RESEARCH PAPER 2006 /07 COPING WITH GROWTH IN TEHRAN: STRATEGIES OF DEVELOPMENT REGULATION  

Table of Contents

1.  INTRODUCTION  3

2.  STRUCTURE OF SETTLEMENT IN TEHRAN  5

2.1  Spatial Structure and Administrative Organization of TMA  5

2.2  Administrative Organization of Tehran City  8

2.3  Built-Up Structure of Tehran City  9

2.4  Socio-Economical Structure  12

2.5  Infrastructure  14

3.  STAGES OF GROWTH AND REGULATION MEASURES  16

3.1  Phase until 1970 : City Expansion in Course of Industrialization  16

3.2  Phase 1970s till 1980s: Rapid Growth and the first Efforts to Control Growth  18

3.3  Phase from 1980s: Modernization and New Regulation Efforts  22

3.4  Present Strategy of Decentralization  24

4.  EVALUATION OF REGULATING LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT  26

4.1  Deficiencies Development Regulation in Tehran City  26

4.1.1  Centralized and Hierarchical Authority System  26

4.1.2  Inconsistent Control of Development  27

4.1.3  Unequal Regulation of Development  28

4.1.4  Inadquate Regulation Policies  30

4.2  Deficiencies Development Regulation of the Region  32

4.2.1  Insufficient Decentralization Strategy  32

4.2.2  Deficient Administrative Organization of the Regional Authorities  33

5.  RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS  35

5.1  On the Local Level  35

5.2  On the Regional Level  37

6.  FINAL CONCLUSION  39

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  RESEARCH PAPER 2006 /07 COPING WITH GROWTH IN TEHRAN: STRATEGIES OF DEVELOPMENT REGULATION  

APPENDIX   41

I  List of Abbreviations  41

II  List of Illustrations  42

III  Bibliography  44

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1. Introduction

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 organized in the following way: It starts by giving an overview of the current settlement structure of the TMA and Tehran city. In the next section, the different stages of Tehran’s growth are examined by explaining the national circumstances, causes, and reactions of the governmental agencies to control the development by drafting policies or plans, and implementing measures.

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This is followed by an evaluation of these approaches with regard to the evolving consequences and the effectiveness to cope adequately with growth. Recommendations and final conclusions are presented at the end of the paper, based on the findings of this study.

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2. Structure of Settlement in Tehran

2.1 Spatial Structure and Administrative Organization of TMA

Tehran’s urban area between the Alborz Mountains

in the north and the desert, Dasht-e Kavir, in the south is located on vast mountain slope with an altitude of 900-1700 m above sea level. ¹ In higher altitude there are some snowy slopes and semihumid mountainous climate conditions, whereas it becomes hot and arid on lower altitude. Limited by the mountains the city of Tehran has expanded towards the south and west. According to the Tehran Geographical Information Center (TGIC), the TMA spans over a land area of 18,814 km² of Tehran

Province. ² Tehran province is one of 30 provinces in Iran and is divided into 13 subprovinces (shahrestans), which are subdivided into 34 counties (bakhshs). The counties of Tehran Province contain 48 cities (shahrs) and 77 villages (dehastans). 3

¹ TGIC 2004

² TGIC 2004

³ SCI 2006 [3] (Administrative Boundaries in 2004-2005)

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Land use and development regulations are a function of the national government and the local governments. The basic development regulations are prepared by the national government that should be applied in the entire country, but most laws and regulations are provided at the local level. Due to the rules of the Interior Ministry, local law cannot conflict with the national rules and regulations. The adherence of regulations is supposed to be controlled by officials appointed by the Interior Ministry. The superior authority of the TMA is due to the national agencies of the Interior Ministry. They are responsible for drafting development plans and policies for regulating the development in Iran’s provinces. ⁴ Since 1960, this is in responsibility of the “Ministry of Housing and Urban Development” (MHUD) and its advisory committee, referred to as the “High Council of Architecture and Urban Planning” (HCAUP). Usually, the agencies of the Ministry of Interior hire consulting engineers to draft the plans. 5

Since 1989 when the Constitution was changed to privatize the economy and provide more autonomy for Municipalities [Stadtverwaltungen], cities are autonomous units since the municipal government has the authority to pass laws on development regulation, for example to control land uses, densities of construction, or taxing. They are also economically self-supporting, meaning that they are responsible for the maintenance of infrastructure and the allotment of the funds by the central government. Before 1989 cities were completely financially and by law dependent on the decisions of the Interior Ministry. The municipalities were legally bound to implement the policies drafted by the national government. ⁶ In contrast to municipal authorities, the rural local authorities of villages are not autonomous units since they depend on the decisions of the national agencies about the draft of policies and allotment of infrastructure investments for rural agglomerations. ⁷ The status to become a “city” is down to the Interior Ministry which mainly bases the decision on the existing infrastructure of the particular unit. The size of the administrative unit in terms of inhabitants is rather meaningless to become a “city”, since there are villages with more inhabitants than cities, and some of the urban agglomerations are not considered as independent divisions even though they cover the land areas of counties or sub-provinces. The TMA has a polycentric spatial structure as it consists of vast rural and agricultural or industrial areas that separate urban agglomerations from each other, which are often scattered up to 100 km apart. The average population density of the TMA 645 p/km², which is high compared to Iran with 42.0 p/km² and low compared to Tehran City with 10,127 p/km². ⁸ The population distribution within the TMA is very unbalanced because of the heterogeneous structure of vast rural areas in the desert with very low population of 100-300

⁴ Zebardast 2005, p.3

⁵ Zebardast 2005, p.4

⁶ TGIC 2004

⁷ Bertaud 2003, p.22

⁸ SCI 2006 [2] (estimation in 2005)

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p/km², and the very populous villages and municipalities (i.e. in the city of Eshlambar are 8,100 p/km²). Of the 12,150,742 million inhabitants of the TMA, 84.2% live in urban areas and 15.8% in rural areas. ⁹ Tehran Province accounts for 17.7% of Iran’s population. Over 70.0% of the total population of the TMA lives in Tehran. Its population number is more than the sum of three other major cities of Iran; Mashhad, Tabriz, and Isfahan. ¹⁰ For example, the city of Karaj (40 km to the west) has “only” close to one million inhabitants; the city of Eslamshahr has even less (265.000). In the TMA are agglomerations which are much more urbanized than Tehran (9,600 p/km²), such as Akbarabad (82,500 p/km²) or Qarchak (21,200 p/km²). 11

⁹ SCI 2006 [2] (estimation in 2005)

¹⁰ TGIC 2004

¹¹ TGIC 2004

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2.2 Administrative Organization of Tehran City

The municipal limits of Tehran include an area of 707 km². In addition to “Tehran County”, the limits cover parts of three other sub-provinces. The city is divided into 22 municipal districts (mantageh). There are also 112 sub-districts, and smaller subdivisions or neighborhoods (howzeh), but these do not have an administrative application. 12

Tehran Municipality is responsible for the management of the city, i.e. launching laws and plans, allotting finance, and the provision of basic urban services. ¹³ The supply of technical infrastructure such as gas, water, electricity, telephone is the responsibility of private utility companies. ¹⁴ The mayor is head of the Municipality and together with the Tehran City Council (since 1999) he supervises all activities of the city. The mayor and council make final decisions about the city development as they have to approve all municipal laws, plans and allotments of the budget. Since 1999, citizens of Iran elect the city council. Due to a change of the national Constitution, citizens can participate in the governmental elections as being

¹² TGIC 2004

¹³ All-Experts Encyclopedia 2006

¹⁴ IIEES 2005, p.9

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represented by the city council. Since then Tehran City Council elects Tehran’s mayor who was previously elected by the Interior Ministry. ¹⁵ Nearly all of the city affairs such as social, cultural, educational, health, and economic activities are planned and achieved by certain agencies of Tehran Municipality (i.e. the Tehran Disaster Management Center is responsible for taking care of safety precautions due to earthquakes). In Tehran there is no explicit municipal committee which is assigned to manage Tehran’s city planning or development. The tasks referring to the city management are at the responsibility of several municipal agencies, whereas the areas of competences are not clearly defined. The only municipal board involved in passing city development regulations is “Tehran City Commission Number Five”, established in mid-1990s, which is also responsible for approving detail plans drafted by the authorities of the 22 districts. 16

On the sub-level of Tehran there are 22 district mayors and councils that are elected by the City Council and appointed by the city mayor. ¹⁷ The district authorities supervise the diverse activities in their area of jurisdiction, and are assigned to prepare detail plans for their districts. The district authorities depend on the decisions and approvals of the superior authorities of the Municipality. All laws and plans drafted by the Municipality need to be in conformity to national laws.

