An Investigation into Social Harms Originating in Squatter Settlement in the District 19 of Tehran Municipality from Urban Manager's Perspective

Squatter settlement in the metropolis of Tehran, due to its specific structural atmosphere and social relations, has particular social harms in consequence. Thus, the managerial bodies of such a metropolis are to be cognizant of the social harms resulting from squatter settlement and to put forward solutions for reducing such a phenomenon so that life quality increases in the city of Tehran. The current research, firstly, aims at identifying types of squatter settlement-induced social harms in the district 19 of Tehran municipality from urban managers’ perspective and, then, prioritizes social harms, identifies the main drives behind, and offers solutions for reducing them. The research method was descriptive-analytic and data collection procedure was survey-based through a questionnaire. The research was conducted in the district 19 of Tehran municipality and the population comprised 20 of the managers of the very district from among whom 12 were non-randomly selected. Utilizing SPSS, the collected data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed. The results indicated that the very managers attribute social harms to family and economic issues and unemployment, addiction, and beggary are reported as the main social harms. Poverty and divorce, ranked two and five in the hierarchy, are considered to be the main causes of social harms. Among the solutions, in addition to satisfying economic needs, issues related to urban controlling management, cultural activities, and increasing the awareness of the squatter settlers are counted important. The very managers suggest the mentioned issues via some solutions as training and cultural activities.