Recognition of Place Components in Urban Environment Design (Case study: Naghshe-Jahan Square, Ganj-Alikhan Square, Piazza Del Campo and Grand Place)

The current study is performed to investigate patterns, physical, functional, environmental, and semantic features of past successful places to present design strategies for contemporary places.
In this study, a descriptive-analytic and comparative method has been used to recognize the place components features in historical squares through analysis of prominent case studies (Ganj-Alikhan square, Naghshe-Jahan square, Piazza del Campo and Grand Place) and to present effective strategies for designing the contemporary squares based on these features.
Findings: The results show that squares can be improved to successful places due to their functional, physical, and semantic quality.
The results obtained in this study imply that the existing historical features beyond the old monuments can be applied for designing the modern squares to achieve alive, dynamic, and successful public places. These features are summarized in the form of place components including form, ecosystem, meaning, and activity.