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After World War I , the constituent assembly elected Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty as the new monarch, who immediately suspended the Baladie law of , replacing the decentralized and autonomous city councils with centralist approaches of governance and planning. From the s to the s, under the rule of Reza Shah, the city was essentially rebuilt from scratch.
That followed a systematic demolition of several old buildings, including parts of the Golestan Palace , Tekye Dowlat , and Tupkhane Square , which were replaced with modern buildings influenced by classical Iranian architecture, particularly the building of the National Bank , the Police Headquarters, the Telegraph Office, and the Military Academy.
The changes in urban fabric started with the street-widening act of , which served as a framework for changes in all other cities. The Grand Bazaar was divided in half and many historic buildings were demolished to be replaced with wide straight avenues. As an attempt to create a network for easy transportation within the city, the old citadel and city walls were demolished in , replaced by wide streets cutting through the urban fabric.
The new city map of Tehran in was heavily influenced by modernist planning patterns of zoning and gridiron networks. In , Tehran was the site of the Tehran Conference , attended by U. President Franklin D. University of Tehran 's Faculty of Law in The establishment of the planning organization of Iran in resulted in the first socio-economic development plan to cover from to These plans not only failed to slow the unbalanced growth of Tehran, but with the land reforms that Reza Shah's son and successor Mohammad Reza Shah named the White Revolution , Tehran's chaotic growth was further accentuated.
Throughout the s and s, Tehran was rapidly developing under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah. Modern buildings altered the face of Tehran and ambitious projects were envisioned for the following decades. In order to resolve the problem of social exclusion , the first comprehensive plan of Tehran was approved in The consortium of Iranian architect Abd-ol-Aziz Farmanfarmaian and the American firm of Victor Gruen Associates identified the main problems blighting the city to be high-density suburbs, air and water pollution, inefficient infrastructure, unemployment, and rural-urban migration.
Eventually, the whole plan was marginalized by the Revolution and the subsequent Iran—Iraq War. Tehran's most famous landmark, the Azadi Tower , was built by the order of the Shah in It was designed by Hossein Amanat , an architect who won a competition to design the monument, combining elements of classical Sassanian architecture with post-classical Iranian architecture.
Formerly known as the Shahyad Tower , it was built in commemoration of the 2,th year of the foundation of the Imperial State of Iran.
During the — Iran—Iraq War, Tehran was the target of repeated Scud missile attacks and airstrikes. The meter-high Milad Tower , which was part of the proposed development projects in pre-revolutionary Iran, [28] was completed in , and has thence become a famous landmark of Tehran. The meter pedestrian overpass of Tabiat Bridge is a newly built landmark, [10] designed by award winning architect Leila Araghian , which was completed in The metropolis of Tehran is divided into 22 municipal districts, each with its own administrative centre.
Although administratively separate, the cities of Ray and Shemiran are often considered part of Greater Tehran. Elahie , an upper-class residential and commercial district in northern Tehran. Ekhtiarie , an old residential area in northern Tehran. Hormozan Street in Qarb Town , northwestern Tehran.
Bucharest Street in Abbas Abad , north-central Tehran. Tehran's climate is largely defined by its geographic location, with the towering Alborz mountains to its north and the country's central desert to the south.
- BC) from a smuggler in western Kermanshah province. TEHRAN – The National Museum of Iran in downtown Tehran is showcasing a collection on Tepe Ghala, an ancient hill in western Iran with vestiges dating back to BC. TEHRAN – The National Museum of Iran in downtown Tehran is in a cave called Wezmeh near Kermanshah, west of Iran, the fossilized tooth is using modern techniques established the new dating and identification.
It can be generally described as mild in spring and autumn, hot and dry in summer, and cold and wet in winter. As the city has a large area, with significant differences in elevation among various districts, the weather is often cooler in the hilly north than in the flat southern part of Tehran. For instance, the Summer is long, hot, and dry with little rain, but relative humidity is generally low, making the heat tolerable.
Most of the light annual precipitation occurs from late autumn to mid-spring, but no one month is particularly wet.
The weather of Tehran can sometimes be unpredictably harsh. On January 5 and 6, , a wave of heavy snow and low temperatures covered the city in a thick layer of snow and ice, forcing the Council of Ministers to officially declare a state of emergency and close down the capital from January 6 through January 7. Tehran has seen an increase in relative humidity and annual precipitation since the beginning of the 21st century.
This is most likely afforestation projects, which include expanding parks and lakes. The northern parts of Tehran are, still, more lush than the southern parts.
In February , heavy snow covered all parts of the city. One newspaper reported that it had been the worst weather in 34 years.
