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Subject of this book is Kashan, a city located halfway between Tehran and Isfahan. It is the result of interdisciplinary cooperation between Orientalists from Tuebingen University (Germany), architects from the Technical University of Bari (Italy) and sociologists from the Shahid Beheshti University, Teheran (Iran). The contributions reach chronologically from the pre Islamic foundation of the city to the present.
After an introduction (location, hinterland and morphology of the city) follow sections on the traditional water system, written sources in Oriental and Western languages from the early Islamic period to the 19th century, and Arabic and Persian inscriptions. This is succeeded by a chapter on the urban development from the pre Islamic period to the present. The typology of the different categories of religious building is the subject of the chapter which follows. After that, the large residential building and the bazaar are displayed. The final chapter of the part on history, urban history and history of architecture is dedicated to the famous Fin garden outside Kashan.
It was a weighty aim of our work to have a look at the present living conditions of the inhabitants of the old city of Kashan. An in-depth sociological survey exposed the problems the inhabitants have to face -- and the advantages they see in being residents of this part of the city. In doing this we hope to have contributed empirical facts which might help to preserve the old city of Kashan as a commendable place to live in.

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