The Progress and Trend Trajectory in Urban Design Projects of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Implemented Projects in Tehran from 1980 to 2015)

Fewer scholars have dealt with the trends of urban plans in Tehran during recent years.  This article aims to obtain a general view of urban thinkers on the most significant and successful urban design projects which have been implemented in Tehran from 1980 to 2015. The main question seeks how professionals categorize and evaluate these projects. To this end, the Delphi method was applied, and five groups of urban experts consisting of 40 members professional in urban sociology, urban design, urban planning, urban management, and architecture, took part. In addition, opinions of mayors, municipalities, city councilors, and consulting engineers for each Tehran district have been taken into the account.  Based on the panel view and compared to the literature review, the paper has categorized Tehran’s selected urban designs into four categories including urban frameworks, transportation plans, urban architectures, and public open spaces. It reveals the projects which have not been selected by the panelists contain important categories for Tehran and  vary from urban furniture to energy-efficient scales. However, the number of successful projects has grown and especially the peak belongs to public open spaces and urban architectures during the last five years. Based on the current trends, this study suggests that the urban design projects in Tehran in the near future must shift toward projects with participatory and ecological approaches, healthy city studies, focusing on the improvement of distressed urban fabrics and providing housing projects.