2.3 Built-Up Structure of Tehran City

The municipal limits define a city area of 707 km²,

inhabited by 7,160,094 persons. ¹⁸ The average population density is 10,127 p/km². Tehran is a capital with a rather low density, which is mostly due to the vast un-built areas. By taking only the built-up area in account, the density is higher with 14,600 p/km². ¹⁹ The built-up density differs between the zones, whereas the average density of the south is much higher with 30,000 p/km² than in the north with 4,000-9,000 p/km².

^{20 15} IIEES 2005, p.10

¹⁶ Zebardast 2005, p.9

¹⁷ Thum, Shirazi [1] 2005

¹⁸ Fernandez 2004, p.25

¹⁹ Bertaud 2003, p.8

²⁰ Bertaud 2003, p.9

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This is mainly due to the floor space consumption in the north, which is four times higher, compared to the south. The average floor space consumption is 25.5 m² per person (m²/p). ²¹ Green spaces concentrate on the north-eastern and north-western margins. The city is composed of an irregular interconnected system of main roads. In the central area, within the

traffic zone, there is the traditional small-scale network of streets, dividing this area into small quadrants. Highways are in the northern part of Tehran and lead around the city. The disparity between the north and the south of the city, leading to a bipolar structure, is the most conspicuous feature of the city. Being the main east-west axis, boulevard Enqelab Avenue spatially separates these two contradicting city regions. In the north and northwest are mostly residential neighborhoods, while the north-eastern section is composed of mixed typology of uses. It contains the modern “Central Business District” (CBD) with several offices. In addition most governmental, cultural and public facilities of Tehran are located in the northern region, including embassies and ministries, theatres and museums, shopping malls, and the University of Tehran.

²¹ Bertaud 2003, p.9

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The structure of the buildings is mostly modern, and high-rise, modelled on Western style architecture. Contrasting the north, south of Enquelab Avenue are the older quarters of city, containing the traditional bazaar-center. This center contrasts the modern CBD as it is very low in density and lacks businesses and civic

institutions. There are many abandoned buildings or institutional holding with run-down fabric, and just few older residential buildings. The whole southern region has deficiencies of cultural amenities and public institutions such as health and education facilities. This region is dominated by industrial worksites since large industrial companies and smaller manufacturing units are concentrated in the

south. Therefore, this area is more polluted than the northern section. The aging residential buildings in

this area are in dilapidated shape and constructed in a dense way, with very limited green space. Most buildings are five to seven storeys high, and consist of one-room tenements, which provide floor space of only 10 m²/p. On the southern margins are some informal homes or slums, which are characterized by even lower quality as they consist of nondurable materials. Most of these informal structures are huts, erected by squatters near the industrial worksites. Due to the low living quality in the southern parts of Tehran, real estate prices are significantly lower in this region compares to the north (see illustration 11).

RESEARCH PAPER 2006/07 COPING WITH GROWTH IN TEHRAN: STRATEGIES OF DEVELOPMENT REGULATION

In the north, land prices have always been higher due to the better climatic conditions. As in consequence, mainly low-income groups live in the south whereas high-income people prefer the modern north. The spatial separation is also reflected in a social segregation between Tehran’s income-classes.

2.4 Socio-Economical Structure

Tehran Province is the economical center of Iran as it contains about 30% of Iran’s economy, and represents 40% of Iran’s consumer market. ²² Tehran Province accounts for 26% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Iran, which is the highest GDP rate nationwide. The province has the 4 ^th highest GDP per capita of all provinces. ²³ Many large national companies are located in Tehran city. Tehran is the “first industrial zone of Iran” due to the concentration of 45% of Iran’s large industrial firms in the capital. ²⁴ Industries include the manufacturing of electronics, weaponry, textiles, sugar, cement and pharmaceutical products. Especially the production of cars takes a large segment in the manufacturing sector. Tehran is also the leading center for sale of carpets and furniture and incorporates an oil refinery nearby. ²⁵ Furthermore, 30% of Iran’s public-sector workplaces are located in Tehran. ²⁶ Of the total active population in Tehran, one third has jobs in the industrial sector (Secondary Sector). In this sector, about 60-80% of the migrant population work as unskilled workers. ²⁷ Considering the population of the TMA (excluding Tehran), even more work in this sector. However, most inhabitants of Tehran work in the service sector, whereas in the TMA, only half of the total active population have jobs in the Third Sector.

²² Iran Country Study Guide 2004 (in 2001)

²³ Iran Country Study Guide 2004 (in 2001)

²⁴ United Nations - Cyber School Bus 2006

²⁵ IIEES 2005, p.8

²⁶ All-Experts Encyclopedia 2006

²⁷ Bayat 2006, p.291

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Tehran has an exceptional high rate of economic participation, including employed and unemployed persons, as in comparison in Iran (41.1% in 2006). ²⁸ Also the unemployment in Tehran is lower than in Iran (14 % in 2006). However, economists believe the unemployment rate of Tehran and Iran could be much higher as the official reports of the government. Some experts say it could be as high as 20%. ²⁹ The growth of the national GDP was 5% in 2006, which was mainly due to the high oil price on the international markets. Nevertheless, the country faces economical problems associated with the current political instabilities, such as the rising political tensions in Iran’s foreign relations. This is reflected in the large deficit of Iran’s state budget, which was 71 trillion Iranian Rials (= 5.9 billion Euros) in 2005. In comparison to the previous year the deficit of the governmental budget increased by 70%. ³⁰ Furthermore the high inflation rate of Iran, which is 15.5% in 2005 (in comparison, in Germany it is 2.0%), negatively affects the national economy as it impedes the economic growth. ³¹ This badly affected Tehran’s economy as the Tehran Stock Exchange dropped 20% within five months in 2005. 32

The wages in Tehran are low due to the large segment of unskilled workers. It is estimated that about 20% of Tehran’s population lives below the poverty line (in 2005), “poor” being defined as those that have an income lower than 250 U.S. dollars per month. ³³ The largest segment of population (33%) is between 20 and 40

years old, while the average age in the TMA is higher. ³⁴ Besides Persians, there are Azeri, Armenian, Jewish and Afghani communities in Tehran. The vast majority of Tehran’s residents are Persian-speaking (98.3%), which is due to the

migration of people coming from surrounding areas, such as the neighboring provinces in Iran. 35

²⁸ SCI 2006 [1] (in 2006)

