ABSTRACT
In Islamic regions, the central part of a city has a lively commercial space, which is called çarşı in Turkish, souq in Arabic, and bazaar in Persian. This commercial space is filled with various functions including commercial ones, and acts as the nucleus of the city. The objective of this study is to analyze the structure of this commercial area using geographical information systems (GIS), and understand the urban characteristics of cities in Islamic regions, primarily in Turkey. To achieve this objective, we study three cities in Turkey, namely, Bursa, Safranbolu, and Göynük, which differ in both size and character. In addition, to clearly contrast the characteristics of these Turkish cities, we also study two cities in the Arab region, namely, Aleppo in Syria, and Qayrawan in Tunisia.
