Urban dimension of the population explosion in Iran: Prospects for the satellite town programme in the Esfahan region

Abstract

This article describes and evaluates prospects for the satellite town development programme in the Esfahan Region, where the satellite town policy has been more vigorously applied than anywhere else in Iran. The city of Esfahan started the satellite town programme in the late 1960s. Since then, the programme has gone through three phases. From the late 1960s to 1978, the programme was used in order to house the employees of major industries near Esfahan. After the 1979 revolution, the programme was halted for several years. In 1985, the programme was revived. Since then, the satellite town programme has been used in order to decentralize population from the city of Esfahan to satellite towns and to manage the future growth of the region. Given the strengths of the programme, it can be concluded that it has the potential to accomplish its declared objectives in the future if it can overcome its weaknesses. Specifically, the authorities responsible for implementation should overcome the problem of ‘incompleteness’ and ‘long delays’ by placing a greater emphasis on the management and coordination of responsibilities among all government agencies and new town development companies.