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In the process of sustainable urban regeneration, people are regarded as the main point of focus and the most important pillar in this program. The three forces running this process are the state, the municipalities and the private sector, that along with coordinating and cooperating, each play a particular role:

People, as the first and foremost beneficiary community enjoying the process of sustainable urban regeneration, are the main basis of active participation in Improvement and renewal processes. (Including inhabitants, shopkeepers, owners, tenants, and clients);

Private sector, comprising of the professional society (including all specialized agencies and companies, developers, professionals, investors and capital-provider institutions), the elite (or in other words, all qualified agents and agencies involved in the fields of research, journalism, literature and education);

Municipalities, Islamic City Councils, Urban Renewal Organizations and other affiliated associations to the City Councils, which in the process of sustainable urban regeneration, have an administrative role to implement, direct and coordinate the programs;

The State, including all governmental institutions and executive agencies, which in the process of urban regeneration, are responsible for governing, policy making, facilitating, supporting, supervising and controlling on a nationwide scale.

Meanwhile, two types of institutions, on the facilitators (Offices for Neighborhoods Renewal Services, and Offices for Areas Renewal Services), and the developers are the connecting circles between these three forces. In addition to creating a space for concentrating the financial provisional system, planning, design and implementation of measures, developers take care of the required coordination with the state and the municipalities. The facilitators also have an important role in creating the bond between the inhabitants-owners, the state and the municipalities.

 

The State

People

The Facilitators

Municiplaities            Private Sector

The Developpers

 

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1- Historical Areas of the Cities

It is applied to the areas of a city that reflect its historical-cultural values and are developed by means of an interaction between people and their environment throughout the history; while regarding formal characteristics and compositional structures, they can be distinguished from other urban areas. These areas contain the cultural treasures and historical-intangible and natural heritage of a city. Following the modernizations in the first half of the twentieth century, these areas have gone through spatial-functional transformations, and influenced by the disharmonious and rapid growth of the later decades, they have lost their initial function, and are faced with a shrinkage of social-local and economic rank. Urban poverty, identity crisis and low resilience against natural disasters are among the most important issues faced by these areas.

2- Inefficient Infill Urban Fabrics

It is applied to the areas and neighborhoods of a city that are developed around its historical core, but are considered as contemporary urban fabric. Because of physical instability, inefficiency of infrastructures, social anomalies and functional disorders, these urban areas are stagnated and obsoleted; and their shaping elements, such as superstructures, infrastructures and buildings, have become inefficient and their inhabitants suffer from numerous economic, social, cultural and spatial problems.

3- Urban Areas with Rural Backgrounds

It is applied to the areas of a city with a rural core, which due to the urban sprawl, are integrated with its existing areas. Due to the duality in formal structure and social and functional-spatial organization, these neighborhoods have experienced many disorders. Among the major problems faced by these areas, one can name: physical instability, spatial disorganizations, inefficiency of infrastructures and the lack of urban-local services as well as social-cultural issues.

4- Informal Settlements

It is applied to the areas and neighborhoods that, due to the urban sprawl and the disharmonious developments of recent decades, are formed and developed in or out of the boundaries of a city. These fabrics generally accommodate the rural migrants and under-privileged inhabitants of the city; and are emerged in or out of the city legal boundaries, beyond the formal and legal urban development planning, without authorization. These areas are also faced with numerous major issues, such as urban poverty (low income and education of the inhabitants, lack of infrastructures, services and facilities), identity crisis caused by unauthorized, chaotic and unstandardized constructions, and also very low resilience against natural disasters such as earthquake, flood and storm.

Based on the surveys carried out by the UDRC, in 91 cities with approved studies of provincial and county headquarters, more than 6.3 million people live in an area of nearly 60,000 hectares, from which 88% of these settlements are located within the boundaries of cities and only 12% are on the outskirts (mostly immediate outskirts) of cities. Based on the estimations, grounded on the results of the 2011 census, more than 11 million of the population of the country live in the informal settlements in the cities or on the outskirts.

Main Common Characteristics of the Inefficient Urban Areas (Target Neighborhoods and Areas):

• Lower Income per capita of the inhabitants than the average of the city and the higher rate of unemployment ;
• Low durability of residential units; higher population density per residential unit than the average of the city; and numerous environmental issues;
• Insufficient access to urban services and infrastructures;
• Higher rate of social anomaly than the average of the city; and the favorability of the context for such problems
• Disregarded historical identity; diminution of social reverence and rank; and thus the substitution of original dwellers of the neighborhood with other groups.

