Institutional Barriers to the Application of Urban Village as A Tool for Achieving Urban Sustainability in Developing Countries - the Case of Asheghabaad, Isfahan, Iran

A number of new concepts have emerged in the last two decades whose proponents claim that if achieved, they would deliver more sustainable urban environments. Among them, New Urbanism and Urban Village are the ones with the most theoretical support and practical application. Both ideas, however, have been criticized in several grounds. But no study has been carried out to show the effectiveness of these new ideas in the badly needed contexts of developing countries. In this research, an experimental urban design study was carried out in a settlement in the peri-urban area of the city of Isfahan (Iran) to investigate the possibility of the application of the Urban Village idea as a strategy to achieve sustainability. The study revealed that significant deep-rooted institutional barriers in developing countries, particularly in a rural setting, stand against any progress in this regard. It is, however, suggested that the concept could still be useful, not as an urban design product, but as a process to help prepare the context for necessary change.