Reading the urban landscape of Semnan and Damghan based on elements of spatial organization

The "city" concept refers to the recognition of an independent, invisible entity continuously interacting with its various constituent elements. It is an aspect of a social concept that connects the components of a city in a systemic order while maintaining its independence. The definitions of city components and the type of connection between them depend on the social, natural, cultural, political, economic, functional, physical, etc. factors that explain the development and life of the city in a systemic relationship throughout history. The cities of Semnan and Damghan were formed based on the presence of water. The spatial organization of the city, urban elements, and city events and ceremonies are formed in connection with water. In addition to the current objective and subjective factors in the city that determine its overall meaning, in the abovementioned cities, the natural element of water is the most important factor in defining the elements of the city organization. It has an evolutionary and meaningful relationship with the presence of the tree in the city, and in accordance with the concepts and other objective elements of the city, it contributes to the reading of the urban landscape through the elements of spatial organization. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the organizational relationship between the elements of the urban landscape through field studies and observations. It seeks to answer the following question: in Semnan and Damghan, how are the elements of the urban landscape read based on the elements of the spatial organization of the city?The study draws upon a holistic perspective to answer this question by reviewing library sources and matching them with observations. For this purpose, the instances of the city that can narrate the concepts of spatial organization elements were read. In addition to the physical and functional instances in defining the elements of the urban spatial organization, (i.e. centrality, territory, small units, and structure), water-supply infrastructure and trees as natural elements are among the important organizational aspects in the completion and readability of the urban spatial organization elements that distinguish Semnan and Damghan from other Iranian cities.