The government and urban structure unsustainability in Iran

Abstract

The government in Iran, in the recent century, has played a crucial role in structural changes, particularly in cities. These changes have been made due to political division, land reforms, economical investment and performing urban development schemes in various geographical regions. After the Mashroota Revolution in 1907 and petroleum discovery in Iran, the government's political decisions and oil-centred economical development led to a change in national economy from dependency on agricultural and livestock production to oil incomes. The research results indicate that before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the government had created functional and structural changes in the urban network and hierarchy with a capitalistic and modernistic approach and the instrumental use of oil. The changes resulted in such outcomes as racial variation, rural to urban migration, urban-regional inequality, the increasing growth and development of cities and in general urban structure sustainability. Following the Islamic Republic of Iran, the government's political decisions with an Islamic-sociological approach and socio-economical programming have influenced urban growth and development sustainability and have brought about challenges such as the reduction in urban economical efficiency, decline in urban environment quality, life quality diminution, housing crisis, etc. This paper seeks to study critically, analytically and using documental studies the contribution the government and its political decisions had in the urban structural changes in Iran in the recent century. Moreover, using documental data, the authors have presented statistical tables and diagrams, the levels of analysis and socio-economical and political structure in general and the urban structure sustainability of Iran in particular.