Tehran: Growth and Contradictions

Abstract

Tehran, the capital and largest city of Iran, has witnessed two parallel trends: a rapid and multi-faceted socio-spatial growth, and increasing separation among social classes. The former is manifested by population increase, physical expansion, concentration of institutions, and administrative centralization. The latter is indicated by rapid accumulation of wealth and capital by a tiny layer, poverty of most of the population, and spatial segregation of social classes. These phenomena reflect the transformation from a pre-capitalist city in the 18th through the early 20th century to a transitional capitalist city in the 1920-1950 period, and to a dependent capitalist city after the 1950s.

Efficient multiscale approach for the integration of continuous multi-functional green infrastructure in Tehran city, Iran

“…The central location of Tehran, which made access to different parts of the royal jurisdiction easy, was no doubt an important factor in the early growth of the city. After it was selected as the capital of the country by the founder of the Qajar Dynasty , it grew into a principal commercial center with a major bazaar (marketplace) and many small scale trading and gardening activities" (Amirahmadi & Kiafar 1987), and its population grew from 25,000 to 150,000 residents after this period. In the subsequent decades in Pahlavi Dynasty , the arrival of motor vehicles, the regime's desire to control urban populations and to modernise the urban infrastructure led to a substantial transformation of the capital, in which it was ''radically replanned and rebuilt''.…”

Climate Change and Urban Citizens: The Role of Media in Publicising the Conservation of Green Spaces and Mitigation of Air Pollution

“…Looking back to the recent centurial history of Tehran, one notices a massive expansion from just a tiny and insignificant village to a metropolitan city by the early 21st century: "from a pre-capitalist city in the 18th […] to a dependent capitalist city after the 1950s" ( [48], p. 167). An American geologist and petroleum advisor to the then Government of Iran in 1927, passing through Tehran in late 1927, described Tehran as a city encompassing beautiful gardens and a 200,000 population, surrounded by several villages in the north [49].…”

“…Population statistics for the past centuries in Iran are speculative and generally based on records written by foreign missionaries and travellers. Existing unofficial records put 150,000 as the population for Tehran in 1850 [48]. Compared with the Tehran population of about 9 million in 2018 [37], it suggests a population increase by a factor of 60 in about 170 years.…”

“…Compared with the Tehran population of about 9 million in 2018 [37], it suggests a population increase by a factor of 60 in about 170 years. Considering the city's official census reported about 4.5 million in 1976 [48], it has revealed that the Tehran population doubled in the recent four decades. Tehran's size area has also been enlarged by a factor of 70 in 124 years from 19.5 km 2 in 1894 to 1335 km 2 in 2018 (including suburbs and buffer zones) [11,37].…”

Estimating the impact of metro rail stations on residential property values: evidence from Tehran

“…Tehran, the capital and largest city of Iran, has experienced two parallel trends: a rapid and multi-faceted population growth, and increasing residential segregation among social classes (Amirahmadi and Kiafar 1987). In the Pahlavi Era, main contributing factors included a heavy concentration of economic, social, and political activities in Tehran, and the economic collapse of villages in the wake of the national land reform, that combined, triggered an unprecedented wave of ruralurban migration (Ebrahimi 2010;Tehran Municipality 2011).…”