Abstract
Cities in Iran face major challenges in all domains of sustainability relating to environmental, social and economic dimensions of development. Environmental challenges include high and ineffective energy consumption, destruction of natural environment, pollution of air, water, soil and other related problems. On the social and economic fronts, poverty and inequality in access to public services and infrastructures and employment has led to rapid growth of informal settlements and informal economic activities inside and on the fringe of medium and large cities. Previous research and reports on evaluating sustainability of Iranian cities and regions have largely focused on assessing sustainable development indicators in environmental, social and economic areas. As a result, they have neglected to examine underlying procedural issues affecting sustainability, e.g. urban governance, and the relationship between substantive and procedural aspects. The main aim of this chapter is to examine the institutional and social capacities for moving and progressing towards sustainable urban development in Iran. The chapter adopts a systematic review or meta-analysis approach and brings together results of a number of previous studies undertaken by the authors and other researchers. The findings indicate that there are not sufficient social and institutional capacities for progressing towards sustainable cities. Nevertheless, the chapter contributes to better understanding of the potential that already exists, the barriers that must be overcome and the role that main agents play in shaping and utilising these capacities.
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Barakpou, N., Keivani, R.M. (2016). The Relationship Between Urban Governance and Sustainable Urban Development in Iran. In: Arefian, F., Moeini, S. (eds) Urban Change in Iran. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26115-7_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26115-7_12
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