Any programme that involves the redevelopment of the historical parts of a city should
derive its criteria from an understanding of the cultural as well as the urban development
of the area. The study of historical urban and cultural progress requires the will and
effort to appreciate not only its history, recent and ancient, but to seek out those existing
features that evoke and communicate the origins and transformation of the particular
place. It is this evolving context to which with the alteration of the city environment
should correspond. Investigating significant features and characteristics from each period
of time can therefore be considered as a central requirement in outlining successful
development strategies for old and historical urban quarters.The study carries out just such an examination, applied to the city of Madina. This is the
birthplace of the religion and traditions of Islam, and is where the Prophet (pbuh)
established the first Mosque and planned the prototype for all Islamic cities. Yet recent
changes have destroyed much of the fabric related to these beginnings and much of the
written history has lost its architectural evidence and become fragmentary. This thesis
therefore seeks to reconstruct the history of Madinah with reference to the historical
parts of the city that remain or have disappeared, from which new criteria for
developments may be extrapolated. The historical review is divided as follows:After introducing the invariable natural context of Madinah - its climate and landscape -
Part one presents a chronological study of the urban development of Madinah and the
changes and diversifications of land use. This identifies features and characteristics
related to each historical period. This provides a basis for extracting criteria for
developing the old urban quarters. This part is considered as major reference for future
research, acting as a main database for Madina.Part two is a detailed study and analysis for the most important urban and architectural
elements and abstracting the most important basics and criteria for these elements. These
criteria should be considered as flexible in order to fulfil existing requirements in both
planning and architecture. The study turns its focus upon various types of urban elements
such as closed streets, walk -ways, courts, streets, markets and architectural elements
such as mosques, schools, libraries, arbitah, asbila, bath rooms, castles, towers and
traditional houses. Plans, elevations, sections and photographs illustrate these elements.
These elements are not comprehensively documented, as only a summary and extracted
criteria is included for these elements.This allows the author to present some ideas on the nature of future developments in the
city which can be seen as enhancing the structure of Madinah by maintaining a complete
link between its historical and its contemporary issues
