Urbanization Through a Cultural Heritage Lens: The Case of Tehran (1785–2017)

ABSTRACT Scholars have argued that the annex of several villages has formed the current urban fabric of the metropolis of Tehran since becoming the capital in 1785. Three primary historic nuclei of Ray, the city center, and Tajrish have chronologically configured the growth and urbanization pattern of the city. The historic nuclei are the main identity generators and constitute the urban narrative of the metropolis of Tehran. In the process of the urbanization of Tehran, three political power shifts have affected the cultural heritage layers of the historic nuclei. The governing states have transformed Tehran village into a metropolis and in the process eradicated the rich layers of cultural heritage. The transformation of the village of Tehran to the metropolis has not been critically examined from a cultural heritage perspective. This paper investigates the urbanization process of the metropolis of Tehran through three historic nuclei as sites of cultural heritage and examines how cultural heritage was interpreted by the state and implemented into the different urban planning and policy-making practices.