tehran and tehrani’s

[By Shideh]  An interesting article by BBCPersian on Tehran which provides great insight into understanding the social psychology of Tehranians and their love/hate relationship with their city.  When planning alternatives to Tehran for the country’s political capital, it may be useful to take note of how Tehran has related to its inhabitants and what roles it plays in their day to day lives. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2007/06/070629_ka-tehran-project.shtml 

     

“Tehran has turned into a culture, a way of life, a dream, or even a curse.”

“Some say other cities in Iran have suffered greatly for Tehran’s popularity.”   

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 

recent earthquake in iran — what can we do to help?

[By Shideh] Today, on Monday 6/18/07 at nearly 6 p.m. (local time), a moderate earthquake (magnitude 5.5) shook Iran’s central desert.  The epicenter was about 150 km south of Tehran. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007dtaw.php). 

  

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.

influence of people vs. policies

[By Shideh] It’s widely understood that many apartments and houses in Tehran were not built properly and are “me`mar saaz” (designed and built by non-engineers).  It seems most buildings in Tehran, even those designed by engineers according to the building codes, are not built properly due to poor supervision or corruption in the construction industry. 

What are Tehranians to do to prevent an unimaginable disaster resulting from an earthquake, which will come sooner or later?  Is this the responsibility of the authorities or is public awareness and action a more urgent factor? 

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?