²⁹ Samii 2006

³⁰ Iran Daily 2006

³¹ German Industry and Commerce 2007

³² Iran Focus 2005

³³ IIEES 2005, p.8

³⁴ TGIC 2004

³⁵ IIEES 2005, p.8

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2.5 Infrastructure

The most important cultural and governmental institutions of the nation concentrate in Tehran. There are numerous large museums, exhibition halls, theatres, art centers, palace complexes, and other cultural amenities in the

capital. The provision of technical infrastructure is deficient in several parts of the city, which is mostly due to old structures. In some districts, the water supply or electricity is cut off during the day for a few hours. ³⁶ The existing sewage

system is not sufficient for the current demand,

and most human waste is discharged untreated to the ground or watercourse, increasing the

hazards of contamination. ³⁷ Tehran has a public transport system, consisting of metro, busses, and taxis. About 60% of all trips are done by public transport. ³⁸ The metro-system, which had been planned since 1979, has opened two of nine envisaged lines in 2001. Since the current 43 metro stations are accessible by about 14 % of the municipal population, the metro system is highly inefficient. ³⁹ There is currently

a shortage of public parking spaces in the city. Taxis are assigned to serve within a particular district, while driving only on main roads. Therefore, it is necessary to take several taxis to reach a distant location. The transportation system of Tehran is insufficient, which is proven by the congested streets, leading to a low average speed of 18 km/h. ⁴⁰ Illustration 15: Inefficient Metro Most inhabitants depend on vehicles such as busses, System - Only Two Lines

taxis, or private cars for local journeys. The 1.4 million

mainly old vehicles, with out-of-date exhaust systems congest Tehran’s streets. In addition, most vehicles consume low-quality gas, which all has negative consequences in form of high air contamination. Also the current trend of car production adds to the problem, as a result of which newly-made cars are flooding Tehran’s streets. 41

³⁶ Iran-Manesh 1990, p.239

³⁷ United Nations (Cyber Schoolbus) 2006

³⁸ Bertaud 2003, p.3

³⁹ Bertaud 2003, p.5

⁴⁰ Shirazi, Thum [2] 2005

⁴¹ Iran Daily 2005

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In Tehran, public and private vehicles cause 70% of

environmental pollution. ⁴² Public institutions such as schools and government offices are shut down several times due to the smog that smothers the capital. Pollution alerts are becoming increasingly common in the city, with air quality deemed unhealthy for at least 100 days of the year. 43

With regard to the infrastructure within the TMA,

many villages and cities show high deficiencies.

According to the TGIC, there are shortages in supply of water, electricity and gas. ⁴⁴ Furthermore many agglomerations lack public and private services such as community amenities. The connection between the cities and villages by a comprehensive roadway system is in the process of being established, while there is no regional public transport system. Only between Tehran and Karaj is a connection by a railway. 45

⁴² Shirazi, Thum [2] 2005

⁴³ Iran Daily 2006

⁴⁴ TGIC 2004

⁴⁵ Bertaud 2003, p.21

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3. Stages of Growth and Regulation Measures

3.1 Phase until 1970: City Expansion in Course of Industrialization

The city developed rapidly from a small suburban village to a capital city as it benefited of its good strategic setting at the intersection of East-Western and North-Southern merchant routes. In the beginnings of the 20 ^th century, along

with the Constitutional Revolution, the discovery of oil, and the change of government, the oriental smallscale town, consisting of a city wall, a bazaar, and a citadel transformed. By pursing the strategy of widespread planning, the city was expanded to 46 km² and its spatial structure adapted to the Western

world. This modernization process was intensified in the 1950s. In the course of World War II and the

nationalization of oil, and the following industrialization, Iran’s economical role increased in the world. The central government focussed on the capital as the center of industry and trade. Therefore, they fuelled the construction of

manufacturing companies in Tehran. The city became a magnet for migrants from all parts of Iran and several World War II - refugees fled to Tehran. In 1956, the population had increased to 1.5 million, of which 433.000 were migrants. ⁴⁶ Migrants came from all over the country, fleeing from the poor living conditions in rural areas, in search for jobs and better living quality. With the increased revenues from oil, the Interior Ministry fuelled Tehran’s urbanization, which spread

Illustration 18: Table of Population

Growth in Tehran City from 1891 to into all directions in 1960s.

1966

In 1963, the MHUD drafted a land reform and

expanded the municipal area. In order to provide land for industries the city expanded southward as the villages of Ray and Shemiranat merged with Tehran. In the west and north, the MHUD parcelled land, and handed it over to Tehran Municipality in order to provide land for civil servants and workers to establish homes.

⁴⁶ Dashti 2002, p.16

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Since the majority of them lacked money to build

houses, they had to sell the land, resulting in land speculations on the housing market. ⁴⁷ The land speculations led to increasing prices within Tehran in the following decades. The construction of residential neighbourhoods took place all-around Tehran, while industries were settled on the plain barren lands in the south. The higher-income classes preferably lived to the northern and north-eastern

region in vicinity of the mountains due to the better climatic and environmental conditions. Migrants and

industrial workers moved near the industries that concentrated in the south. In 1966, the city had expanded to 180 km² and its population had increased to 2.7 million. 48

⁴⁷ Dashti 2002, p.17

⁴⁸ Dashti 2002, p.16

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3.2 Phase 1970s till 1980s: Rapid Growth and the first Efforts to

Control Growth

In response to the rapid growth of the city, the MHUD instructed a consortium of a local consulting engineer company and an urban planner from the U.S. to prepare the first comprehensive master plan of Tehran, which was approved in 1968. The plan was laid out for a 25-year period, and limited the growth of population to 5.5 million. The plan proposed a new 230-km² boundary (service zone) to contain growth for the next five years, and for future growth a 650-km² boundary (buffer zone). ⁴⁹ By limiting Tehran’s growth, this plan indicated a paradigm shift of urban planning, as the MHUD began to pursue the strategy of decentralization. With funds of the central government they intended to fuel the development of new townships around the city to absorb the excess population of the city. ⁵⁰ The HCAUP was assigned to regulate Tehran’s expansion between the 5-year and 25year boundary. ⁵¹ Besides the expansion, the 1968-master plan envisioned to decentralize growth within Tehran by dividing the city into 10 autonomous “urban regions”, each with 500,000 inhabitants, to be linked with metro and bus routes.

⁴⁹ Zebardast 2005, p.6

⁵⁰ Thum, Shirazi 2005

⁵¹ Zebardast 2005, p.3

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It also suggested the restriction of densities and land uses, and redevelopment of the city fabric. ⁵² The implementation of the proposals was upon the Municipality, with the financial help of the MHUD. Laws were passed to implement the

regulative measures by expanding the legal limits to 230km², fixing the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) at a certain level for new construction, and restricting zones for certain land use types. Throughout the 1970s, modernization efforts were implemented in the city. Most of the construction process concentrated in the northern regions. At that time the modern city center, the CBD, containing new governmental buildings and public institutions was built north of the traditional city center. The construction of a new street network consisting of orthogonal highways was

started in the north, which led to the deletion of many

green spaces. In the inner city, the Municipality established a “traffic zone” because of the increasing

traffic problems. Within the 22 km² zone private cars were prohibited during the day while access was allowed for public transport vehicles. ⁵³ Within the next decade, the continuous population growth led to a housing shortage for the large segment of low-waged inhabitants. The restricted FAR levels and the 230-km² boundary,

which remained the legal limit even after the 5-year period ended, reinforced increasing prices in Tehran. ⁵⁴ A consequence of the continuing migration and lack

suburbanization of Tehran. Profiteers such as developers and government officials took advantage of the increasing housing shortage for the poor rural migrants, and within a considerably short time, large

agricultural and barren lands were turned into residential areas all around Tehran. Without proper

planning, many towns sprang up like mushrooms, consisting of mostly low-quality housing, and deficient technical infrastructure and community services. A lot of this construction work was done illegally within the “unofficial” 25-year boundary which was not set free for development yet. Particularly government officials bought hundreds of hectares of farmlands around the municipal limits, and sold it to developers who changed them into residential

⁵² Zebardast 2005, p.7

⁵³ Madanipour 2006, p.232

⁵⁴ TGIC 2004

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zones without proper approval or permit. Even though, the Interior Ministry had assigned the HCAUP to control the development around Tehran, they did not challenge the land deals. ⁵⁵ The “illegal” land deals led to conflicts between Tehran Municipality and the Interior Ministry since the city government blamed the MHUD and HCAUP for the uncontrolled development of mainly townships with poor living conditions. ⁵⁶ Satellite towns also emerged apart from the 25-year boundary of Tehran. Between 1965 and 1975 the population in the TMA increased from 3 million to 5.2 million, with a growth rate of 7.5% annually. Beginning from 1980s, the population growth rate in the TMA has been higher than in Tehran city. For example, from 1965 to1985, the population of the TMA grew annually by 8.3% and in the city by 5.7% (see illustration 24).

