Sustainable Community Development Planning; Case Study: Amirabad Neighborhood in Tehran

This paper seeks to achieve and make efficient use of principles and methods of planning on the scale of a Local Community referred to as Sustainable Community Development Planning. It further provides and presents a mechanism and a process for sustainable community development planning in Amirabad neighborhood, Tehran, Iran – as an alternative and distinct method among other common community planning methods in Tehran. Amirabad neighborhood in district 6 of Tehran has been chosen as the case study for the research because of two key reasons. On one hand, it enjoys some positive aspects of a neighborhood as a community, such as prevailing residential land use, local identity, specific physical characteristics, and presence of an active local council (an efficacious public organization and an essential feature of a local community). On the other hand, it suffers from various urban drawbacks (such as a lack of unity and participatory behavior among its citizen, shortage of trust and reliance among community members, air pollution, traffic congestion, and waste management) illuminating the importance of planning, problem-solving treatment, and choosing a sustainable view that requires further attention and action. This research differentiates the premise of the sustainable community development planning by studying the theoretical basis of the two concepts of sustainability and community development planning. It further proposes a framework and a process for sustainable community development planning in Amirabad neighborhood by studying the status and condition of the community and sustainable development of it (based on visual and perceptual features). Visual dimensions rest upon recorded and official information, while perceptual dimensions warrant a research through cognitive and subjective ideas of the community members and the related stakeholders in decision making, design, completion, and processing of targeted questionnaires. The questionnaires processed by in-depth analysis with the use of SPSS software so that the relationship between different charachteristics, behaviours, assets, and demands of both the community and community members are studied, analysed and concluded. The output of the paper is an effort to adapt the proposed mechanism and process of sustainable community development planning for this neighborhood and such neighborhoods alike, with emphasis on its assets (like physical and social capital, streghts and belongings of the community). Moreover, the paper concludes by assimilating the two concepts of community development planning and sustainability by developing a proposed framework for sustainable community development planning in Amirabad neighborhood. This assimilation is based upon considering the need for providing the essential backgrounds and bases for making use of the proposed process (by providing relatory suitable information management, trust building, education, and increasing the transparency). It also requires paying attention to limitations and threats affecting the production and implementation of urban development plans in Iran and establishing an integrated mechanism for sustainable planning in a community level.