Findings show that during the Sassanid period, the river served as a defensive and infrastructural element, aiding in the establishment of the city’s initial core. In the Islamic period, particularly with the expansion of the qanat network, the city center grew in direct connection to water resources and surrounding agriculture. During the Safavid to Qajar eras, the focus on neighborhood networks based on qanats and community-based organization kept the city center’s connection to the river moderate. However, in the Pahlavi and modern periods, with the introduction of new water distribution systems, the construction of new streets, the emergence of new urban centers, and changes in the physical and functional outlook of the city, the river’s role in shaping the identity of the city center gradually diminished to a minimum.

Today, the river primarily serves as a natural edge and recreational space, with its structural and functional ties to the city center reduced. These developments point to a broader trend in the transformation of the relationship between water and the city— from a naturally dependent structure to one constructed by human intervention, disconnected from its natural setting.