Within the municipal limits, the envisaged city structure by the master plan never took shape. The lack of affordable adequate housing caused the low-waged migrants to erect informal settlements. Without having land tenure, the squatters, which were mostly poor migrants, built homes near the industries in the south. Their homes mostly consisting of non-durable materials and provided just little space, which was sometimes only 2.5 m²/p. ⁵⁷ The Municipality was not able to cope with this situation since responsibilities for the regulation of

⁵⁵ Zarghami 2005

⁵⁶ Zarghami 2005

⁵⁷ Bayat 2006, p.288

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development within the municipal limits were not organized. ⁵⁸ Therefore, no city official was responsible to ensure compliance with land use or zoning rules. According to the Municipality, the only solution for the problem of illegal constructions was the eviction of the squatters and the demolition of their homes. These drastic measures caused counterviolations of the evicted people against the government. These conflicts were intensified by the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which led to an economical and political crisis in Iran. In 1981 the housing situation in Tehran had become critical as the population limit of 5.5 million was passed and 30% of all houses in Tehran were overcrowded. ⁵⁹ At that time, the MHUD finally gave permission to Tehran Municipality to expand the municipal limits to the 25-year boundary, which consolidated the informal settlements. The political instabilities continued as the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq began in 1980. Since the Interior Ministry focussed on the war, they withdrew efforts of finance and regulation. While many war refugees moved to Tehran or the surrounding towns, several construction processes within the city stopped, such as the envisaged metro. During these decades of uncontrolled development the city had become a herd of problems such as high air pollution, high built-up density, unemployment,

infrastructure, and the continuous migration of lowincome groups. Since most modernization processes were implemented in the northern parts of the city, such as the construction of the new city center, the southern parts were neglected by infrastructure investments of the government, leading to a decline in the inner city and most southern quarters. The “traffic zone” in the inner city reinforced the decline of this region, since this area was difficult to access by inhabitants. The city had become a dualistic city

characterized by social polarization since the higher-income households had left the declining city parts and had moved to the new neighborhoods in the north, while the lowerincome households remained in the south. The center with the bazaar was almost totally abandoned. 60

⁵⁸ Zarghami 200

⁵⁹ Bayrat 2006, p.292

⁶⁰ TGIC 2004

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3.3 Phase from 1980s: Modernization and New Regulation Efforts

In line with changes of the national Constitution in

1989 as Municipalities became economically self-supporting, the city officials searched for new means of financial resources and started the illegal practice of “selling zoning variance”. Whenever there was demand, city officials allowed builders an increase of the FAR to build in higher densities and alterations of land uses, stipulated in the 1968-master plan, in exchange for a fee. ⁶¹ In some years, the revenues earned from selling density comprised about 90% of the total municipal revenues. ⁶² This practice was

continued throughout 1990s, resulting in several high-rise building constructions throughout the city. This was fuelled even more in 1997, when the city legalized this practice by allowing deviations of the up to 385% of the fixed FAR-levels. The allowance of variable densities caused the increase of built-up densities and infrastructure deficits in the declined regions. In inner-city and southern quarters many buildings with small

dwelling units were constructed, and the provision of infrastructure had become more difficult due to the increase of population. ⁶³ This development caused many protests among Tehran’s residents living in the high-dense city quarters. In the beginnings of 1990s it became evident to the government that the city had not developed according to the first master plan. Such growth, especially surrounding Tehran’s municipal limits was not envisioned in the master plan. After the HCAUP advised the MHUD to prepare a new master plan, an Iranian engineering company was assigned to draft the plan. Even though, the MHUD approved the plan in 1992, the Municipality

of Tehran did not put it into effect afterwards since they were not consulted during the plan-making process, and argued that it was not responsive to the city needs and lacked planning objectives. 64

⁶¹ Zebardast 2005, p.2

⁶² Bertaud 2003, p.19

⁶³ Zebardast 2005, p.11

⁶⁴ Zebardast 2005, p.8

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In 1994, the MHUD approved a new comprehensive plan, which based on the 1992-master plan, known as the “Strategic-1380-Plan” (1380 = Persian year for period 2000-2001). The Municipality had added six priority objectives that aimed to solve the most pressing problems of the city. These were: Clean City; Smoothly Moving City; Green City; A High Cultured City; Dynamic City; Modern-Traditional Texture. ⁶⁵ In course of drafting the Strategic Plan, the Municipality made some efforts to improve the disastrous situation of traffic and air pollution. For example, 1,500 diesel- and petrol engines of public busses and taxis were conversed to run natural gas, “Pollution Indicator Boards” were installed to increase the people’s awareness about the hazards of pollution, and an increase of green space from 2.5 m² to 10 m² per person. ⁶⁶ This led to the declaration of Tehran, as one of 25 “Best Practice-Cities” on the UN-Habitat conference in 1996. ⁶⁷ Furthermore, laws had been passed that adopted some of the proposals of the 1992-master plan such as the expansion of the municipal area to 707 km² and the division of the city into 22 partly autonomous districts.

⁶⁵ Dafateri-Moghaddam 2001, p.7

⁶⁶ Madanipour 2006, p.233

⁶⁷ Dafateri-Moghaddam 2001, p.7

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In 2001, the Strategic Plan was extended for a 25-year period. However, since the problems of the city such as air pollution, traffic congestion, decline in certain city quarters, social conflicts, and insufficient infrastructure are still evident, the Municipality plans currently to

draft a new master plan. Their goals are the rehabilitation of blighted areas, reducing pollution, increasing the efficiency of transport, and developing cultural amenities worthy a regional capital. ⁶⁸ The gap between the Municipality of Tehran and the Interior Ministry regarding planning objectives has increased. Despite the problems in Tehran, the central government has not made any efforts to

assist the Municipality with finance for infrastructure. Instead the MHUD has pursued the decentralization

strategy by freezing the infrastructure capacity of Tehran while providing funds for infrastructure for the satellite towns of the TMA. In this context, the MHUD intends to enact a law that freezes the population limit of Tehran at 7.65 million.

3.4 Present Strategy of Decentralization

Basing on the idea to limit the growth of Tehran, the MHUD and the HCAUP have approved the first Regional Development Plan in 2004, valid until 2020. It is the first time in the history of Tehran that a plan on regional scale has been passed.

⁶⁸ Thum, Shirazi 2005

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The plan suggests solutions to absorb the surplus population of Tehran when the 7.65-million limit is passed. The plan envisages creating nine urban agglomerations by equipping some larger cities with (major) infrastructure funded by the central government to serve as regional centers, which will increasingly perform the functions of capital cities. ⁶⁹ The TMA for 2020 is planned to consist of high-density urban cores spread over a distance of 200 km, which are to be separated by “green zones” to preserve agriculture and the rural character of settlements. ⁷⁰ These unities are planned to be connected by a transportation network. The nine urban unities are either already existing towns or suburbs, or are going to be developed as new towns. The “New Town”-concept is based on the establishment of totally new autonomous towns in order to relieve development pressure of the major cities, in particular Tehran. Since 2003, there is collaboration between Iranian and German partners to manage the development of the New Towns. ⁷¹ In Iran, the national government has established the “Iran New Towns Development Organization” (INTDO). The INTDO works together with the “Building and Housing Center” (BHRC), which is a national agency that is in charge of implementing technical norms of the housing

sector. For example, the BHRC decides about the utilization of certain building materials. ⁷² On the German side, a working group, called “Young Cities-Organization” has

established. Within this organization are specialists from the TU-Berlin, collaborators from institutions of tertiary education, and partners from the fields of building economy. The New Town concept is included in the

research program of the German “Federal Ministry of Education and Research” (BMBF)

[Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung] that has the title: “New Towns as a Concept for the Sustainable Development of Mega-Urban Regions”. ⁷³ In the TMA are five New-Town projects in the process of development. One example of such a New Town is Hashterd, founded in 1990, 65 km west of Tehran. This town is being developed to absorb the surplus population of Tehran and Karaj. The population is at present 60,000 (estimate in 2005). It is projected that the population is going to boost up to 0.5 million by 2015. This implies an accelerating population growth rate of 2083% (1990-2015). 74

⁶⁹ Bertaud 2003, p.22

⁷⁰ Bertaud 2003, p.22

⁷¹ Hiesecke (Young Cities Organization) 2006

⁷² Schäfer; Parhizkar 2005

⁷³ Federal Ministry of Education and Research 2005

⁷⁴ Federal Ministry of Education and Research 2005

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4. Evaluation of Regulating Local and Regional Development

4.1 Deficiencies Development Regulation in Tehran City

4.1.1 Centralized and Hierarchical Authority System

A centralized planning system by governing the local development from the national level can lead to the implementation of inadequate measures that do not address properly the most significant needs of the city. Even though the municipal authorities in Tehran have more autonomy since the past years, a long time the regulation of development, including the draft of laws, plans and the decisions about infrastructure investments was exclusively upon the agencies of Interior Ministry. Development regulation cannot be done efficiently, when the superior agencies are assigned to coordinate the development of several regions in the nation. Since the territorial jurisdiction is too wide, it is not possible to maintain a view for the details. This way of management can rather damage the development of a city than help to improve it. It is not a viable solution to transfer the responsibility of planning to private consulting companies or foreign urban planners. It is more difficult for non-local players or even non-national players to respond appropriately to the local problems, to define priority objectives and the most important needs of the city. The one-sided planning approach by drafting regulations and plans for a locality without cooperating with the local authorities, public and private institutions, and professionals can lead to a deficient outcome. As the case of Tehran’s second master plan shows, which was prepared in a non-participatory manner, the result of such process can be a highly deficient plan which is not responsive to the city needs, lacking necessary comprehensive planning strategies and objectives, and making no financial requirements for the implementation.

This way of planning results in disconsensus between the different authorities leading to conflicts and therefore inefficient management which might cause damage to the development of the city due to implementing deficient regulations. The exclusion of local stakeholders is one problem of this centralized policy-making process, another is the enforced implementation by the sub-ordinate authorities as it had been the case in Iran before 1989. Also the financial dependence on superordinated agencies is critical since the development of a city is constantly depending on the decision of an authority which might not be able to maintain a view for the necessary details and might therefore run the risk to make inadequate financial allotments. This also causes problems when the financial assistance for infrastructure is cancelled without identifying substitute mechanisms for income generation. If that happens, the local authorities are likely to be overcharged since they do not have any

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fiscal plans to compensate the sudden lack of finance since they never needed to. This can interrupt development processes of the city and in the long run it can lead to a decline. Furthermore it can force the financially constraint authorities to take inappropriate or even illegal measures in order to acquire the necessary finance (i.e. selling zoning variance). A centralized way of policy-making, creating a high dependence on the decisions of a superior agency, leads to a very unilateral way of management as all measures are designed to correspond to the opinion of the central authority. By excluding sub-ordinate authorities and certain local stakeholders this neglects various opinions and advices which can be valuable in order to find solutions and make the right decisions. A lack of autonomy also creates unwillingness and de-motivates the subordinate players to cooperate. This can lead to a refusal of implementing any of the proposed regulations by the superior authorities and might induce a total withdrawal of local authorities from the management of the city. The consequence is that there are no regulations of the development at all which has also been the case in Tehran in some periods.

The centralized and non-participatory way of planning is also insufficient as it neglects the most important group on the city level: the inhabitants. The members of the community directly have to bear the consequences of the governmental measures. In Tehran there have been no participation opportunities for the public during the planning and decision-making processes. The dominant way of thinking is apparently: “planning for the people” instead of “planning with the people”. However, in order to address planning measures appropriately for the people it is necessary to include them into the process. This in-transparent way of planning and policy-making can trigger distrust and conflicts among the citizens towards the government. It does not only create disadvantages for inhabitants but also for the local government as they depend on revenues of the inhabitants.

A highly centralized and hierarchical administrative system of managing the city creates a disadvantage for decision makers. It is difficult to access local information, develop participatory approaches, and enforce urban policies.

4.1.2 Inconsistent Control of Development

A major cause of inconsistent regulation of development is a poor internal organization of the institutional framework and unclear allocations of tasks to certain authorities. The lack of administrative bodies that ensure compliance with rules or respond to concerns about possible violations of regulations leads to a high inefficiency of the development control and management. It is a problem when affairs of urban planning, including the draft of regulations are not assigned to particular municipal bodies. Such unclear allocation of responsibilities provokes convergence of competence areas and tasks, leading to very

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inefficient management of the city. This is reflected in Tehran as there is no particular municipal body in charge to regulate the city’s development. Since the authorities are assigned to manage a broad range of tasks for the city management, they are likely to be overcharged and run risk to manage certain tasks just superficially and might even make wrong decisions. A vague allocation of responsibilities for the administrative bodies causes conflicts and misunderstandings. The consequence is an institutional fragmentation and the obstruction of processes of drafting, enacting, controlling regulation and development policies. This is a problem as the lack of control can have major negative effects on the city. For example, during the phase of 1960s-1980s, Tehran Municipality did not make efforts to control urban development, and as in consequence several violations of land use and zoning were done within the municipal limits without any local authority acting upon this. The lack of a controlling authority can attract fraudsters who seize the chance of the non-regulation to multiply their wealth though irregular land deals. The negative consequences are financial constraints of the local government. Sufficient control of development can also not occur, when the responsible authorities themselves commit such violations such as illegal land deals. For example in Tehran, the economic ambitions of the city officials have made them “sell the city” to mop up revenues. Even though, the practice of selling land use and density deviations to builders of what is stipulated by the 1992-master plan is not illegal anymore it is a testimony of the inconsistent way of handling development policies. It is not the right way to establish legally binding regulations first of all, and making them ineffective shortly afterwards. This makes the draft of development regulations needless. Negative consequences can be a damaged spatial structure of the city and an increasing distrust of inhabitants toward the policy makers. Such attitude of municipal authorities can also intensify the violations of regulations since it motivates profiteers to mimic these actions. In addition, this inconsistent control due to selfinflicted violations might even by adopted by the government in other competence areas for policy-making.

4.1.3 Unequal Regulation of Development

The unequal distribution of infrastructure investments to regulate the development of a city, by ignoring the external influences can lead to an unbalanced and irreparable city structure. The spatial structure of Tehran reflects such unbalanced implementation of infrastructure measures since modernization or improvement has been predominately limited to the northern city quarters of Tehran. As a consequence the neglected parts of the city have begun to decline, such as the inner city and southern regions of Tehran. A continuing

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ignorance of declining city regions intensifies the problems. It is not a sustainable way of management to neglect the areas of a city which need improvement and regulation the most. The resulting deficient spatial structure due to unbalanced development also negatively influences the economical development. The fragmented spatial structure of Tehran city divides the labor and consumer markets into smaller less efficient markets, contributing to higher transaction costs due to increasing distances between people and places. The deficient structure increases the length of the city infrastructure network and therefore can increase costs, which can render a city economically uncompetitive. Besides that, the spatial segregation of the city causes social segregation, reflected in the socio-economic structure of the “wealthy north” and the “poor south”.

Since certain income groups accumulate in one region, these areas run risk to become trouble spots where problems are most likely to aggregate. This is due to unsatisfied inhabitants regarding the poor living conditions, discrimination by higher social classes, and the ignorance by the government. The trouble spots are likely to be avoided by other inhabitants and policy makers, which will reinforce the local decline and worsen the situation of the poor.

