A review of “quality improvement plans of neighborhoods” in Isfahan with an urban regeneration approach

Considering the application of sustainable urban regeneration approach in the field of urban management and urban planning, conducting study and executive projects in this field can be seen in the executive perspective of many organizations responsible for making decisions in the city. One of the projects that has recently been considered by the Isfahan Municipality in the neighborhoods of the 15 districts in this city and has service description and study process very similar to the concept of urban regeneration is "Isfahan neighborhoods quality improvement project". Considering the comprehensive view toward the texture of the neighborhoods and applying methods of inhabitants' social participation in advancing the project, these projects seek to apply the sustainable urban regeneration approach in the form of executive and applicable tools. What is of great importance in these studies is the experiences from the previous studies in three general levels: carrying out the studies, formulation and approval of plans, and implementation of the final plans. Despite numerous positive points in formulating the mentioned plan and theoretical and practical similarity with the concept of urban regeneration, the challenges and deficiencies are inevitable as there is little research in this field. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the positive points of the plan as well as the challenges in two general parts: legal challenges and executive challenges, and to compare these challenges in three neighborhoods of Isfahan through a brief look at the experiences from the quality improvement plan of the three neighborhoods. Obviously, there is no space to provide all strengths and weaknesses in this paper, but it tried to provide the most important features, as a tangible practical experience in connection with the social, cultural, and physical contexts of the project.