Sustainable city

Sustainable city

Explanation of the role of laws and regulations in the production of contemporary urban space: the case study of Zanjan city

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Department of Urban Planning, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran
10.22034/jsc.2023.369221.1665
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
After the constitutional revolution, by the establishment of the legislative institution, laws and regulations became a powerful tool for the government to produce the urban space, transform and control it. The content of established laws is in accordance with the characteristics and the prevailing discourse in each era. If in the first Pahlavi period the laws and regulations were established for the transformation and changing the urban space, in the second Pahlavi period, they were applied for the circulation and consumption of the capital in the urban space, and in post-revolutionary Iran, they are used in order to create added value from the space, provide housing and control the urban space. In the contemporary period, the physical space of Zanjan city, like most of the cities in the country, is drastically changed due to the effects of various factors especially the laws and regulations. Enactment of the laws without considering all their aspects and effects on the one hand, and adopting incorrect land and housing policies on the other hand lead to the supply of land in excess of the city's needs, mainly in the form of land development plans. Subdivided lands are entered into the land market cycle like a commodity, which results in an increase of almost one million percent in the price of land in the last 35 years in Zanjan city. The research method is an ex post facto(post-event) method. Library studies, questionnaires, and aerial photographs are used to collect information. Analytical aspect of the issue can be traced in explaining the results of applying laws on the physical aspects of the city, the price of land and housing, the formation of institutions responsible for the city development, and so on.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The urban space of the contemporary period, while being influenced by the historical past, is a product of the conditions of the contemporary period with all its characteristics. Several factors are involved in the production and transformation of the urban space, of which laws and regulations are one of the most important aspects in the period under discussion. Explaining why the current structure of the country's cities and understanding the effective factors in the production of urban space and its physical transformation, as well as explaining the process of transforming the Iranian city from the city-life of the Qajar period to the city-commodity of today, make it necessary to address the issue of how to produce urban space.
 
Methodology
According to the purpose of the research and because the nature of the subject is unmeasurable and unquantifiable variables, the research method is qualitative. Based on this, the method of conducting descriptive study is analytical.
 
Results and discussion
The approval of the municipal law during the constitutional period changes the city administration from traditional to modern. With the approval of the law "widening and development of roads and streets" in the first Pahlavi period, the transformation of the physical space of cities is keyed. Based on this, the creation of four main streets of 5 kilometers in the heart of the old fabric of Zanjan city will collapse the physical structure of the city that is several thousand years old. The body of the new roads was established by using the "Regulations of Construction Incidents in the Passages" and thus the street becomes a new space and a symbol of modernity on the body of the city.
With the establishment of the second Pahlavi government, a major part of the nature of the approved laws is placed in line with the establishment of legal institutions in the field of cities and urban development. Rules; The establishment of the Planning Council, the establishment of the Supreme Council of Urban Development and Architecture, the establishment of the Ministry of Development and Housing, the change of the name of the Ministry of Development and Housing, etc. are among them. At the end of this period and the beginning of the 50s, the country's oil revenues increased sharply. The income from this transit also spreads to the field of land and housing.
The lands around the cities are attacked by speculators. The gambling exchange and land speculation are intensified so that the laws of "land transactions" and "relative stabilization of the price of land and prevention of its disproportionate increase" are approved to control the prices. The reflection of these conditions in Zanjan to the formation of regions; Emetadieh, Kuche Meshki, Wahidiyeh, Sarjangaldari, Amjadiyeh, Saadi North, Islamabad, Bisim, etc., with an area of ​​more than 300 hectares, which is a very significant area considering the area of ​​600 hectares of the city at that time.
Parallel to the establishment of the Islamic Revolution, the issue of housing shortage and high cost is considered the most important challenge in the society. "Urban Land Ownership Cancellation Law", "Urban Land Law" and its developed form "Urban Land Law" were approved as the most important and influential law in the development of the physical space of cities to overcome the mentioned challenge. With the approval of the urban land law, a new chapter in the production of the country's urban space is established. The effect of the implementation of the urban land law in Zanjan city was an increase of 1600 hectares in the area of ​​the city in the form of preparation areas. The number of residential plots resulting from these projects in Zanjan city is 27500 plots, which was more than the city's needs at that time. For this reason, due to the lack of effective demand, the duration of the construction of the preparation areas was prolonged, so that in Zanjan city, the average construction period of 80% of the land area with the preparation plan has taken more than 10 years, while this The amount for the time before the approval of the urban land law was 7 years. For this reason, a large number of unbuilt residential plots were left on the ground and the ground for frequent transactions was provided. Most of the transactions on the prepared lands of Zanjan have started since 1368, that is, three years after the approval of the land preparation law. On average, a piece of land has been traded 4 times a year in Zanjan during the last 30 years. The result of such conditions is an 8800-fold increase in the price of land in the preparation areas during the last 35 years in Zanjan city.
 
Conclusion
After the constitutional revolution, the government, using the tools of laws and regulations, has been the most effective factor in the production of the country's urban space. The ruling discourse has shaped and transformed the urban space according to its wishes and preferences. Rules; The municipality, the development and widening of roads and streets, the by-laws of construction developments in roads and streets, and the urban land law have had the most impact in this field. Laws and regulations along with some positive effects such as; The change of city management from the traditional form to the modern form, institutionalization and legalization of urban development, mass production of land and housing, etc. have also had negative effects. The disintegration of the old and neighborhood-oriented physical structure of cities, imitation in shaping the urban image, development from the outside and decay from the inside, the excessive increase in the boundaries of cities, the supply of urban land in excess of the need with the implementation of Article 11 of the Urban Land Law and its consequences Anomalous increase in the price of land and housing, which is completely against the goals of the aforementioned law, including the effects of bad laws and regulations.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.
Keywords

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