From Vision to Reality: Tehran’s Urban Expansion Under Naser al-Din Shah (1848–96)

Abstract

In 1868, the city of Tehran underwent a new phase of physical transformation and development under the order of the third Qajar king, Naser al-Din Shah (r.1848–96). This article addresses the process of the city’s transformations from the perspective of the local elites in Naseri Tehran, examining how Qajar officials introduced the city’s expansion to the public and the extent to which these efforts measured up to the urban development project as it actually unfolded on the ground. Rooted in primary visual and textual sources, my research provides a historical context for this expansion process and its mechanisms. I demonstrate that the Naseri court projected a vision for Tehran modelled on the rhetoric of European examples. The discourse of turning Tehran into a European-style city was articulated through court chronicles and newspaper articles, especially those written by Mohammad Hasan Khan E’temad al-Saltaneh, a prominent politician and commentator during the Naseri period. By analysing this archival record, maps, and the spatial practices of the city’s residents, I argue that, despite its ultimate formal resemblance to European walled cities, the process of Tehran’s expansion and beautification took a different direction than what Naser al-Din Shah and his court originally envisioned.