Rivers and Urban Development in Iran: Rivers as the forgotten part of urban management

Cities have spaces that are used in urban planning and development as natural spaces and meet the needs of citizens. An issue that has attracted the attention of urban and regional experts is the use of such spaces in urban development in recent years. Urban rivers are important factors in the formation of structural and functional changes in cities and today, rivers are considered to be important tools for urban development and planning. River as ecological elements have always had an effective role in creating a mutual relation between man-made city spaces and nature. Iran has a special geographic location and rivers have been the main factors in the formation of cities in Iran. Taking a glance at the situation and structure of most cities in Iran shows that their formation along and in the vicinity of rivers aimed at making use of the advantages of water. In Iran, rivers are public properties owned by the government and the government is responsible for preserving and protecting them. The main objective of this study is to investigate rivers and their role in urban development in Iran. Moreover, this study adopts a descriptive-applied method in order to achieve the purpose of the research. For this purpose, history of rivers in Iran, river typology in Iran, rules of urban rivers and the role of rivers in the formation of cities and the manner of urban river governance have been investigated. Further, the effective forms of rivers in urban development in Iran have been studied. The results indicate that although there are specific rules for urban rivers in Iran and although many rivers flow along or around cities in Iran, a handful of scholarly research have been conducted on the role of river and their role in urban development. Furthermore, city experts have not been able to plan for it and provide guidelines and policies. By reviewing rivers and identifying challenges and their related laws, the chaotic conditions of urban rivers would improve in Iran. Finally, practical suggestions are given with regard to the importance and subject of the research.

کلیدواژه ها:

River ، Urban development ، Urban management ، Iran.