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From Terbiz to Tabriz
Contemporary development in Tabriz (Iran)
Sanam Leisiazar
EPFL - ENAC - SAR - PDM
January 2011
Professeur Enoncé, Prof. Monique Ruzika-Rossier
Directeur Pédagogique, Prof. Andrea Bassi
Maitre EPFL, Enrico Slongo
1
Table of content
1. INTRODUCTION
1-1 Hypotheses
1-2 Research objectives
1-3 Methodology
5
7
7
9
1-3-1
Data collection
11
1-3-2
Data sources
13
2. STUDY OF CONTEXT
2-1 The city of Tabriz
2-2 Development history of Tabriz
15
15
19
2-2-1
Ancient period
19
2-2-2
Islamic period
21
2-2-2-1
Iran cities in Islamic period
21
2-2-2-2
Tabriz in Islamic period
23
2-2-3
Contemporary period
25
2-2-4
Impact on present urban structure
29
2-3
2-3-1
Actual context of Tabriz
Population density
35
35
3
2-3-2
Mixity
37
2-3-3
Road network across the city
41
2-3-4
Transportation
45
2-3-4-1
Public transportation
45
2-3-4-2
Intercity transportation
47
2-4
Future of Tabriz
49
3. SITE ANALYSES
3-1 History of the site
3-2 District morphology
3-3 Road network across the district
3-4 Access to the site
3-5 Mixity and diversity
3-6 Site future
55
57
59
61
63
65
67
4. SCENARIOS AND DISCUSSIONS
4-1 Scenarios
69
69
4-1-1
Scenario 0: Renovation
71
4-1-2
Scenario 1: Reconstruction
71
4-1-3
Scenario 2: Extension
73
4-1-4
Scenario 3: Hybridization
73
4-2
Discussions
75
5.
SUMMARY AND PROSPECTS
81
6.
REFERENCES
85
1.
INTRODUCTION
Because of the dramatical increasing of urban population growth in developing countries it is expected that they will face wide urban problems in the
coming decades. According to the United Nation (UN) estimation, the world’s
urban population will increase to 9 billion in 2050, which 90 percent of this
increase will occur in the developing countries (UN, 2009). Such a dramatic
increase in urban population in developing countries poses a huge challenge
for the management of urban development and the provision of services. The
proper understanding of the patterns of urban land use will provide a more
substantial basis for better prediction of the future urban changes.
This study aims to examine the patterns of urban change in one of the Iran
megacities, Tabriz, in order to contribute a better understanding of the urban
structure in the city. It then tries to evaluate the main social and environmental
impacts of this change in Tabriz. It will lead to a better understanding of the
urban structure that we can plan better for the future and ultimately reduce our
urban problems.
An existing residential complex, so called Shahid Madani or in short Madani,
has been chosen as a study case dealing with emerging problems due to
population growth and modernization in Tabriz. The intention of the choice of
Madani complex site for redevelopment is originated from three main ideas:
(1) linkage between different districts in the region, and (2) redevelop of a mix
program in the region with (3) an economic viability.
5
1-1
Hypotheses
This study aims to utilize a mixed program for redevelopment of an urban
districts in Tabriz. It is to combine the traditional aspects of the urban development with recent modernization features to hinder the social segregation in the
city. A mix program may lead to the attraction of diverse populations to a typical site. However, combining a site to the existing urban tissue might be challenging and one may respect to all traditional and cultural criteria together with
the theoretical basis of urbanization. In this work a unique residential complex
with a mix use character is taken as the study case. Different scenarios will be
developed and discussed taking into account all the above mentioned aspects
and criteria to end up in a relatively proper scheme for the redevelopment of
the site, which was the core of the development of the southeast of Tabriz. The
hypothesis developed for this study might be expanded to the regions with the
same characteristics in the city.
1-2
◄ Views of recently
developed regions
of Tabriz.
Research objectives
Main objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the change in
the structure of the city of Tabriz through examining its recent urban growth
and analyzing the western way of life in the site of a residential complex in
east of Tabriz. It tries to describe the extent of change in population density
and activity patterns in this city and explain the main underlying factors. To establish the background in which the recent urban change must be studied, the
study will review the historical development of Tabriz. Then the major social
and environmental impacts of this urban change will be discussed briefly. The
objectives are three questions and the answers will comprise the main part of
the analysis in this study. These questions and their relevance to each other
are as followings:
1) Which factors have influenced the historical growth of Tabriz and to what
7
extent they appear in the present structure?
2) What is the process of recent urban growth in Tabriz?
3) Which factors are important in contemporary redevelopment of a district in
Tabriz?
The first part of study (question 1) deals with the historical background of
urban development in the city. It is to study which important factors have influenced the growth or decline of the city in the past and to what extent their
impacts can be observed in the present structure.
