An investigation on landscape structures in Iranian New Town development The case of Fuladshahr New Town (1963-2013)

This paper intends to explore the changes made to the urban landscape of Fuladshahr New Town1 in Iran by focusing on (mainly public) strategies and initiatives elaborated with regard to two particular urban development momentums. Firstly, the experiences of the pre-Islamic revolution of 1979 under the shah's regime and secondly, developments occurring after the Iran-Iraq war period. The exploration draws on three different levels of analysis, namely the large-scale of the metropolitan region, the medium-scale of the New Town and the small-scale of selected neighborhood in each stage of time. Rapid urbanization and the rural-urban migration during Iran's modernization forced the government and urban decision makers to offer an array of different solutions for housing and infrastructure provision at each paradigm shift. From construction based on political security and industrial growth to regional decentralization in order to control the overflow of population in large cities, these strategies have all been considered in Iran's New Town development.2 Most recently, government provided affordable housing (known as Mehr housing) is the main agenda under which New Town development is implemented throughout Iran and around Tehran. This contribution offers an alternative reading of the above-mentioned development strategies by focusing on the landscape characteristics that acted as a support for past urban developments and are no longer relied upon when developing Iranian New Towns. Methodologically the paper applies inductive and descriptive approaches in which will not only analyze Fuladshahr's degrees of flexibility over period of time but will also investigate the role of landscape in the New Town's evolution. Using mapping methods landscape will be highlighted in the role it has (or not) covered in Fuladshahr's urbanization, and the type of urbanity that has consequently been generated.