ABSTRACT
Tunis’ Medina urban design exemplifies the North African and Middle Eastern settlement patterns influenced by Islamic tradition. While there are regional variations and, especially in the twentieth century, the rise of secular institutions and patterns, the universality of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings guided personal and public life as well as regularized urban patterns. At first, these Arab-Islamic urban patterns appear random or informal. However, it belies a highly regimented social system and manifests what is in fact highly differentiated.