After reviewing the historical background of urban development, the second
part of the analysis (question 2) deals with the process of recent population
growth and its impact on the density pattern of Tabriz.
◄ Views of Elgoli
district.
The third part of the analysis (question 3) concerns the redevelopment of an
existing residential complex located in Elgoli district in the southeast of Tabriz
(Figure left). In these analysises series of scenarios is given to valorize the
district.
1-3
Methodology
The studies made in this work are accomplished using three different standpoints. Those standpoints are then used for final discussion and conclusion
in processing the scenarios at the end of study. The three standpoints are as
followings:
i) The first part of the analysis begins with a historical evolution of Tabriz. Primarily a geography-history approach is used to analyze the historical growth.
It can reveal some economical, political and social process influence of the
9
development of the city that a pure statistical approach may not explain. The
focus here is mainly to determine the important factors influencing the growth
and spatial structure of the city.
ii) In the second part, analyses in actual city plan are performed; first the
process of recent rapid population growth in Tabriz is discussed and the main
causal factors are analyzed. Then the relationship between recent urban
growth and density pattern is discussed. Also, the road network, transportation system is analyzed.
iii) The third part, concerns the site analysis. This section includes two parts.
The first part analyzes the existing site in the city and the character of western
way of life in an islamic city. To understand how to transform this site according to the series of new needs in 2011 the second part relates to the testing
of the hypothesis by the variety of scenarios which assumes the recent urban
change in Tabriz has been associated with the emergence of new urban social
and environmental problems.
1-3-1
Data collection
The data used in this study were mainly collected through a field trip, which
took place in August and September 2010. Methods of data collection are:
i) Referral to the various government, non-governmental agencies and libraries in Tabriz and Tehran to obtain the existing statistics, reports, maps, air
photos and other documents about the development of Tabriz.
ii) Extracting data from government documents (e.g. summarizing or classifying figures and measuring maps) and interviewing various official and non
official individuals in Tabriz.
iii) Making personal observations from different parts of the city particularly
11
from the site of study. I documented important phenomena relating to my subject by taking photos. It should be noted that the photos presented in this work
without referring to any source are taken by the author.
Those documents will be presented where needed and will be used to elaborate and discuss concerning a proper plan for redeveloping the district of
study.
1-3-2
Data sources
The major sources consulted during the field trip to obtain data for this study
include:
i) Department of housing and urban development (DHUD) in Tabriz
ii) Municipality of Tabriz
iii) Tabriz national library
iv) Ministry of housing and urban development (MHUD)
The lack of detailed and systematic data archiving in the most of developing
countries is a common problem. A similar problem existed in my case of study
as well. However, reduce the error in the analysises some of the data, e.g.
figures, maps, statistics, used in this study are reconsidered for the sake of
validity.
13
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAYJAN
TURKEY
TURKMENISTAN
CASPIAN SEA
TABRIZ
MASHHAD
TEHRAN
HAMADAN
IRAQ
AFGHANISTAN
ISFAHAN
YAZD
AHVAZ
KERMAN
PAKISTAN
SHIRAZ
BANDAR ABBAS
PERSIAN GULF
2.
2-1
◄ Position of Tabriz
in Iran.
STUDY OF CONTEXT
The city of Tabriz
At 1350 meters above sea level, the city of Tabriz is situated on a huge triangular shaped basin called “Tabriz plain”. This plain, which is located in the
east coasts of the Lake of Orumieh, covers a vast area of about 470,000 hectares. Except from the west side, which is open to the coasts of Lake Urmia,
this plain is enclosed by Mishow and Morrow mountains from the northwest,
Eynali-Zaynali mountains from the north and northeast, and the foothills of
Sahand mountains from the east and south. The general slope of this basin is
from east to west and the salty river of Talkheh Rood passes through it. The
city of Tabriz is located in the eastern corner of this basin where the foothills of
the Sahand meets Eynali-Zaynali’s steep slopes. Tabriz is 620 kilometres from
Tehran, capital of Iran, 150 kilometres from Jolfa on the border of the Republic
of Azarbaijan and about 400 kilometres from Makoo on the border of Turkey
(Azimi N., 1996).
Tabriz is the most populated city in Iranian Azerbaijan and the capital of East
Azerbaijan province. Tabriz is the fourth most populated city in Iran after Tehran, Mashhad, and Esfahan, while also being a major Iranian heavy industrial
and manufacturing center. Tabriz covers an area of 4.34 thousand square
kilometers and has 17 towns and 175 villages, and a population of 1,398,060
in 2006. In this year, Tabriz alone included more than 78 percent of the province’s population while other towns together with 115,000 residents, and 175
villages collectively with 180,000 people included 22 percent of the population. Tabriz was known as capital of Iran several times: during Kara Koyunlu
dynasty from 1375 to 1468, during Ak Koyunlu within 1468-1501, and Empire
within the Safavid period from 1501 until their defeat in 1736.
