The role of rural markets in the formation of spatial organization and habitation network Case study: the city of Talesh

Spatial organizations of each region are evolved through the activity of its settlement network. The formation procedure of settlement network is affected by the natural environment, social and economical structure, political and historical events. Natural environment, social and economical structure of the city of Talesh, have not permitted the permanent settlement and urbanism in this region. Lack of appropriate roads between human units of the region is considered as one of the most important obstacles of spatial unity of the region, so that the new settlement network has been formed around the roads that were constructed during the Second World War and connected all the human districts of the region together. Thus, the first real city of the region and consequently rural markets were established at the nodes of the road and the river basin of the area. Rural markets developed based on the population of each district and the rural districts changed to small cities with an efficient geographical situation and productivity. As a result, a hierarchical system was established and formed the settlement network and spatial organization of the region. But the concentration of population and economical activities concentrated in an asymmetrical aspect, in the outskirts of the mentioned road resulted in the spatial imbalance of the region. As a result, planning and development plans of the market centers in the rural districts and cities of the region are considered as a vital and necessary process.