Urbanization Through a Cultural Heritage Lens: The Case of Tehran (1785–2017)

ABSTRACT

Scholars have argued that the annex of several villages has formed the current urban fabric of the metropolis of Tehran since becoming the capital in 1785. Three primary historic nuclei of Ray, the city center, and Tajrish have chronologically configured the growth and urbanization pattern of the city. The historic nuclei are the main identity generators and constitute the urban narrative of the metropolis of Tehran. In the process of the urbanization of Tehran, three political power shifts have affected the cultural heritage layers of the historic nuclei. The governing states have transformed Tehran village into a metropolis and in the process eradicated the rich layers of cultural heritage. The transformation of the village of Tehran to the metropolis has not been critically examined from a cultural heritage perspective. This paper investigates the urbanization process of the metropolis of Tehran through three historic nuclei as sites of cultural heritage and examines how cultural heritage was interpreted by the state and implemented into the different urban planning and policy-making practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Urbanization
• cultural heritage
• historic nuclei
• village
• metropolis of Tehran
• Ray
• city center
• Tajrish

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Najmeh H. Viki is an instructor and the research coordinator of the Urban Recovery Platform at the Beirut Urban Lab at the American University of Beirut. She earned her bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) and her master's degree in Urban Design from the American University of Beirut (AUB). Viki is an urban researcher whose work focuses on the urban regeneration of historic cities. Her current research focuses on cultural heritage and participatory approaches for the recovery of cultural heritage.

Howayda Al-Harithy is Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the American University of Beirut currently serving as Founding Director of the School of Design. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Oregon School of Design, a Master of Science in Architecture from MIT, and a PhD in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University. She is a Research Director at the Beirut Urban Lab. Her research focuses on urban heritage with emphasis on the theoretical debate on heritage construction and consumption related to identity building and post-war reconstruction in the Arab world. Her work conceptualizes urban recovery in relation to processes of historical editing, urban trauma, and protracted displacement.