مصاحبه دکتر قالیباف، شهردار تهران | FT interview with Tehran mayor

[By Shawhin]  I just finished reading the transcript from an interview between the Financial Times and current Tehran Mayor, Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, published on January 8^th, 2008.  There’s a lot of information in the transcript particularly regarding development, urban planning, transportation, etc.  Dr. Qalibaf has been mayor since September 2005 according to Wikipedia. 

I’ve summarized a few points from the article here – these are from quotes from the Mayor:

+        Development in Tehran is handled on three levels:

o       Small projects are handled at the local/neighborhood level: via assisting councils (“shora yaari”,  شورا یاری) – see details below,

o       Medium size projects are handled by the Municipality’s representative offices in 22 zones, and

o       Large projects (i.e. highways, Milad Tower, etc) are done at the national level

town carved from rock

A town famous for its beautiful architecture and energy efficiency.  Interesting video on National Geographic about Kandovan:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071205-village-video-ap.html

  

picture borrowed from: www.Anvari.org

iran petrol rationing

[By Shideh] As you might have heard by now, the Iranian government has limited the purchase of subsidized gasoline, in order to limit rapidly increasing gas consumption.  Here is a video of an interview with a few people waiting in a long line for gas yesterday:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-3421300940079857681 

papers on tehran + pollution + air

[By Shawhin]  

Ambient air quality levels in Tehran, Iran, from 1988 to 1993
Prospect for alternative fuel vehicles in Iran an environmental assessment
Environmental crises in the Metropolises of Iran