 

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A Brief History

The first official activity in the field of urban Improvement and renewal started in 1985, with the establishment of the Office for Improvement of Urban Fabric in the former Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. Later, in order to predict, prevent and solve the listed issues, and with the objective of urban renewal and obtaining sustainable and participative cities, the Iranian Urban Development and Revitalization Organization, due to the communiqué of the cabinet, commenced its official activities in 1997 as an affiliated corporation to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. In 2004, due to the new communiqué of the cabinet and the approval of the Guardian Council, the article of association of the corporation changed to a holding corporation.

In order to make effective the objectives and strategies of the UDRC in the provinces, Provincial Administration Offices of Transportation and Urban Planning (Offices for Urban Development and Revitalization), under direct supervision of the CEO, are approved to be established and the mission of the Iranian Urban Development and Revitalization Corporation is included in the tasks of the CEOs and directors of Provincial Offices of Transportation and Urban Planning.

Urban Renewal and Improvement Policies and Programs in Iran

During the past three decades, in Iran, Urban Renewal and Improvement Policies and Programs have gone through an evolutionary process. This process – however at times slow and faced with contradictions in approach – has resulted to executive measures in the target neighborhoods of these programs. The state and the municipalities have each performed a special role in the evolution of this process and have managed and executed numerous programs. The pioneers of such measures were some scattered local programs with maximum intervention by the government and the municipalities throughout the country. The evolutionary course of these measures resulted in geographical expansion of the subject, increased concern from organizations, broader and more variable financial resources and credits, formation of managerial organizations dedicated to such fabrics, preparing plans and detailed programs for target areas and neighborhoods, conducting numerous professional seminars, conferences and educational workshops, and codifying new rules to support and facilitate such measures. By launching the Iranian Urban Development and Revitalization Corporation and its affiliated organizations in provinces and municipalities throughout the country, the state has carried out measures and programs – each a worthwhile experience in their own right – in more than 10 cities all over the country.

Effected Policies and Programs from the Islamic Revolution up to the End of The Iran-Iraq War in 1988

The effected programs during this period, charged by political, social and economic conditions of the post-revolution and war-time period, had tremendous differences from any other time. The measures were limited and topical; and even though they started off as a groundbreaking policy titled “Re-animation”, they gradually transformed from a participative program between citizens and municipalities to a governmental program relying upon public incomes. As a result, with regards to the economic conditions of the time, the programs didn’t expand to other cities and were only limited to some local actions in Isfahan, Yazd, Semnan, Gorgan and Shiraz. Furthermore, as a pilot project, they only took into account the physical aspects of the context, and had very little participative characteristic.

Urban Renewal and Improvement Programs and Policies during 1989-1993

This was the early years of the reconstruction in the aftermath of the war. In this period, by obtaining a more comprehensive policy in comparison to the topical measures of the past, the state carried out “Special Detailed Master Plans for Urban Centers”, particularly for war-damaged cities. This evolutionary process carried on with a new program titled “Historical-cultural Axes”. In this program, the city-center fabrics, which were always regarded as a separate part of the whole body of the city and thus met topical planning, were considered with comprehensive regard towards the city and the surrounding lands. The major policy in this period was the gradual Improvement and renewal by people, by means of Improvement plans structured similarly to the common detailed master plans. From the main measures of this period, one can name the Improvement plans of the city centers of Dezfoul and Qom. The lack of sufficient infrastructures in target neighborhoods, the financial inability of the inhabitants and the lack of supporting policies and sufficient potentials and capacities in the municipalities to manage the operations, were the main reasons for the inefficiency of the Improvement plans in this period.

Urban Renewal and Improvement Programs and Policies during 1993-1997

The policy of using lands and estates located in the city center fabrics in order to answer to a part of the housing needs, through Acquisition, clearance and aggregation of the existing units, triggered a new era in the process of planning for Improvement and renewal of urban fabrics in Iran. In the beginning, this policy was titled “Aggregation”, later on, after being included in the country’s Second Five-year Plan for Economic, Social and Political Development, it was carried out under the name of “Problematic Urban Fabric”. By establishing affiliated corporations, and in little collaboration with other beneficiary organizations such as municipalities, the central government stepped in. The direct involvement of the state in this program and effecting large-scale projects of clearance and aggregation on the one hand, and the reliance of the program on public income on the other hand, caused this program to progress slowly.

