The Rise of the Facilitation Approach in Tackling Neighbourhood Decline in Tehran

Abstract

One of the main urban problems of Tehran is the decline of its central neighbourhoods and the spatial concentration of deprivation within them. Since 2009, facilitation—encouraging open dialogue among stakeholders to explore diverse options—has been the main approach by the Urban Renewal Organisation of Tehran in tackling neighbourhood decline, to the extent that it is becoming the dominant public sector policy in Iran. In this way, more than 50 Facilitation Offices have been established within the declining neighbourhoods of Tehran and other cities. For this reason, it is necessary to document and analyse Tehran’s experience, to recognise weaknesses and propose necessary readjustments to enhance the effectiveness of the approach. Based on this rationale, the main aim of this research is to document and analyse the main processes and outcomes of Facilitation Offices, and to identify the main weaknesses of the experience. Since the research is linked to the domain of urban policy, it follows the principles of policy research. Three major findings are of note: first, despite adopting an integrative perspective and involving the neighbourhood residents in the planning process, a lack of communication, coordination and consensus with non-local stakeholders is clear; second, the legal position of the neighbourhood regeneration plan is vague, with diverse agencies having no obligations to follow it; and third, in spite of the huge success of housing reconstruction projects, few examples of the provision of public services can be found.