Urban Growth Boundaries in Iran

Despite rapid urbanization in Iran, in the past five decades, Urban Growth Boundaries [UGB] have been applied to cities without fundamental change. Although, planners have referred to evidence indicating the inefficiency of these boundaries, they are still widely applied as the sole urban growth management instrument. This paper attempts to review the effectiveness of UGBs in Iranian cities. To this end, the theoretical and legal basis of UGBs is first reviewed. Then, a sample of 11 cities is selected in which each city represents a typological category in terms of scale, climate, and the relation of the city to its suburbs. The effectiveness of UGBs in these cities is assessed based on two criteria: (i) the validity of UGB indicating the area of the city neglected by UGB; and (ii) the ineffectiveness of UGB indicating the areas of urban sprawl outside the defined UGB. The results show that in all city types there is a degree of ineffectiveness, as well as lack of validity for adopted UGBs.