Recognition the religious places as Strategic Urban Signs in Iranian Cities; (Case Study: Shahr-e-Ray)

The Urban design is a course, profession and art that aims to upgrading environmental qualities. In this field, attention to vernacular contexts especially religious and cultural places and citizen’s cognitive image is very essential. Religious places as unifier complexes, has a basic role in urban life. Iranian cities has many religious spaces, as valuable contexts that are threatened by adverse urban construction. Now this question are introduced that though contemporary evolutions, what importance of religious places in urban life and citizen’s cognitive image? This research aims to studying the importance of religious places especially religious places in citizen’s cognitive image as identical themes in cultural, social and physical aspects of Iranian cities. The research methods that used in this paper is descriptive, analytical, and exploratory and case study research method with questionnaire usage, interview from people about their cognitive image techniques. In case study, via interview from 40people of Shahr_e_Ray citizens, the cognitive image of Ray citizen’s has questioned. This questionnaire showed the religious spaces are the basic, important, essential signs and places in urban life. Also religious places are maximum interests between other places. Shah-Abdol-Azim Shrine, Ebn-e-Babouye cemetery and Imamzadeh- Abdollah are the most interesting places. Against, other modern spaces such as parks, cinema, mall and highway have very low role in people’s cognitive images.