Planning for redevelopment of abandoned urban lands; emphasizing infill development approach (Case study: district 19 of Tehran)

As a result of rapid growth of cities and their horizontal expansion, a considerable amount of urban lands has been put away from any efficient applications. Such kind of valuable lands cover 15 to 25 percent of cities’ areas in forms of old-fashions and timeworn textures. The 19th district of Tehran has a strategic situation as the western gateway of the city. At present, inactive industries and abandoned warehouses have occupied a significant amount of areas in district 19. Such areas are susceptible for many problems such as; economic depression, reduction of land values, environmental pollutions (accumulation of garbage and construction waste), visual contaminations, disruption in urban functions (services and accessibilities), reducing permeability in parts of the district, negative impact on environmental security, reduction of vitality and happiness of the urban environment which is necessary for social development of the city. Therefore, the present study titled “Planning and organizing abandoned and disused spaces of district 19” has been done based on the existing necessities and in line with the urban infill development policy. Based on aim, the present study is an applicable one. The research method was descriptive-analytic and data collection was based on both documentary and field methods. After identification of the region and extraction of indicators and criteria, we attempted to identify the abandoned spaces of the region. The organizing strategies of land were recognized using SWOT and QSPM models. Based on priority, they include: redevelopment of abandoned lands in line with the economic and social development of the region, setting tax for abandoned lands and their transactions, allocating disused spaces to required services, giving priority to restoration of lands with access to the internal and external road networks, increasing quality and integrating texture of the region, and creating coherence in the regional spatial organization. Finally, strategic policies and implementation mechanisms of these strategies are also presented.