Imbalanced development in the city is also a consequence due to a false allocation of regulation measures which neglect the financial constraints of the segment. This is clearly reflected in the issue of regulating the housing market. A withdrawal from the public sector of the housing market makes the provision of “affordable” housing for lower income people

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increasingly difficult. This can lead to an unbalanced market which cannot satisfy the demand. In Tehran the government does not intervene in the housing market at all, while there is high demand of lower-price accommodations. The term “social housing construction” [sozialer Wohnungsbau] is not known in Tehran. This creates problems for poorer people as they have difficulties to afford living in adequate housing conditions in the city. They are forced to live on the city’s periphery, away from employment sites, mostly in run-down buildings, located in areas lacking infrastructure. This causes inequality since the neglected social groups cannot profit from the city such as employment and amenities. The shortage of low-priced homes and the non-regulation of the public sector in the housing market can also lead to illegal construction. The measure to evict the inhabitants and demolish the illegal homes, which was implemented by the Municipality of Tehran, especially during the 1970s, is not an effective solution. However, the non-intervention in the provision of housing is not a viable option either. The non-intervention of the government in the market leads to a total control of the market by the private sector. This leads to speculations and rising prices on the market, making it increasingly difficult for low-income households to get affordable homes. Investors and developers are profit-driven and therefore primarily focused on satisfying the demand of their main target group, the high-income population. Secondary is the construction of houses for the financially constrained population. Due to costeffectiveness, accommodations for low-income classes are typically constructed with cheaper materials, providing insufficient floor space and equipment, located in cheap areas that lack infrastructure and might provide low environmental quality.

4.1.4 Inadquate Regulation Policies

The practice of selling zoning variance is an

improper development regulation since its implementation can cause major damages. The illegal deals of selling zoning variance have already been discussed to be false regulation approaches, and the legalization is also not a proper way to regulate development of a city. In this context, the example of zoning regulation of densities is evaluated. An increase in FAR-levels in already developed areas usually requires a raise in

infrastructure capacity to service the increased population. Nevertheless, in some parts of the city, especially in the “underdeveloped” southern parts, this increase in infrastructure capacity might not be possible. Assuming, an increase in the FAR is given is such areas, the

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population is served on a lower level of services and amenities than before the increase. The consequence can be a loss of welfare for the inhabitants. In areas where the increase of the FAR is feasible, the Municipality will incur expenses in order to adapt the infrastructure to the increased number of population. While the city government receives money for the increase in FAR, the agencies responsible for provision of infrastructure have costs due to their obligation to maintain an adequate level of city services. Unless these costs are taken into account, the city has no way of knowing whether by allowing an increased FAR they are making a profit or loosing money in the long term. Therefore, fees coming from the increase in FAR do not necessarily mean a steady source of revenue. Since the real estate economy is very cyclical, the reliance on such revenues the city could lead to running the risk of serious financial problems at some date.

The strategy of freezing the population of a city is a very questionable measure as it can have non-bearable consequences such as a decline in cities. The implementation of this measure as it has been the case in Tehran along with the first master plan, leads to declining conditions of the city’s structure, economy, living-quality, while increasing costs for the municipal authorities. The financial constraints of the Municipality can lead to dubious measures in order to increase the municipal budget. Referring to the regulation, stipulated by the 1968-master plan to contain 5.5 million people within the 230-km² boundary this measure had the opposite result of what was intended: “out-of-control” instead of “in-control” development. Cities are dynamic since they need to change and adapt quickly to new circumstances. With a stable population there is no reason to build anything new. Banning new construction to keep municipal population stable means in fact that households living in small apartments in the southern part of the city can never hope to get larger dwellings at some time, unless they leave the city. With an administratively mandated fixed population, and no possibility of creating new jobs, Tehran is condemned to stagnate economically. Since Iran’s economy highly depends on Tehran as it is the national economical and commercial center, this measure will have deep impact on the whole country as it might lead to a decline in Iran’s economy and its international role. It cannot be the goal to deteriorate the infrastructure and economy to the point, which forces people to move out of Tehran. This measure leads to un-dynamic economic development. Therefore, this is not a viable regulation strategy of the government as it will not solve the existing problems, but rather create more.

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4.2 Deficiencies Development Regulation of the Region

4.2.1 Insufficient Decentralization Strategy

Decentralization, by directing growth into several urban cores, can be a viable strategy in order to distribute the growth of a city more equally within a more capacious region. This helps to ease the pressure as a result form the concentration of growth in one spot. However, the decentralization strategy for Tehran is deficient as it lacks proper planning approaches. As mentioned above, the plan to freeze the population and infrastructure capacity of a city while directing growth into the towns in the surrounding region is a risky approach without appropriate plans for finance and infrastructure as well as regulation policies. For example, the New Town of Hashterd (see ch. 3.4) runs risk to lack the necessary establishments/equipment to service its inhabitants. The city has a very high population growth rate of 83.3% annually, raising the question, whether the responsible authorities can keep pace with the quick development or lose the control. The history of Tehran’s development shows that this decentralization strategy can have opposite results of what the intentions are: uncontrolled growth and irreversible damage of the regional development. It can cause massive shortages of infrastructure, finance, and living quality. These deficiencies are still evident in many of the urban agglomerations in the TMA, causing negative consequences for economy, society, and the environment. In the case of Tehran, the promise of the national government to finance the infrastructure of the urban cores is highly questionable since there a large deficit in the budget of the national government (5.9 billion Euros) (see ch. 2.4). However, the financial support to equip the towns of the TMA is necessary, in order to prevent economical decline. Nevertheless, the intention to increase infrastructure funds for the new towns in the TMA by decreasing funds for the major cities, such as Tehran, cannot be a viable option. Even though the larger cities might be economically more mature, this does not necessarily mean that the local government has the financial resources to be totally self-supporting. The case of Tehran shows, that the local authorities are challenged due to deficits in the municipal budget and problems with the coordination of the local competences. The superior agencies of the national government should be concerned with the overall development of the region and in particular with the development of cities that show deficiencies, such as Tehran. The disregard of certain cities can have fundamental economical constraints.

The decentralization strategy of Iran’s government is also deficient, since there are several factors that impede a comprehensive integration of the urban and rural agglomerations into one regional network. As already discussed in ch. 4.1.1, the authority system of Iran with regard to tasks of planning or development regulation is very insufficient. This also affects

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the management on the regional level. Since the local and national levels are not integrated in all respects, this can lead to suboptimal realisations, a low or inefficient use of local talents and human resources. Furthermore, the deficiencies of social and cultural history of some of the towns and villages make the incorporation into a metropolitan network more complicated. In the case of the New Towns, integration is particularly difficult since the new community is searching for its own identity. In addition, such towns struggle with immediate, significant, technical and economic challenges. Due to a quick urbanization rate the new towns and suburbs run risk to suffer from deficiencies in infrastructure to serve the increasing population. A regional integration cannot function, when it is focused exclusively on the urban cores, such as the New Towns, as it is the case in the TMA. It can create spatial distortion when the spaces in-between are neglected. The wide-scale planned spatial distribution of the nine urban agglomerations within the TMA impedes the integration into one comprehensive network. The spatial distribution of the urban cores with large in-between spaces makes a connection to a regional comprehensive transportation network difficult because of high construction costs. However, the provision of an efficient public mass transport network is necessary to create a regional network. Even though, this is included in the regional plan for the TMA, the government rather focuses on establishing transport systems within the urban cores. Besides that, the government lacks necessary funds for constructing such a comprehensive transportation network. If the lack of a connection between the urban cores endures, the labor markets between the various urban areas are not properly integrated in the regional network. As a consequence, the TMA will miss economic benefits of unified labor markets and will return to scale of large labor and consumer markets. Furthermore, the individual transport could become a substitute for mass transit and the region could develop on a wider area at lower density. A negative consequence would be the increase of pollution. The current spatial heterogeneous status of the TMA and the inadequate decentralization strategy creates a sense of regional incompleteness.

