The Role of Tehran’s Streams in Construction of Cityscape

Water presence has always been one of the significant factors in creating merriness and exhilaration in landscape design. In the past, due to the fundamental role of water in the structure and identity of the city, the presence of water has had a special effect in shaping the urban landscape and would participate at a variety of scales in city. Aqueducts are technological achievements in history and culture of this land in the arid cities of the plateau of Iran that had supplied the city's water with the discovery, guidance and extraction of groundwater and has had a major role in shaping the landscape of the city. Tehran is one of cities that use this method in shaping water networks since it benefits from groundwater surface and a topographic location. Therefore the elements of this water network and streams that were subterranean crossing place of the aqueducts are always the key elements in shaping the landscape of Tehran. Tehran was provided with s structure based on its designers' thoughts which supplied people’s requirements in the city. Following the master and development plans of western approaches, people’s requirements and presence of natural elements in the city were eventually ignored. Having destroyed the streams which were responsible for supplying water storages and reservoirs and turned them into dumping places, they were no longer considered as essential elements in city landscape. Aside from losing their functional role and people’s conceptual rupture from natural processes, they have lost their reminiscent and mental role. Paying attention to Tehran streams as one of the landscape elements of the city and using this element in urban design and landscape architecture at neighborhood scale can help making proper landscape in the context of neighborhood and provide freshness and vitality. In between attention to subterranean aqueducts as one of the main pillars in water supplies for non-potable usages, landscape and various facilities in Tehran needs to be studied, identified and organized which can be an effective in strengthening Tehran urban identity. Tehran streams as vital capillaries of city can strengthen the city’s identity with changing quality of urban spaces and can have an effective role in citizens’ perception of the City rather than offering a destructive role. Natural infrastructures can be an effective matter way in promoting citizens’ perception of the city and create a sense and identity of place. Sustainable way of developing nature presence in the city is investing on the potential and internal capabilities of the system. Tehran subterranean aqueducts as available natural vital vessels in the city were one of important and effective element in shaping the landscape of Tehran. The way of nature presence and influence recovery at least in Tehran city spaces is rehabilitation of the capillary of this natural flow or streams.