15
TALKHE RIVER
0
Q
1
I
UR
RI
VE
R
2 km
As a typical large Iranian city, Tabriz has the following characteristics:
i) It has inherited the structure of the traditional Islamic city, which is quite visible in the old districts of the city. From this perspective, not only it is similar to
◄ City of Tabriz.
Source: www.
iranmap.com
the most old large and medium sized Iranian cities, but also it can represent
other Islamic cities, especially those of in the middle east.
ii) As a large and regional centre, Tabriz has gone through a similar modernization process as other major urban centers in Iran during this century especially after the 1960s.
iii) Because of its geographical location in the northwest of Iran, the city was
not influenced directly by the Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988 and therefore, it has not
Altitudes
undergone major reconstruction after the war.
Built area
Green area
rivers
Airport
Railway station
17
8th century B.C
11th century A.D
13th century A.D
19th century A.D
1966
River Bed
2-2
Development history of Tabriz
Like many other cities in Iran, the development history of Tabriz can be studied
during these three periods: 1) the ancient and pre-Islamic period (until the mid
7th century) during which the formation and development of cities was under
powerful empires, 2) the Islamic or pre-modern period (from the mid 7th until
the early 20th century) during which the development and organization of cities was greatly influenced by Islamic culture, and 3) the contemporary or modern era (since the early 20th century on) during which cities have substantially
grown and influenced by capitalism and modern technology (Azimi N., 1996).
Attempts have been made to identify the basic structure of the city in each
period and analyze the main changes from one period to another.
2-2-1
◄ Development history of Tabriz from
8th century BC
to 1966. Source:
DHUD, 1992.
Ancient period
Unfortunately, the history of the Tabriz in the ancient period is not very clear
and its origin in pre-Islamic time is based on a number of speculations among
which three of them are discussed. The history of the city, however, is more
clear and well described during the Islamic period, especially after the 11th
century. Since then Tabriz has been one of the most important cities in the
country as a regional and/or national capital, an important economic center
and military as a strategic point. The historical point of Tabriz can be better
understood from its selection in 1990 as one of five main historical and cultural
centers in Iran by High Consul of Architecture and Urban Development. This
selection has been made to preserve and revitalize the historical districts,
monuments and traditional architecture in important old Iranian cities. (Hertsfeld E., 1975).
The idea proposed for the origin of Tabriz (Figure left) in pre-Islamic period is
based on Assyrian records, claims that Tabriz originated during the time of the
Medes, the tribal group who lived in the north west of Iran between 8th and
19
◄ The location of Tabriz on silk road.
Source: DHDU.
6th BC ((Hertsfeld E., 1975). According to these records, Sargon captured
the city of Oshkaya (the present Osku) in 714 BC, he took another town or
fortress with two walls and a ditch near Oshkaya called Terbiz. Because of the
geographical location of Oshkaya, 40 kilometers south of present-day Tabriz,
Terbiz was probably in the same place where present-day Tabriz is located
(Taghavi nejad M., 1984; Hosseinzadeh D., 1991).
In addition to the above propositions on the foundation of Tabriz, There is another theory about the origin of Tabriz in the ancient time which seems to have
been forgotten in most records. The reason is the appearance of the name
of Tabriz on one of the silk roads which passed through the north west Iran
in the ancient time (Figure left up). The geographical location of Tabriz on the
major east-west commercial routes has always given it a good opportunity to
be a main trade centre in north west Iran. Other cities like Mereve, Nishapur,
Semnan and Ray, have emerged on the silk roads or other caravan routes in
ancient times.
2-2-2
2-2-2-1
◄ Drawing of Tabriz
by a Turk traveler
in 14th century.
Source: http://
www.tabrizkey.
com/blog/?p=12
Islamic period
Iran cities in Islamic period
One important change during early Islamic time in cities of Iran was the emergence of religious institutes characterized mainly by the Masjid Jamih1 (the
Friday mosque) as the major religious and political centre (Figure left down)
main government buildings and the residences of the governor and his assistance were located beside the Masjid Jamih. With the further growth of the
city, the Masjid Jamih usually remained in the centre of city and today it can
still be seen in the central part of many old Islamic cities. (Saeidi R., 1992).
1 Masjid Jamih (Friday mosque) is an arabic name for Friday mosque – in Arabic, “the Day of
Assembly” – is the day for communal prayer in which all male Muslims are called to pray communally for the noon-time prayer in Islam. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Mosque).
21
0
500 m
The second important change in Islamic cities was the substantial improvement in their economic role which can be seen by the development of the
Islamic bazaar as the main complex of economic activities (Afshar F., 1994).
◄ The central part
of Tabriz in 1889.
Source: DHUD,
1992.