4.2.2 Deficient Administrative Organization of the Regional Authorities

The organization of the institutional framework of the administration on the regional level is highly hierarchical. This causes dissidences between the authorities. The main problem is unequal distribution of power in this highly hierarchical administration system. This is mainly caused by the questionable definition of “city” and “village”, which occurs in an arbitrary and inconsistent way by the Interior Ministry. Since the declaration of an agglomeration as a “city” depends on the infrastructure equipment while disregarding the amount of population, this means that sometimes highly populous rural agglomerations or villages without proper infrastructure keep the status of a village. This creates “border effects” between cities and

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villages. The centralized system of organizing the local authorities, in which rural authorities of villages are financially and legally depended on superior authorities, whereas municipal authorities are autonomous and have more competences (i.e. legislation for regulation of land use or taxing; allotment of infrastructure finance) causes imbalance between the administrative units. One consequence is that the land within the jurisdiction of the weaker rural authorities is more likely to lack proper land use or tax regulations as well as infrastructure. This is reinforced, when the superior agencies that should be responsible to control the overall-development of a region, rather focuses on cities than rural areas in view of regulation control and infrastructure finance. This has been the case in the TMA as the national agencies have put priority on Tehran’s development for a long time while neglecting other towns or villages. This is a very risky planning approach, especially when the “weaker” rural authorities of villages do not have the competences to control development themselves. Since the territory in jurisdiction of a village is less restricted by law, profiteers are likely to be attracted. They seize the chance to turn this land into development zones without facing costly regulatory constraints within the territorial jurisdiction of Municipalities. Profiteers take advantage of the rural authorities since the land is cheaper because it lacks infrastructure. Especially developers catering to the lowest segment of the housing market are likely to build on the constraint free land within the jurisdiction of villages. The consequence can be a rapid urbanization of rural areas in villages. As it has been the case in the TMA, these areas at the urban fringe are urbanized faster and at higher densities in comparison to some residential neighborhoods in a municipality. This has major disadvantages for the regional development. From an ecologic point of view, the quick urbanization of land causes the vanishing of rural areas that are important to ensure preservation of environment. As it is the objective of the regional development plan for the TMA to preserve the rural character of the areas between the dense urban clusters, the outcome might well be the opposite of that. This also has economical constraints. Since the rural local authorities neither have the financial means nor the technical ability to provide infrastructure, the government is obliged to finance infrastructure, when the settlements reach a large size. The finance is also more difficult since tax revenues from the inhabitants of the villages are lower since they tend to consist of more lower-income households than cities. Furthermore this development has negative effects on the inhabitants of the newly emerged suburbs. They have to bear the poor living conditions due to the lack of technical infrastructure, public and private services, and lowquality buildings structures. Overall, the unequal distribution of competence in the regional administration structure can create spatial distortion. Furthermore on the regional level, there is no administrative organization that coordinates the regional development. Even though, the Interior Ministry has proposed to create such institution, this has not been established yet.

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5. Recommendations for Development Regulations

5.1 On the Local Level

The planning processes to draft development regulation plans and policies on the local level have to be done by the local authorities. The local players including the municipal authorities, public and private institutions, civil societies, and inhabitants are the most important stakeholders since they are the ones who are directly confronted with the circumstances of the city which makes them most capable of defining the primary needs and the necessary measures. The local government plays a main role in the drafting and planning process since the management of the city is mostly their responsibility as they are the ones to implement the measures. Very important is the participation of the population and civil organizations as they are the ones who have to bear the consequences. “Planning with the people” needs to be the objective. Included should also be the national authorities as they can provide financial assistance to fuel the city’s development. However, they should not be the main decision-makers since local authorities should decide about finance and laws themselves. An integration of top-down planning and bottom-up actions in a new, looser but more pragmatic planning and building paradigm is the key success factor for more sufficient regulation. Cooperation in a transparent process of drafting development regulations is the basis. The administrative planning system of a city is more efficient if the areas of competences are clearly defined. It is necessary that there is an administrative body on the local level that regulates exclusively the city development, for example an “Urban Planning Board”. This authority should coordinate the city by drafting regulations and by controlling if the established rules are followed. Violations such as illegal land deals need to be punished. Government officials who commit such violations need to be convicted. In order to regulate the development of a city in a more balanced way, it is important that municipalities monitor the trends of development and take regulatory remedial action when these trends contradict the municipal objectives. They should implement a coherent system of land use regulations, infrastructure investments, and land related taxes. The local authorities should particularly consider “weaker” parts of a city in their planning approaches by taking concerted measures to drive rehabilitation and a more balanced development. Also the needs of the weaker social groups of the city have to be taken into consideration by the policy-makers. With regard to the supply of housing, regulation measures need to be implemented which aim at the improvement of their situation. This can be done by providing “social housing construction” or housing subsidies. It is necessary that the government intervenes to a moderate extent in the housing market, in order to maintain housing opportunities for all income classes and to prevent inflation or land speculations. In the long

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run, the shape of a city will depend on the way the real estate market reacts to the incentives and disincentives. The local government should always be aware of external influences and unbalanced development, and should influence the development by adjusting the balance and nature of regulatory measures, planning new and different infrastructure investments, and reforming taxation if necessary.

It is important to draft regulation policies that contribute to an adequate way of managing the development of a city. In the following section, recommendations are given to modify these regulatory measures, based on two examples of deficient policies in the case of Tehran. The deficient policy of regulating density by “selling zoning variance” (see ch. 4.1.4) needs to be reformed in order to keep its demand driven approach to planning without jeopardizing the people’s welfare or the city’s budget. The Municipality should study the infrastructure constraints in the city and should “redline” districts for which no increase in density is feasible due to topographical, cultural or other environmental constraints. The Map of the redlined districts should be published and be the object of public debate. Furthermore, the authorization to increase the FAR above the level fixed by the master plan should be subject to fixed and explicit rules describing how an “impact fee” would be calculated and what would be the obligations of the developer in terms if linkage and access of his building with the existing infrastructure network. The fees collected should go into a special capital expenditure account, which should be used exclusively for augmenting the infrastructure capacity and social services in neighborhood affected by densification. This development regulation enables the Municipality to respond to the current market conditions, referring to the demand for floor space.

The other regulation strategy, which is based on freezing the population amount and the infrastructure capacity of a city is also not a preferred option for managing a city. Growth in cities should not be restricted since a government cannot control demographic growth. Instead of implementing such measure, the government should focus on providing infrastructure adequately to the population. Whenever a city needs support, the central government should interfere by means of finance or regulation policies in order to prevent decline and stagnation. It is important that the decision-makers keep all cities in a region in a holistic view. They should not exclude any areas neither because they are too small nor too big of size. Since cities are dynamic structures in which growth rates can increase or decrease, measures need to be implemented in constant adaptation to the changing circumstances. Therefore, growth should never be restricted by law.

However, a decentralization strategy in order to relieve large cities from the pressure of urbanization is an option as it provides the chance for more cities to develop enabling urban

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renewal and modernization. In order to make this strategy executable, there are recommendations in the next chapter.

