Spatial Planning, Urban Governance and the Economic Context: The Case of ‘Mehr’ Housing Plan, Iran

With the increasing concentration of population and economic activities in metropolitan regions, dwelling shortages and housing quality have become critical issues in urban management. Town plans considering social, economic, political, and cultural features of local communities have been developed...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Saeed Zanganeh Shahraki, Narges Ahmadifard, Hossein Farhadikhah, Bagher Fotouhi Mehrabani, Asghar Haydari, Yaghob Abdali, Vahid Abbasi Fallah, Ebrahim Farhadi, Sirio Cividino, Sabato Vinci, Luca Salvati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/5/169
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Summary:With the increasing concentration of population and economic activities in metropolitan regions, dwelling shortages and housing quality have become critical issues in urban management. Town plans considering social, economic, political, and cultural features of local communities have been developed with the aim of supporting housing, especially in emerging economies. In Iran, the ‘Mehr Housing’ Plan has been considered as one of the most relevant strategies for social housing since the 2000s. However, the acceptance of ‘Mehr Housing’ plans at the community scale has been rather low, reflecting the fact that it is a top-down, non-participatory policy. The present study investigates the most important factors affecting social acceptance of ‘Mehr Housing’ plans by interviewing 45 experts through a structured questionnaire that evaluated multiple analyses’ dimensions of housing and urban planning in Iran. Results showed that six dimensions (physical, institutional-managerial, economic, socio-cultural, legal, and locational) had contributed to social dissatisfaction with ‘Mehr Housing’ local initiatives. In particular, socio-cultural and legal dimensions were demonstrated to have a large impact on local communities’ dissatisfaction.
ISSN:2073-445X