Toward Revolutionary Streets?

Document Type : Review

Author

Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture, University of Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The streets of Tehran are, undoubtedly, one of the most effective urban elements in the contemporary history of Iran during the Islamic Revolution (the second half of the twentieth century); both in the pre-revolutionary period when the street was the favorite public place for presence of the youth in scenes of revolution and in the post-revolutionary period when ideological view of the country changed urban management approaches toward the street: « Slums where homeless people of Tehran live require more attention than the north of the city; the concentration should be on the poor more than the rich (Imam Khomeini, 1979: 144). » These changes were so profound that in abroad, failures due to urban management weakness were considered a result of ideological system faults. Simultaneously, inside the country, the new managements have not reached significant success towards achieving the revolutionary utopia; Streets are huge reason for dissatisfaction of Tehran residents. This article aims to study the tactics of street orientation in four decades of post revolutionary, through the analysis of urban management approaches in order to result into a reading of “street landscape” in Tehran.

Keywords