THE EFFECT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON CULTURAL CHANGE DURING POST-WAR PERIOD IN IRAN

The appearance of the “Government of Construction” and “Liberal Economic Development and Modification Plan” as well as physical transformation of cities was a turning point in the recent history of Iran. Since 1989, the progress of economic hardware replaced the grand stagnation of 1960s. The economic infrastructures like plants, refineries, harbors, highways … were reconstructed and strengthened, and communicational and educational institutions and recreational - welfare centers appeared across the country. Following these developments or in parallel to these changes, some new demands, values and behaviors have become lifestyles or cultural software. This article is going to corroborate the hypotheses according to which the economic development had a causal role in cultural development and as the culture in old times was resulted from the environment conditions, today the new atmosphere of cities affected from liberal development is that new condition. Almost like what happened at dawn of the modern technical civilization in the West, the new urban facilities, like a new environment, necessitated its appropriate culture software. What Hashemi Rafsanjani, principal planner and director of that plan, called as “an even-tempered and natural development” was, in fact, a cultural and political progress which came gradually out from economic development.