5.2 On the Regional Level

The allocation of competences for the administrative units needs to be more balanced. The legal situation needs to allow the “weaker” rural authorities to gain more power. As well as cities, the villages need to be autonomous in order to pass laws for regulating the development within their area of jurisdiction. For example, rural administrative units need to be able to regulate land uses, taxing, and the management of financing infrastructure. The central government should allot the finance for infrastructure more equally to the cities and villages in order to prevent border effects. Especially, the provision of infrastructure for the “underdeveloped” areas is necessary. It is important that the superior agencies in the administrative system who are the main decision-makers about the allotment of funds for the subordinate administrative authorities base their actions upon the number of people living in a particular unit. After the population exceeds a certain amount, the government should assist with infrastructure. The responsible agencies should also focus on narrowing the spatial gap between rural and urban areas in terms of their access to social and commercial service-needs. Therefore an early investment in a fast development of a regional public transport system is necessary to connect the different parts of the region. It is important to create an efficient institutional network for the management of regional development by integrating the local and national stakeholders on the regional level. This network needs to be a cooperation of all kinds of involved players who can contribute to the development. In addition, the participation of international organizations such as the Young Cities-Organization bears great potentials. The support of international organizations can be very beneficial for the national and local agencies in Iran, since they can contribute financial resources to certain projects. Especially Iran depends on foreign financial assistance, since the government has increasing problems to provide the needed financial resources for the regional development. Therefore the collaboration with international governmental agencies, such as the BMBF who partly sponsors the New Town project is necessary. In addition, the cooperation of national and international stakeholders leads to an accumulation of expertise. The human resources of foreign agencies or organizations can help with the development by bringing in a different perspective, new ideas and technical knowledge. The regional players in Iran can profit from their input, and their experiences from other comparable projects in other regions. The New Town Project is a good example to show the efforts to manage projects by involving several national and international agencies, such as the INTDO, the BHRC, and the Young-Cities-Organization. Exemplary is also that the national government

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has founded a board, the INTDO, which is specifically assigned to manage the New Town Project. This way of managing and regulating development should be applied to manage the whole region of the TMA, not just focussing on the New Towns. It is therefore necessary, that the national government creates an autonomous organization on the regional administrative level that is in charge to maintain an overview of the regional development. This board or organization should stay in steady contact to the local authorities and should help to establish a comprehensive planning network by incorporating the local authorities and national agencies. The institution should mainly act as a facilitator and coordinator in order keep the different stakeholders of the region aligned. This management style allows a comprehensive development and diminishes the risk of administrative fragmentation on the regional level. The cooperation between the various players of the region will allow a more efficient use of local talents and human resources.

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6. Final Conclusion

The paper has shown that the strategies to regulate development in Tehran and the TMA are not the appropriate tactics to cope with growth. First of all, some of these strategies are not the right way forward to manage growth as they pursue the false planning approaches. Secondly, even if some of the planning goals (i.e. in the master plans) are based on good ideas, the implementation is rather ineffective since the regulatory environment is not adequate to reach these targets. It has been shown that there are tremendous problems in the planning system due to an administrative fragmentation. The way a city develops is very complex as it is the physical outcome of the subtle interactions over centuries between land markets, and topography, infrastructure, regulations, and taxation. The spatial structure has an important impact on economy, society, and on the quality of the urban environment. However, the evolution of urban form, shaped by the complex interaction between market forces, public investment and regulations, is not often monitored and regulated correctly by the responsible authorities. As a consequence, the significant inefficiencies due to a poor development and a deficient spatial structure are often ignored until it is too late to do anything about it. Decisions about regulations such as policies and plans can have deep impacts on the development of a city which cannot be reversed. Too many times the decision makers rely on comprehensive plans and regulation policies to insure that the city develops according to the objectives. Mostly development regulations are made for a long-term period, in expectation that the city will most likely develop suitable to the proposals. However, it is not possible to build according to blue prints since a city development is constantly influenced by external economic forces. The example of Tehran shows that unplanned events can impede the development such as unexpected increase of population. Because of a lack of political consensus or a clear vision on urban development, land use regulations and infrastructure investments are often inconsistent and their combined effects might contradict each other. These measures can result in irreversible damage of the city. A cities’ survival depends on finding rapidly imaginative solutions to new emerging problems which could not have been anticipated by the creators of development plans and policies. Cities like Tehran have opportunities and constraints which have to be taken into account in developing strategies for managing the growth. The regulation of development must occur adequately in order to prevent a deterioration of the city. Within capital cities like Tehran, where maintaining a central function of the nation has to be maintained as the most important political, economic, cultural and social center, has to be governed in an even more precise/careful way due to its large influence on the nation. Of major importance for drafting development regulations is also to maintain a comprehensive view on the surroundings in which a city is embedded. In particular the environment of large

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cities or even mega-cities should be in the focus by the regulation-makers since decisions made for the internal development of a city can have major influence on the whole region. A comprehensive regional network consisting of cities with diverse population, cultures, and labor markets, bears great potential for the development of an entire nation. The regulation of the development should therefore be one of the priorities in a country. Especially megaregions constitute such potential due to the high population capacity. In the case of the TMA, the region will constitute the largest concentration of urban population in the region between Istanbul and Mumbai. The integration of its large labor market will give it a chance to serve as a service and manufacturing center for a large part of Central Asia. ⁷⁵ However, due to the size, mega-regions bear risks such as the spatial and institutional fragmentation and dispersion, inconsistent and vague organization of responsibilities over the development, and therefore unequal development of spaces within the region. It has to be the objective to minimize such risks and to use the potentials in order to maximize the benefits. Implementing the recommendations can lead to the connection of the spatially dispersed urban cores into a one comprehensive network that includes the in-between rural spaces, and creates, and integrates local, regional, national, and international bodies for an efficient management of the region.

⁷⁵ Bertaud 2003, p.21

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Appendix

I List of Abbreviations

BHRC Building and Housing Center BMBF Federal Ministry of Education and Research [Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung] CBD Central Business District FAR Floor Area Ratio GDP Gross Domestic Product HCAUP High Council of Architecture and Urban Planning INTDO Iran New Town Development Organization MHUD Ministry of Housing and Urban Development TGIC Tehran Geographical Information Center

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II List of Illustrations

Illustration Title Source Page

Illustration 0: Illustration 1: Encyclopedia 2006 Illustration 2: The Metropolitan Region of Tehran Razavi 2007 p.3 Illustration 3: The City and the Alborz Mountain Range All Experts-p.5 Encyclopedia 2006 Illustration 4: Administrative Divisions of Tehran Province in TGIC 2004 p.5 2004 Illustration 5: Spatial Distribution of Urban Population in Iran TGIC 2004 p.7 Illustration 6: Administrative Divisions of Tehran City in 2004 TGIC 2004 p.8 Illustration 7: High-Rise Buildings in Tehran Razavi 2007 p.9 Illustration 8:

Illustration 9: Illustration 10: Run-Down Buildings in the South Razavi 2007 p.11 Illustration 11: Land Prices in Tehran in 2002 Bertaud 2003, p.30 p.11

Illustration 12: Table of Employment and Activity of Population > TGIC 2004 p.12 10 years

Illustration 13: People in the City of Tehran TGIC 2004 p.13

Illustration 14: Deficient City Quarter in the South All Experts-p.14 Encyclopedia 2006

Illustration 15: Inefficient Metro-System - Only Two Lines TGIC 2004 p.14

Illustration 16: Smog above the City Razavi 2007 p.15

Illustration 17: Mountain Ranges in Tehran Province TGIC 2004 p.16

Illustration 18: Table of Population Growth in Tehran City from Zebardast 2005, p.5 p.16 1891 to 1966 Illustration 19: Suburbs of Tehran Razavi 2007 p.17

Illustration 20: Historical Expansion of Tehran TGIC 2004 p.17

Illustration 21: Tehran’s First Comprehensive Master Plan of TGIC 2004 p.18 1968

Illustration 22: Modern Office Buildings in the CBD All Experts-p.19 Encyclopedia 2006 Illustration 23: Suburbs around the City Razavi 2007 p.19

Illustration 24: Demographic Growth of Tehran and the TMA Bertaud 2003, p.37 p.20

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Illustration 25: Polluted Air in Tehran City Razavi 2007 p.21

Illustration 26: Typical High-Rise Office and Apartment Buildings Razavi 2007 p.22

Illustration 27: High-Rise Apartment Building Razavi 2007 p.22

Illustration 28: Tehran’s Second Comprehensive Master Plan of TGIC 2004 p.23 1992

Illustration 29: Mega-Urban Region of Tehran Razavi 2007 p.24

Illustration 30: Sketch of the First Regional Plan of the TMA for Bertaud 2003, p.39 p.24 2020

Illustration 31: Master Plan of the New Town-Project: Hashterd Hiesecke 2006 p.25

Illustration 32: Social Segregation in Tehran - Reflected in the Bertaud 2003, p.33 p.29

Distribution of Household’s Expenditures (in 2001) Illustration 33: Common View of Tehran: High-Rise Apartment Razavi 2007 p.30

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