تبیین سیر تاریخی تحولات کالبدی ــ طبیعی شهر آمل

Cities cannot be recognized only by their past status and not only by the current situation. Not only the city’s form but also its meaning has changed over time. We cannot extend the situation of periods of eras to others. To properly understand the city, we need to examine the different layers of the city’s effectual aspects in each period. One of the most principal features that give a clear image of the city’s behavior to urban managers or used as urban planning guidelines for planners is a systematic recognition of the city’s history and background and a clear understanding of its physical, natural, historical, social, political and economic changes. If we accept this, then providing a specific pattern and trajectory that explains the evolution of a city and the process of change is increasingly important. Amol City is located between the Alborz mountain and the Caspian Sea In northern Iran. It is invaded into the eastern and western parts by the river Haraz. The city’s old fabric has been integral to its historical background and urban structure. Amol City has been considered for centuries with its historical background and its importance in terms of fabric, functional, and natural changes. This city has played a significant role as a strategic human settlement in northern Iran during several periods. Not long ago, Amol City had a cohesive structure and maintained its authenticity, with landmarks like the Bazaar, the buildings around the Haraz River, the Shahrrood Creek, the holy shrines, and more scattered throughout the city. With the construction of the first streets, the integrity of the Bazaar, residential fabrics, neighborhoods, and Shahrrood Creek, as the city’s most cardinal natural axis, was disrupted. This research seeks to investigate the pattern and trajectory of Amol city as one of the most important historical cities in the north of Iran, and some historians consider it to date to the Iron Age. It is worth mentioning that this city is the first Shiite government base and there are many historical monuments in the city.
In the first stage of this research, the historical courses of Amol and its changes during these eras are discussed, which includes the pre-Islamic periods, after Islam, the Safavid governments, the Afsharite government, the Qajar, and contemporary and recent times. Then, the current structure of the city and its districts are analyzed. Consequently, the urban development plans prepared for the city in recent years are evaluated. In the next step, the current state of the city context is analyzed. Finally, the urban plan considers the city’s historical context, and its planning and design processes are carefully explained. Finally, based on the findings of the studies, the course of the historical developments of the city has been drawn based on the Bemont diagram in different periods, showing its high and low points. This research is descriptive-analytical by type, and the data is collected by studying historical documents and the writings of reliable historians. A qualitative analysis of the data has been accomplished while conducting a field survey of the historic area of the city and studying its current urban development plans. The results of the city’s growth and decline and the comparison between the features of the old and new Amol are presented at the end. According to the historical documents, Amol city was the capital of Mazandaran at least from the Sassanid period to the Mongol period and was the official capital of Iran in three dynasties and during the Safavid, Alawi, Qajar, Fereydun, and Rostam dynasties, Marashi rule, and the Zandiyeh period, it experienced a good period or the golden age of Islam, and during the Ilkhanid, Seljuq, Ghaznavid, and Afshar periods, it passed through a bad period. According to the research results, apart from political factors, natural and human factors were also involved in the choice of Amol city, which distinguishes it from other cities of the province. The most important factors are of natural, defense, economic, and communicational causes. According to the information from the Bemont diagram, interventions, and urban plans in recent years have tried to keep the physical monuments of the city stable, especially during the Sassanid period, the era of the city’s evolution, and during the Safavid period, which, according to historical documents, was the era of the city’s prosperity, which includes the Mir Bozorg Mausoleum, and it is related to the market order. Also, considering the historical role achieved by Bemont diagram, solutions have been presented to maintain identity-performance links between historical periods of the city and its current and future development plans.