On February 3, , Tehran received a heavy snowfall, specifically in the northern parts of the city, with a depth of 2 metres 6. On June 3, , a severe thunderstorm with powerful microbursts created a haboob , engulfing the city in sand and dust and causing five deaths, with more than 57 injured. This event also knocked down numerous trees and power lines.
A plan to move the capital has been discussed many times in prior years, due mainly to the environmental issues of the region. Tehran is rated as one of the world's most polluted cities, and is also located near two major fault lines. The city suffers from severe air pollution. Enhanced concentration of carbon dioxide over the city that are likely originated from the anthropogenic urban sources in the city is easily detectable from the satellite observations throughout the year. In , the government announced that "for security and administrative reasons, the plan to move the capital from Tehran has been finalized.
The officials are engaged in a battle to reduce air pollution. It has, for instance, encouraged taxis and buses to convert from petrol engines to engines that run on compressed natural gas. Furthermore, the government has set up a "Traffic Zone" covering the city centre during peak traffic hours. Entering and driving inside this zone is only allowed with a special permit. There have also been plans to raise people's awareness of the hazards of pollution. One method that is being employed is the installation of Pollution Indicator Boards all around the city to monitor the level of particulate matter PM10 , nitrogen dioxide NO 2 , ozone O 3 , sulfur dioxide SO 2 , and carbon monoxide CO.
The city of Tehran has a population of approximately 10 million in The present-day dominant language of Tehran is the Tehrani variety of the Persian language , and the majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persians. Tehran saw a drastic change in its ethnic-social composition in the early s.
After the political, social, and economic consequences of the Revolution and the years that followed, a number of Iranian citizens, mostly Tehranis, left Iran. With the start of the Iran—Iraq War — , the second wave of inhabitants fled the city, especially during the Iraqi air offensives on the capital. With most major powers backing Iraq at the time, economic isolation gave yet more reason for many inhabitants to leave the city and the country.
Having left all they had and have struggled to adapt to a new country and build a life, most of them never came back when the war was over. During the war, Tehran also received a great number of migrants from the west and the southwest of the country bordering Iraq. The unstable situation and the war in neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq prompted a rush of refugees into the country who arrived in their millions, with Tehran being a magnet for much seeking work, who subsequently helped the city to recover from war wounds, working for far less pay than local construction workers.
Many of these refugees are being repatriated with the assistance of the UNHCR , but there are still sizable groups of Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Tehran who are reluctant to leave, being pessimistic about the situation in their own countries. Afghan refugees are mostly Dari -speaking Tajik and Hazara , speaking a variety of Persian, and Iraqi refugees are mainly Mesopotamian Arabic -speakers who are often of Iranian heritage. The majority of Tehranis are officially Twelver Shia Muslims , which has also been the state religion since the 16th-century Safavid conversion.
There are many religious centres scattered around the city, from old to newly built centres, including mosques , churches , synagogues , and Zoroastrian fire temples. The city also has a very small third-generation Indian Sikh community that has a local gurdwara that was visited by the Indian Prime Minister in Tehran's Yusef Abad Synagogue.
Tehran is the economic centre of Iran. Few foreign companies operate in Tehran, due to the government's complex international relations. But prior to the Revolution , many foreign companies were active in Iran. It is also a leading centre for the sale of carpets and furniture. Tehran relies heavily on private cars, buses, motorcycles, and taxis, and is one of the most car-dependent cities in the world. Tehran has a wide range of shopping centers, and is home to over 60 modern shopping malls. Most of the international branded stores and upper-class shops are located in the northern and western parts of the city.
Tehran's retail business is growing with several newly built malls and shopping centres. Hyperstar , Tehran's subsidiary of French retailer Carrefour. Kourosh Mall in Shahid Sattari Expressway. List of modern and most-visited Shopping Malls in Tehran Province: [56]. Tehran, as one of the main tourist destinations in Iran, has a wealth of cultural attractions.
Museum of the Qasr Prison. Ornamentation of two sides, facing to river is a mixture of brick and tile mosaic work. Source: [35]. Earthq Struct — Link to it or recommend it! Tehran saw a drastic change in its ethnic-social composition in the early s. The Khaju Bridge is made of two decks floors.
It is home to royal complexes of Golestan , Saadabad and Niavaran , which were built under the reign of the country's last two monarchies. A number of cultural and trade exhibitions take place in Tehran, which are mainly operated by the country's International Exhibitions Company. Tehran's annual International Book Fair is known to the international publishing world as one of the most important publishing events in Asia.
National Museum of Iran. Museum of Contemporary Art. Museum of the Qasr Prison. Tehran has one of the highest betweenness and closeness centrality among the cities of Iran, regarding national road and air routes. The metropolis of Tehran is equipped with a large network of highways and interchanges. Kordestan Expressway interchange with Resalat and Hakim expressways.