A critical review of sustainable built environment development in Iran

Population explosion, irresponsible consumerism, environmental catastrophes, tremendous market-based urban development and the dedication of cities to cars and concrete rather than citizens and environment has put a big question mark over the future of the world’s developing countries. Urban sustainability has emerged as the only solution to the environmental, social and economic challenges facing our cities. In recent years in countries struggling with the concept of urban sustainability, such as Iran, academic circles and the state have had heated debates over sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current situation of sustainable development of the built environment in Iran. The focus is on recognition of urban governance, policies and regulations. The paper examines the scope of sustainable technologies employed in Iran in terms of the development of energy efficiency and renewable energies. This is followed by an investigation of urban sustainability assessment methods through which the paper tackles policy, technology and assessment mechanism issues from a perspective of sustainable built environment development in both theoretical research and practical development in Iran

The Interrelationship of Social Sustainability and Urban Form; the Case of Modern and Traditional Iranian Cities

For decades, sustainable development has been an imperative concern in the process of urban development of the world’s developed countries. Despite the fact that the concept of sustainability, primarily, emerged by virtue of warning over global environmental catastrophes, it subsequently led to the ongoing debates not only over environmental, but also economic and sociocultural issues involved. This study, particularly, discusses the constituents of social sustainability– as one of the three pillars of sustainable development– and its situation within an urban context. It tries to investigate the interrelationships between the elements of social sustainability and the quality of physical environment. The paper, firstly, depicts a theoretical overview of the notions of social sustainability and urban form. Secondly, it will discuss the interrelationship between the two. And lastly, it will investigate and analyse this interrelationship through the historical transformation of Iranian cities. The research aims to answer this very question that how the urban form within the context of the built environment can influence the social behaviors so as to achieve a more sustainable society. It is to examine how and why compact, high-density and mixed-use urban patterns are environmentally sound, efficient for transport, socially beneficial and economically viable. The methodology used in this paper is desk research. Thus, the documents from different urban related disciplines including urban planning, urban design, urban sociology and urban policy have been reviewed. The research has also applied a comparative approach to discuss and analyse the impacts of different urban forms on the elements of social sustainability within the context of modern and traditional Iranian cities. The paper concludes with an examination of possible future directions of Iranian cities with consideration to socio-cultural concepts and the challenges that will have to be overcome to make progress towards social sustainability