In the meantime, alongside implementing the policies and programs of the state, municipalities, specifically in greater cities like Tehran, Tabriz and Shiraz, began preparing renewal programs in the scale of large urban projects. One can name Navvab in Tehran, Bain-al-Haramain in Shiraz and Kabood Mosque in the historical part of Tabriz. Although the covered area of these projects in comparison to the total area of fabrics in need of Improvement and renewal was very small.

Urban Renewal and Improvement Programs and Policies during 1997-2005

With the establishment of the Iranian Urban Development and Revitalization Organization affiliated to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning in 1997, a whole new era of policy making, planning and effecting Improvement and renewal programs began. The main objective of this establishment was to create a policy-maker, planner and supervisor organization to make effective the programs of “Improvement and development” in order to achieve a well-proportioned, balanced and sustainable urban development through the recognition and utilization of the existing physical, economic and social capacities within the legal boundaries of the cities, as well as providing the conditions of a healthy, safe and standard life. By taking such policy, not only the geographical territory of urban Improvement and renewal expanded, but a new policy titled “Development from the Inside” entered the realm of urban policies for the first time. On the other hand, the issues caused by large-scale clearance projects and the direct involvement of the central government without the participation of other role-players in this process, caused the programs of this period to be structurally different from the preceding one. Among the main policies pursued in this period, the policy to encourage the private sector and investors to collaborate with the state in effecting renewal projects is among the boldest. By the launching of the urban Improvement plan and housing reforms (credit provided by World Bank loan), in the last years of the second plan for development, the notions of Empowerment and reorganization of informal settlements was brought up by the Iranian Urban Development and Revitalization Corporation, and for the first time, in 2000, through the third Plan for Social, Economic and Cultural Development, this new approach entered the terminology of the country’s urban development and planning policy making. The UDRC, on behalf of the Ministry of Transportation and Urban Planning, established the National Empowerment Headquarters and hosts its secretariat, in order to uniform the process and to make the necessary arrangements. This Headquarters is a multi-sectoral framework that is responsible for making the required policies for the government, and through provincial organizations, supervises the process of Improvement and reorganization. In this regard, the UDRC in association with the Ministry of Interior, compiled and – after the approval – made effective the National Bill of Empowerment of Informal Settlements.

Renewal and Improvement of Obsolete Urban Fabrics during 2005-2009

After the catastrophic earthquake in Bam, attention was drawn to the subject of challenges and issues faced by urban fabrics. Policy making in order to stand against the threats caused by the instability and disorders of urban fabrics was brought up at the Higher Council of Architecture and Urban Planning of Iran. By defining and approving three indicators of instability, fine-grained granularity (of land lots), and inaccessibility (of urban fabrics), the UDRC was commissioned to identify these areas as Obsolete Urban Fabrics with regards to the defined indicators. To date, more than 76442 hectares of urban fabric has been identified based on the three indicators in 495 cities throughout the country. Although identifying and labeling these areas as obsolete urban fabric, attracted additional administrative attention to this issue and its expanding dimensions, the lack of a comprehensive program – compiled in association with other related organizations regarding different sorts and defining the appropriate approach towards each of them and overlooking the presence and participation of people – proved these renewal programs to be inefficient. In this period, alongside with the state, municipalities also carried out various programs in different cities, through establishing a new organization. In this period, the fourth Plan for Social, Economic and Cultural Development of the country was made effective; Including the compilation of strategies and principles for reviving identity in the urban/rural landscape, reinforcement of old structures, improvement of the living environment in cities and villages and revitalization of the obsolete and inappropriate urban fabrics in order to confront the expansion of the metropolitan areas of the cities.

