandni Chowk was occupied by a bagh called

the Jahanara Begumi’s Garden. It was laid out in a planned fashion, in addition to the road planning of Chandni Chowk.

CITY WALLS The layout o the city walls was based on a geometrical planning; i.e.

to say, a polygonal plan with gateways. The four main gates were Delhi Darwaza on south, the Ajmeri Darwaza on the south-west, the Lahori Darwaza on the west and the Kashmiri Darwaza on the north. These important gates were positioned according to the basic network of the city, being laced on the cardinal points. The graphic representation of the city was indicated geometric planning and the geometric placement of the main gates.

AL BALAD-JEDDAH OLD TOWN

INTRODUCTION A Saudi city located in the middle of the Eastern coast of the

Red Sea known as the 'Bride of the Red Sea' and is considered the economic and tourism capital of the country.

The foundation of the city of Jeddah is dated back to around 3000 years when groups of fishermen used to settle in it after thei r fishing trips. After that the trib e of 'Quda'ah' came to Jeddah 2500 years ago and settled in it and was known by it. The historical transformation of Jeddah was in the era of the third Muslim Caliph Othman Bin Affan in 647 AD when he ordered the city to be transformed into a

port to welcome pilgrims (Hajjis) coming by sea for the Holy Pilgrimage in Makkah.

Al-Balad(Jeddah Old Town)

Area which used to be inside the city wall before it was demolished in 1947

When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, Jeddah became one of the main ports on the trade route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian and Pacific Oceans. As a result, the city's wealth increased dramatically, and Jeddah's inhabitants became more cosmopolitan

Wall and Gates-Sur and Baab

  The wall surrounding Jeddah

was built by Hussain Al-Kurdi, who was one of the Mamluk Princes, because he wanted to protect the Red Sea from the attacks by the Portuguese , the wall was built and had six doors; one on the side facing Makkah : Bab (door) Makkah, Bab Al-Medina, Bab Shareef, Bab Jadeed (Bab Al-Subba), Bab Al-Bantt, and Bab Al-Magharba. The wall was removed in 1947 AD because it came into the urban area of the city.

City wall and Gates

BAB AL MADINAH

BAB AL MAKKAH

Streets (Sharah) and Neighborhoods (Harat)

the streets of Old Jeddah were twisting, unpaved and , flanked by closely-packed buildings.

The configuration of the street network was greatly influenced by the profile of the city wall and the location of the gates. Street network was established on the alignment with the gates. Even the naming of the gates was related to the various destinations of major streets. The figure shows the present road network in the walled city.

Street Network

Private Areas Excluding Private Culdesacs (59.7%)

Public Areas Including Culdesacs (40.3%)

 Neighborhoods (Harat):

The city of Jeddah was divided inside the wall into several neighborhoods, which were each called 'Hara' by the people of the city. These neighborhoods acquired their names from their geographical locations inside the city or through famous events they have witnessed:

 Harat Al-Mathloum: this neighborhood was named after a man called Abdul Karim Al-Barzunji, who was killed by the Ottoman government (mathloum means innocent victim). It is located to the north-east inside the wall at the north of Al-Alawi Street and includes Dar Gabel, Al-Shafei Mosque, and Souq Al-Jame'i (market).

 Harat Al-Shaam: is located in the northern part inside wall in the direction of the Al-Sham region (currently known as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine). In this neighborhood lies Dar Al-Sarti and Dar

Al Zahid. Harat Al-Yemen: is located in the southern part inside the wall,

south of Al-Alawi Street. It gained its name because it faces the direction of Yemen, and includes Dar Naseef, Dar Jamjoum, Dar Sha'rawi, and Dar Abdelsamad.

  Harat Al-Bahar (sea): is in the south-western part of the

city of Jeddah, which is overlooking the sea. It includes Dar Radwan, which was then known as Radwan Al-Bahar.

  Harat Al-Karanteenah: is located to the south of Jeddah

and was facing the old seaport before covering the shallow waters in front of it for the establishment of the Port of Jeddah and the oil refinery. Pilgrims coming by sea entered through this neighborhood, which is the oldest one outside the walls of Jeddah. It is inhabited these days by a majority of immigrants coming from African countries and is next to Jeddah's southern oil refinery.

  Harat Al-Millioun Tifl (million children): is just to south of

Jeddah and was called this because of the presence of a lot of children in the alleyways of the neighborhood.

City Neighborhoods (Harat)

MARKETS SOUQS

The term means the place for goods and necessities and is used in place names for streets and other localities where there is a market. Its urban integration, development and characteristics is unique contribution to the development of the city.

