Conference

Research on the urban identity of the participating cities will be conducted by research groups under the supervision of the University of Westminster. The results will be published in a forty page visual book with debates and discussions.

Urban Identity
The recognition of urban identity is a necessity. How can we speculate about urban development without basing its foundation on urban identity?
Urban identity creates city recognition, and because cities are multi-dimensional, urban identity follows multiple disciplines as well. Historical, social, economical, and cultural identities make up the dimensions of this topic.
What we hope to achieve in our research is the recognition of urban identity in terms of architecture and settlement. We want to reach a concept that is closely related to climate, culture, history and civilization.
The concepts of structural and urban architecture did not have a particular meaning in the past, and were linked to the previous unclear definition which stated that each “place” had its own distinctive characteristic. Even if this characteristic is demonstrated in an architectural form, it is deeply connected to the elements of life and human space.
The settlement typology in modern cities has been shaped and structured through history based on valuable experiences, devoid of spatial function.
The recognition of “settlement identity” is the basis for updating architectural science. This is the reason why in modern times, due to the absence of identity of urban structures, a lack of morality is being felt which leads to the absence of social and human behavior .This is perhaps related to the carelessness and inappropriate knowledge of urban managers concerning the identity and model of settlement and the definition of “space”.
This lack of knowledge has considerably damaged the resources and opportunities for urban development in a lot of cities. With this belief that an essential urban resource is the historical value and culture of cities and is the main part of the tourism industry which is one of the most important development indicators throughout the world, and the basis for developing tourism are the recognition and prosperity of the urban identity.
In this regard, the principle themes of this functional research on urban identity are as follows:

1. The recognition of the values of urban development such as cultural heritage, historical, social, physical and natural values.
2. The recognition of settlement typology inside the “old” city from an architectural and spatial point of view.
3. The recognition of the possibilities of the development of urban identity with an emphasis on priorities.
4. The recognition of the representational model of urban identity.
5. The recognition of color and construction materials and its relation to the architectural appearance of the city.
6. The examination of structures that create identity in the city.
7. The compilation of statements that discuss urban development in proportion to urban identity.