Urban Form in Oriental Cities: Key Elements and Residential Environments

This paper briefly describes the development of the Islamic/Oriental city and the elements that form a traditional Oriental city. It aims to outline their unique urban characteristics and the differences and similarities between the most Oriental to the least Oriental cities. To achieve this, three cities - Tunis, Sarajevo, and Skopje - are described and compared based on relevant literature, serving as examples ranging from the most Oriental to the least Oriental. The selection of these cities was based on varying percentages of the Islamic community and the conditions of Islamic establishment. In the conclusion, it is discussed that their primary physical characteristics are evident in all three cases, while their distinctions lie in their residential compositions. Their uniqueness is found in their non-physical characteristics, which are discussed as potential guidelines for the future development of the cities.