The souq was the heartbeat of Old Jeddah . Most of these markets were associated with the Mosques so the city became a meeting place for the religious scholars, traders and students

: The ancient Markets of Jeddah

Mosques (Masjid):   The mosques of the historical area

are famous for their old fashion of building, and beautiful form of architecture.

. Those mosques were constructed in accordance with various styles of designs and different schools of heritage architecture ranging from the "Fatimi" "Ottoman" and Islamic styles to others kinds of styles existing in the city. The mosques now represent a distinguished Islamic feature of the city that is neighboring the Holy City of Makkah and the express highway to the Mosque of the Holy Prophet (in Madinah). Such features altogether gave the city a special spiritual atmosphere, where the building of mosques goes side by side with the growing progress of all forms of architecture in the city

Othman bin Affan Mosque

AL-Shafie Mosque

Old City Mosques

CEMETERY

Maqbarat (cemetery) Al-Sheikh Hamed bin Nafi: is located on old Makkah-Jeddah Road

  Maqbarat Ummuna Hawa'

(cemetery of Our Mother Eve): is located in the center of the city; and it is believed that Eve died and was buried in this cemetery.

Morphological components of the city

ISLAMABADCapital of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD

PAKISTAN

INTRODUCTION

Located in the Potohar Plateau in the northwest of the

country at 33°40′N, 73°10′E.

After independence in 1947, Pakistan realized the need

of capital city to serve the new state. Then, Islamabad,

a new capital of Pakistan was conceived in 1959,

planned from 1959 to 1963 by a Greek architect-

planner C. A. Doxiadis, and started implementation in

1961.

The city was conceived into grid-iron patterns developed into 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers sectors segregated by the hierarchy of wide principal roads (60 ft.) comprising Islamabad and Rawalpindi area.

The sectors were used for distinct land uses such as residential, educational, commercial and administrative.

Housing is provided in grid-iron pattern sectors on disciplined hierarchy of communities according to their income groups.

In the square grid of sectors, four communities clustered around an enlarged shopping centre.

To slow down traffic, shopping activities were organized in the centre of a larger square settlement.

CITY LAYOUT ON GRID IRON PATTERN

The city is divided into eight zones

• Administrative zone; • Diplomatic Enclave zone; • Residential Areas; • Educational Sectors; • Industrial Sectors; • Commercial Areas; • Rural Areas; • Green Areas. 

 

I.  Zone I consists mainly of all the developed residential sectors.

II. Zone II consists of the under-developed residential sectors.

III. Zone III consists primarily of the Margalla Hills and Margalla Hills National Park. Rawal Lake is in this zone.

IV. Zone IV and V consist of Islamabad Park, and rural areas of the city. The Soan River flows into the city through Zone V.

Local and collector low speed roads, wide sidewalks, pedestrian roads and bicycles lanes within the lower class “human communities” provide access to the major transportation system.

Islamabad is planned according to a hierarchical system of communities of various classes, each class comprising the functions corresponding to its size.

HIERARCHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ROADS

Markets

Expansion of city

Expansion of city

1. Islamabad Proper (including the institutional and industrial areas); 220.15 km²

2. Islamabad (Margalla Hills) Park; 220.15 km²

3. Islamabad Rural Area; 446.20 km²

DISTRIBUTION OF ROADSIslamabad is planned according to a system of

communities of various classes, each class comprising

the functions corresponding to its size.

These communities are properly served by a major

transportation system developed within wide corridors of

a grid-iron configuration.

Local and collector low speed roads, wide sidewalks,

pedestrian roads and bicycles lanes within the lower class

“human communities” provide access to the major

transportation system.

The above system of communities and transportation

facilities, contributes to the reduction of travel

distances/times and accidents, and to the promotion of

“green transport” (walking, cycling, public transport).

• Types of street or road system used in Islamabad are rectangular or grid iron street system the street have equal width and they cross each other at right angle

• The advantage of this system is convenient to traffic and so a speedy and free traffic can be maintained.

• The houses are constructed in rectangular blocks so convenient, economical and most suited for building construction

• There is no wastage of land since no irregular portion are left out.

• But the disadvantages of this system are they don’t provide short cuts which provide a direct access to trade and shopping centres.

• Since islamabad is situated on the plateau the surface is uneven where grid iron street pattern become inconvenience, discomfort and moreover it become expensive.

FINISHED

SALMAN MD KHAN

MD SHADAB RAZVI