heading to zagros

We are heading to Iran this weekend to attend a very exciting and special conference on Zagros Tranditional Settlements in Sanandaj, Kurdistan, organized by the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism. We will write much more about the lectures and sites; but please let us know if there is anything specific that you want us to pay attention to, take pictures of, or ask the experts attending and/or presenting at the conference.

 

 

Photo courtesy of International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture, and Urbanism

 

tehran metro

[By Shideh]   During my last years in Iran, 1998-1999, Tehran Metro seemed like a dream that would never come to reality.  We knew that the plan for its construction had begun a long time before the revolution but was stopped during the war and that the construction had finally started after all those years but there was no hope as it seemed to take a long time.  Tehran’s traffic continued to worsen, the pollution lead to numerous social/economical/health problems, and the need for metro was at its peak.  On march 7^th, 1999, Tehran-Karaj express electric train finally started a limited service of 31.4 km between Azadi square in Tehran and Malard in Karaj with one intermediate stop.  The construction works of stations, tunnels, and bridges on a few subway lines were eventually finished and a great number of Tehranies use the Metro every day now to get to their destinations.  

 

Iran khodro with an annual production of over 1,000,000 vehicles continues to contribute to the congestion of cars in Tehran and other cities, while there is an ongoing parallel attempt to increase public transportation and metro lines in Tehran and complete construction of metro stations/tunnels in other major cities (i.e. Shiraz, Tabriz, Mashhad, etc.).  The limits imposed on the amount of gas available for each driver last year seemed to be successful in reducing traffic for a short time, but people have found a way around the limitations and selling gas on black market has become a common scene in Tehran.

 

 

Photo and map courtesy of TehranMetro

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

citizen and community involvement / empowerment in planning?

[By Shawhin]  One theme that came up a couple times in our Iran visit was the apparent lack of citizen and/or community involvement in city planning and policy matters.  With plenty of development, debatable growth trends, “good” and “bad” projects (be it building, infrastructure, landscape, or …), and in general a very educated and aware community, it seems odd that there isn’t a ton of (and possibly little to no) community involvement in places like Tehran or Shiraz. 

Does: development + growth + public opinion + dissatisfaction with some trends = community involvement? 

notes from day 2 of the sustainability and public transportation conference

[By Shawhin]  The second day of the conference was even more interesting than the first for me.  There was a large focus on city planning, land use, and policy.  I’m continuing the same format as the previous post here and getting straight into details by presentation.  And again, if you want more details on anything, just let me know and I can elaborate.

notes from day 1 of the sustainability and public tranportation conference

[By Shawhin]

We concluded our first day of the conference a couple hours ago with many interesting issues discussed, ranging from policy to project specific practices to setting international trends in sustainability.  I took about 20 pages of notes!, which I’ve condensed here.  Provided below are first a concise general-picture summary of the discussions followed by a more detailed account by speaker/session:

 General overview:

• Attendees and speakers included elected officials (congress, mayors, regional agency board members), heads of transit and planning agencies, representatives from private firms, and other planners, lawyers, architects, engineers, and politicians.  A good mix.

sustainability and public transportation

[By Shawhin]

I’m heading to an interesting conference/workshop in a couple days in Seattle: it’s titled “sustainability and public transportation,” hosted by the American Public Transportation Association.  I’m sure we’ll be reviewing some models that would be applicable to Tehran: bus rapid transportation, light rail, and sustainable development.  Other topics such as transit oriented development (TOD) are probably less relevant, but should be interesting nevertheless.

I’ll post what we do at the workshop each day on tehranshake, so stay tuned.

More info about the conference can be found at: http://www.apta.com/conferences_calendar/sustainable/

If there’s anything in particular anyone would like to be discussed or asked about at the workshop, I would be happy to be of service – just let me know.

a summary of the history of urban planning and development in tehran

[By Shawhin]

In order to better understand development and planning in Tehran, I found it helpful to get a sense of the where Tehran started and how it got to where it is today.  Most of the information in this post is summarized from a paper by A. Madanipour, who is a professor in the department of architecture at NewCastle University.  His paper is titled “Urban Planning and Development in Tehran”.

 This summary list highlights important events in Tehran’s planning/development, chronologically from the past to the present.  All dates are given in CE = AD = ‘milady’:

• Tehran starts as a village outside the ancient city of Ray
• 1553  Construction of the city walls (square shaped) and a bazaar in Tehran – the first major planning effort in Tehran
• 1785 Tehran is selected as the Qajar capital – the city grows from 15,000 inhabitants at the end of the 18^th century to about 150,000 by the 1860’s

pollution in tehran… continued

[By Shawhin] Continuing on the discussion in “pollution in Tehran…”, here are my two cents on the second bullet: managing/reducing population concentration.

I’m personally a big advocate of reducing the population in Tehran to a sustainable level.  As it stands, Tehran is Iran’s economic, commercial, and political capital.  With over 12million inhabitants (about 1/6^th of Iran’s 70million population), Tehran is the heart of Iran’s governance.

… response to rezwan’s comment

[By Shawhin] Rezwan – thanks so much for the comment (see Rezwan’s comment under the ‘welcome’ tab). I didn’t know that you were working on the Fars regional plan. I can’t imagine anything better and more interesting to do in this world than to be one of people throughout its long history, who influence the planning of Fars. Tremendous! Do you have more info that you can share? How do you find the planning process there?
I had a look through DPZ’s website. I’m a big, big fan. Like you said though, Iran doesn’t have the same sprawl disease as they have in the states – thank god.
What I think is fundamental in Iran is the recognition and preservation of our historic elements and buildings. Plans like putting a highway artery straight through Esfahan or running a heavy rail line adjacent to Takhteh Rostam for example would be devastating; and I think alternatives should be found at any cost.

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

pollution in tehran…

[By Shawhin] One of the reasons I decided to become a civil engineer was to learn about ways to reduce pollution in Tehran.  The pollution in Tehran is such that schools are shut down for some days a year.

 

I think infrastructure related solutions fall in two categories: 1. cleaner vehicles and, 2. less congestion. There are efforts going by the government to address option 1 – cleaner vehicles – through car trading programs, etc.  How effective this is and to what extent it is being implemented, I’m curious to know and would invite feedback.  Option 2 – less congestion – however, is more interesting to me. 

Reducing congestion comprises:

• providing/enhancing alternatives to driving,
• managing/reducing population concentration,
• implementing policies that limit where and when people can drive (a tough one),
• making sure your city is planned around pedestrians and not cars (which I think Tehran is good at… to some extent),
• … others?