 

Revitalization, Renewal and Improvement of Obsolete and Inefficient Urban Fabrics during 2009-2013

The inefficiency of the measures, particularly in large-scale renewal projects, set the ground for certain changes in renewal programs and policies. Consequently, the government and the municipalities tried to provide the background for the presence and participation of people. In order to do so, in this period, under the name of “contextualization”, measures were carried out including: defining and providing supportive packages and encouraging and motivating inhabitants to actively and widely take part in the renewal procedure, consisting of low-priced facilities, encouragements for the aggregation of fine-grained land lots, compiling and approving the “Plan for Revitalization, Improvement and Renewal of Obsolete and Inefficient Urban Fabrics”, compiling the directions for launching the “Offices for Neighborhoods Renewal Services”, offering discounts and encouragements as well as numerous cultivating and informative programs.

Despite these measures and the change in approach, in certain actions, especially the employment of facilities to encourage and facilitate the process of participative Improvement and renewal, the main regard and approach, in this period, was focused on local – generally large-scale – renewal projects, ignoring the existing physical, social and historical settings. The direct involvement of the government in these measures with an authoritarian approach, caused certain disorganizations and inefficiencies.

Sustainable Urban Regeneration from 2014 to date

As the “Government of Prudence and Hope” took charge, a brand new set of urban Improvement and renewal policies and programs were launched. In this period, through analyzing and troubleshooting previous experiences, a new approach entitled “Sustainable Urban Regeneration” was considered. In this approach, supporting itself by the National Strategic Bill of Revitalization, Improvement, Renewal and Rehabilitation of Obsolete and Inefficient Urban Fabrics (approved by the cabinet - 25/9/2014), these items were considered:

• Prioritizing policies and programs regarding the prevention and prediction of the emergence and expansion of inefficient urban fabrics
• Avoiding labeling target fabrics as “obsolete”, in order to reduce the negative impact of such name-calling on these areas and their inhabitants; as well as repaying respect and identity to the possessions of the locals
• Recognition and classification of target areas and neighborhoods, in order to prepare the effective policies in each of them (historical zones of the cities, informal settlements, chaotic infill areas and urban areas with rural backgrounds) within the framework of a comprehensive document
• Reviewing and focusing on the planning system with the objective of improving the efficiency of urban development documents, with regards to qualitative aspects and principles of dwelling
• Putting fundamental emphasis on the neighborhood-oriented planning from bottom to top, in order to obtain a better understanding of the needs and to attract the participation of the habitants and the citizens, along with paying due attention to the aspects of territorial-urban planning (city-oriented and integrated approaches)
• Avoiding direct intervention of the government, shifting from project-oriented approaches to a program-oriented one, and trying to outline and play the right governmental role as a facilitator, supporter, director and supervisor
• Emphasizing on the importance of urban management (municipalities and city councils) in urban regeneration programs and providing governmental support for local management in order to improve its position and role, through capacity building and institutionalization
• Prioritizing all-round participation of the inhabitants through empowerment and establishment of NGOs as the main line in urban regeneration planning
• Encouraging the private sector, developers and investors by means of establishing financial stimulation systems and facilitating investment procedures
• Creating collaborative and cooperative urban regeneration networks on different scales, such as nationwide (National Sustainable Regeneration Headquarters), provincial and local; in order to achieve coordination, empathy and compassion in effecting urban Improvement and renewal programs
• Emphasizing on Institutionalization, particularly in the case of urban regeneration developers, facilitators and social institutions, and defining and illustrating the roles of each of them in the urban regeneration process
• Establishing and launching the neighborhood development institution highlighting facilitation and technical service-providing, informing , educating and attracting developers and investors from the private sector as one of the priorities of the action plans
• Compiling and implementing local community development plans, improving the livelihood of the inhabitants and resolving social issues parallel to physical Improvement and renewal of target areas and neighborhoods
• Providing necessary financial and legal assets for facilitating and strengthening the urban regeneration movement with the objective of protection and recovery of civil rights and empowering citizens and inhabitants of target neighborhoods
• Shifting from defining and planning large-scale hardware programs and projects towards small-scale hardware – but efficient and effective – projects as the stimulator of urban Improvement and renewal programs in the form of reorganization and public territory mobilization plans, housing Improvement and renewal and reuse of valuable buildings
• Improving the quality of construction through prioritizing role-modelling programs; providing technical and consultative services for the inhabitants of target areas in order to improve the quality of constructions in the process of urban regeneration and the supervision procedures on the quality of construction
• Increasing safety and stability; and reinforcing urban infrastructures, public spaces and buildings located in the target areas
• Sustainable preservation and revitalization of cultural and historical heritage, and the cultural identity of the cities alongside the development procedures