The urban growth in Iran can be analyzed in reference to Rosto's theory of economic growth (traditional society, transition period, and surge up, maturity and consumer society). In the period between 1922 -1952 the traditional economics (traditional society) collapses and the compradors capitalism emerges through Oil industry and financial markets (transition period). Cities in traditional period are functioning more in political and communicative aspects. In surge up period (1962-1979), Iran tried to affiliate to the world capitalist system, and all infrastructures needed for this purpose began to be implemented. In this period cities confronted a large scale of industrial development. As a consequence of intensification of correlation between center and premium and outward oriented development caused by petro-dollars and import policies, the expansion of urbanization in surge up period caused strengthening of the mono-metropolitan system for Tehran mega- city and some mother Cities in different regions. As a result many peripheral towns turned to be devastated. This lead to segregation of urban conformity in regional cities (Mashhad, Esfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz) to Tehran and the same happened in lower scale due to other cities in smaller towns. This failure in urban hierarchy makes cities and towns polarized. Four different quite different eras can be distinguished in urbanization process in Iran. 1. Between the two world wars or the transition period, New Towns in Iran were developed without any certain policy, mainly on the basis of a rural preliminary nucleus (Zahedan and Now-shahr) being fully developed cities at present. 2. After the Second World War up to middle years of 1962 decade the New Towns were developed still without any clear policy and just as a result of expansion of Oil and other industries development, on the basis of an urban nucleus with mono-based function as dormitory settlements. 3. From the time mentioned in 1962 decade up to 1979 ,upspring period, the New Towns were developed on the basis of usage of environmental resources and without a present nucleus ,with the main role as regional expansions and land speculation. 4. After the Islamic revolution 28 Satellite town without any preliminary nucleus, were established on the basis of refining of spatial organization of regional mother towns and Tehran Metropolis, along with more balanced distribution of growth in socio-economical life of the society. The plan forecasted a absorbing the extra population of mother towns predicted to be equal to 6 million persons up to the year 2017. Now after many years these towns being developed and the preliminary targets analyzed, it is being cleared that these towns has aroused many problems in settlement system of the country, in their first phase of presence.

During recent years, the topic of participation has increasingly been gaining importance in Iran – in the scientific field, in practice and rhetoric. However, in current scientific literature – and especially in English literature – there is little knowledge on the conditions, legal background, perceptions, experiences and processes of citizens’ participation in Iran. This book aims to shed light on the paradoxical question of participation in Iran: it is old and new, dysfunctioning and functioning, disappointing and promising. This slippery status of participation convinces scholars to suggest contradictory interpretations and understandings about the existence, functionality, and potentiality of this concept. The book therefore shows the different perspectives, interpretations, historical developments and case studies of participation in Iran, thus giving the reader a kaleidoscope view on the question of participation in Iran.

This book, based on conference excerpts, investigates various aspects of contemporary Iranian urbanism. The topics covered range from the impacts of political developments on the cities’ rapid socio-economic developments, to the cities’ troubled relationship with the country’s built-environment history and their frequently ill-managed exposure to Western notions of development and globalisation. Last but not least, the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters in an age of increasing urban-population densification is also considered. Alongside more theoretically and artistically oriented debates, the book’s individual contributions turn their attention to the now much higher proportion of urban dwellers in the country’s rising population. It also discusses the policies designed in response to these demographic moves, including those to develop new towns, find housing for the excess population in existing cities, renovate historic buildings and create new public spaces. The practice-policy oriented contributions also include those concerning the country’s responses to natural disasters.

Inception of urban planning in Iran has coincided to Modern movement and strongly has been affected by its concepts until now. The policy of establishing new town is one of most important concept in last five decades. It seems that this policy in Iran is in close relationship with the goals of establishing new towns in some other countries, especially in Britain. Building new towns has considered in two main sectors: pre-revolution (1979) and post-revolution (1979). The main objectives and methods in these sections are different. Before the revolution new towns were constructed based on political, security aims or in regard to operation of huge oil reserves and oil affiliated industries. After the revolution the objectives of building new towns turned out to be the control of population in large cities, decentralization of large cities, absorption overflow of population and house supplication for low-income people. However new urban developments have been allocated with a definite distance from main cities or even connected to them (many gardens and fertile farmlands have been destroyed due to development of such towns). The survey indicates that most of new towns have merely succeeded to attract less population as they planned. The new towns have generally failed to achieve the 10 year envisaged goals and have converted into housing warehouses. At present, 17 new towns have been able to attract only 320,548 persons. These statistics introduce these towns as undesirable places. The most important problems in these towns are as follow: (a) Uniform house and public space pattern (b) Social and cultural conflicts (contradictions) (c) Lack commercial, administrative and health services (d) Poor quality of construction, architecture and urban design (e) Inefficient public transportation (f) High energy consumption (g) Lack of social interactions (h) Absence of sense of place (i) Poor relationship between human, built environment and natural environment (j) Car-based life (k) Lack of social capital ( l) Poor pedestrian facilities Natural environment demolish (j) More deterioration of inner city (in connected new towns). All of these detected problems can be called generally “unsustainability” that causes loss of quality of life. Lack of vision for integrating different social, cultural and economic dimensions of urban life in a sustainable framework by planners, designers and urban management is one of the main reasons of this problem. Iran population will reach 130 million in 2021. It's estimated that about 74 percent of total population will live in urban areas that time, that is, Iran's urban population is estimated to increase about 96 million. So the country will need about twice land level of all existing cities to settle the additional 70 population in the next years (between 1986-2021). Regarding to this, establishing new towns is necessity of urban planning and urban design in Iran.

