Tehran's Cityscape and City Image; An Analysis of Tehran's Strategic Urban Design and Cityscape Management Plan (TSUDCMP)

During the last decade many serious concerns have been expressed over Tehran's urban design and cityscape quality by professionals and academics alike. If Tehran is to improve its competitiveness within a rapidly globalizing world and if it is to enhance its resident's experience of urban life, it will need to improve its cityscape/ image quality. Several efforts are reported to have been made by different agencies to address Tehran's built form and appearance since the late 1970's (e.g. TDCS and Tehran's Beatification Agency initiatives), however it was not until 2006 when for the first time official decision was made to systematically and statutorily deal with the city's visual environment through preparing the "Tehran's Urban Design and Cityscape Management Plan (TSUDCMP) as a supplementary plan to Tehran's "New Master Plan". The TSUDCMP was conceived to be devised through three consecutive phases first of which was devoted to visioning study on the current state of Tehran's cityscape/ image and its future directions. This article aims to partially present the results of the mentioned study by analyzing and interpreting the collected data pertaining to the visual environment of Tehran. A survey was carried out, in this study, to collect attitudes and views of a group of official authorities, professional and academics on the issue in hand. The respondents were selected based on their influential roles in policy-making and their engagement with research and decision making on urban design guidance and control in Tehran. Of 143 individuals who were asked to fill out the questionnaire or take part in a structured interview, finally 59 persons agreed to perform the task (n=59). The questionnaire, being an extensive one, consisted of 78 questions and propositions (with five-point Liker scales) to measure the subject's responses. The questionnaire, being modeled after Oregon's Model of Visioning (Ames, 1993) was organized under four major headings to address 1-the current profile of Tehran's cityscape/ image, 2-its probable scenario, and 3-its preferred scenario or desirable vision, and finally 4- the actions required to improve it. This article deals with the analysis and interpretation of 18 items of the mentioned questionnaire. The study results showed that a decisive majority of respondents evaluated the overall state of Tehran's cityscape as "bad" or "very bad" (85%), nevertheless they optimistically believed a more effective urban management may help Teheran to become a "beautiful city" (76.4%). The study also revealed that the most important views and vistas of Tehran were those associated with Mount Alborz, gateway precinct's views (Tehran's entrances) and the views observable from urban highways. Virtually all of the respondents believed a lack of an urban design plan to be the main cause of eyesore scenes and disorderly townscapes in Tehran (98.1%). They also believed that "Urban Visual Management" should be considered as an indispensible dimension of urban management which means a need for an institutional reform and capacity building, both at national and local level. The respondents mentioned that visual aspect of urban setting was inseparable from its functional and environmental aspects which required a more sustainable and holistic approach to urban aesthetics rather than a cosmetic one.