This book provides in-depth analyses of the main social policy components and institutions in Iran. Its focus is on the period since 1979, although many of the developments are inevitably traced back to their pre-revolutionary origins. The first part of the book investigates socioeconomic trends and institutional developments—including the significant role played by post-revolutionary para-governmental organizations in the delivery of social programs. The remaining chapters analyze the achievements and challenges of health, education, social insurance, housing, and employment policies as well as the macroeconomics of poverty.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Geography / Earth Science - Demographics, Urban Management, Planning, grade: 1,3, HafenCity University Hamburg (Regional Planung / Regional Development), course: Arbeitsfelder der Stadtplanung im nationalen, 29 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Tehran City is the national capital and the economical, cultural, and social center of Iran. The city and the surrounding urbanized region, referred to as "Tehran Metropolitan Area" (TMA), is one of the largest mega regions of the world, having the highest concentration of population in Iran and the Middle-East. In course of industrialization and the increasing importance of Iran, Tehran has become magnet to companies and millions of migrants. Until 1970, the city has been the center of the national growth, fuelled by the centralization strategy of the national government. However, this changed as Iran's government steadily began to limit growth in Tehran, while directing it into the surrounding towns of Tehran. Today, over 7 million people live in the city of Tehran and over 12 million live in the TMA (in 2005). The unprecedented and phenomenal growth has exacerbated several problems such as environmental problems, traffic congestion, air pollution, housing shortage, lack of governmental finance, increasing poverty as well as infrastructure deficiencies within the city and the TMA. Managing the development of the city as well as the regional growth has been and is still a major challenge for the responsible governmental agencies. In order to cope with growth, the government has made different regulation approaches and has come up with various development strategies. The paper explores the different regulation efforts of the governmental agencies to control Tehran's development. Therefore, this paper intends to find out if the strategies to regulate development of Tehran city and the region are the appropriate tactics to cope with growth. This paper is o

CHAPTER FIVE. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Structure of Urban Planning and Management in Iran -- 5.3. Position and Role of City Councils, Community (local) Councils and NGOs in Urban Planning and Management in Iran -- 5.3.1. Position and Role of City Councils in Urban Planning and Management -- 5.3.1.1. Authorities and Functions -- 5.3.1.2. Links and Communication -- 5.3.1.3. Financial Dependency -- 5.3.1.4. Ongoing Activities -- 5.3.2. Position and Role of Community (local) Councils in Urban Planning and Management -- 5.3.3. Position and Role of Non-governmental Organizations in Urban Planning and Management -- 5.3.3.1. Informal and formal NGOs -- 5.3.3.2. Problems and Obstacles -- 5.3.3.3. Potentials and capacities -- 5.3.3.4. NGOs Concerned with Saadi Community -- 5.4. Current and Possible levels of Citizen Participation in Iran -- 5.4.1. Current Levels of Citizen Participation -- 5.4.2. Possible Levels of Citizen Participation -- 5.5. Affecting Factors on Citizen Participation in Iran -- 5.5.1. Affecting Factors on Citizen Participation in Iranian Cities -- 5.5.1.1. Mediatory variables -- 5.5.1.2. Independent Variables -- 5.5.2. Affecting Factors on Citizen Participation in Saadi Community (As an Informal Settlement) -- 5.5.2.1. Mediatory Variables -- 5.5.2.2. Independent Variables -- 5.6. Summary -- References -- ABSTRACT -- ZUSAMMENFASSUNG -- Back Cover

In 2007, Qazvin City in Iran embarked on a program of implementing a city development strategy (CDS) to cope with new urban challenges. Numerous cities in several developing countries have implemented CDSs. However, in several cases, a mismatch was found between the formulated strategies and CDS implementation. The CDS in Qazvin City was instigated in order to address problems in the nation's urban planning system. As the project progressed, the CDS became the primary mechanism through which the city resolved emergent urban development challenges. In light of the city's limited experience with CDS implementation, we thought it prudent to investigate the factors that would facilitate successful CDS implementation in the Iranian context. The predictive factors of successful CDS implementation have previously been identified in the CDS literature. We surveyed all participants during the CDS planning process. Local authorities, central government officials, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and local experts comprised the pool of respondents. For this study, we employed the partial least squares - structural equation modeling technique to analyze the data. The results showed a positive relationship between the success factors and the CDS implementation in Qazvin. Consensus building, effective participation, institutionalization, leadership, and capacity building are the determining factors of successful CDS. These factors have a positive and strong effect on CDS implementation. Our findings aid in identifying successful CDS planning system guidelines in the context of Qazvin and Iran.

Comparison, village agrarian structures and politics, rural development, impact of centralization, Iran, Islamic Republic - field study 1972-1975, individuals, community relations, responsibility, value systems, religious practice, state intervention, new town, development policy implications. Bibliography.