Increasing the inter-regional trade between the 10th and 15th centuries led
to the growth of cities. Usually located at city centre and beside the Masjid
Jamih, the bazaar play the most important role in urban life because the majority of people worked there. In addition, with strong economic and political
ties with rural areas, cities and villages had a high degree of interaction with
each other.
Another characteristic of the spatial structure of Islamic cities was the segregation between residential and commercial areas. Such a separation is attributed to what Abu-Lughod L. (1993) calls “gender segregation”, referring to
the need to separate private (that is, female) from public (that is, male) space
in Islamic culture. Such a segregation did have important effects which left
the residential areas a large measure of autonomy. Since many of the public
functionaries (the supervisor of the marketplaces or the supervisors of public
morals) operated largely in the commercial section (the bazaar) of the city.
Neighborhoods managed many of their internal functions on a more ad hoc
basis, being unable to afford more commercialized services. (Azimi N., 1996).
2-2-2-2
Tabriz in Islamic period
In the19th century Tabriz was a good example displaying the physical structure of the traditional Iranian city. Its structure was influenced by urban experience during the Islamic period, before it was influenced by the socio-economic
conditions and technological impacts of the 20th century.
The major urban elements including bazaar1, Masjid Jamih (Freiday mosque
1 The Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex is one of the oldest bazaars of the Middle east and the
largest covered bazar in the world. (http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/tabriz.html)
23
(Figure left up), and Ark1 (Figure left down), in close proximity to each other
◄
The View of Masjid
Jamih (Friday
mosque) of Tabriz.
in the city centre, represented the Islamic identity of the city. Most of the economic and administrative activities were concentrated in or around the bazaar.
Thus, places of trade and production, caravansaries and government offices
were found in the city centre. Only a few structures such as brick and ore making factories, tanneries, etc., were located outside the city to minimize their
environmental impacts on the city also distance to resources. Beyond the city
centre, ordinary residents lived in distinct neighborhoods, called Mahalleh. In
1880, Tabriz was composed of 20 Mahallehs and each Mahalleh was divided
into sub-neighbourhoods called Barzan.
2-2-3
Contemporary period
The modern period in Iran began with the establishment of the Pahlavi2 regime
in 1925. In the first period of the modem period (1925-1956), urbanization
grew slowly while in the second period after 1956, it gained a rapid growth.
In the first period of the modem time, the structure of Tabriz witnessed some
◄
View of Ark-e Tabriz. Source: http://
www.iranchamber.
com/cities
important changes which caused the vast changes of the second period. The
main structural changes of the first period of the contemporary period in Tabriz
can be summarized as follows:
A number of new streets were superimposed on the traditional structure of the
city. One main street was built in the east-west direction which was a result
of widening the Iran-Europe transit road through Tabriz. Other streets were
radiated from this central street towards the north or south, mostly without
1 Ark-e Tabriz (also Arg-e Ali-Shāh) is a remnant of a fortress built in the Ilkhanate period.
Currently it is placed in the center of Tabriz. Consequently, after the Iran Islamic Revolution the
government damaged large parts of the Ark to make a new mosque. The structure today stands
28 meters high, and is still used as part of a space for holding Friday prayers in Tabriz.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arg_of_Tabriz)
2 The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son, Reza shah
Pahlavi (reg. 1925—1941) and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (reg. 1941—1979). (http://www.
iranchamber.com/history)
25
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Km
55 Km
To Turkey
To Tehran
0
To Tehran
00
5 Km
5 Km
5 Km
(a) Tabriz map in1966
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(b) Tabriz map in 1970
To Tehran
5 Km
(c) Tabriz map in 1978
urke
To T
00
To Tehran
5 Km
5 Km
(d) Tabriz map in 1991
reaching the city limits. Another important element was the construction of the
railway which linked Tabriz to Russia at the end of the Second World War and
later to Tehran. Even though the railway passed some distance to the west of
the city, it was significant in terms of its future impact on the direction of the
physical expansion of the city.
The other main new component added to Tabriz was the construction of an
airport in the north west of the city. Like the railway, it influenced the future
growth of the city in the north west direction, but the existence of Quri Chay1
◄
Development of
Tabriz from 1966
to1991. Source:
DHUD, 1992.
between the city and the airport weakened this influence compared with the
railway to the west. The passage of the railway and transit roads to the west
side and availability of flat lands provided the city with a suitable location for
establishment of new industrial developments, particularly after the 1960s.
As seen in Figure left, one may noted that in addition to the centric development of the city from 1966-1970, Elgoli garden2(shown by arrow in map(a))
become a core of development in the south-east of the city which visibly from
1978 causes the development and expansion of the city to south-east, and as
seen in the map of 1991 residential parts includes the Elgoli garden.
During the second phase while Tabriz has experienced rapid urban growth the
spatial structure of cities was also changed considerably. The industrialization
policy of the country, which began in the early 1960s, and the oil boom of the
early 1970s enhanced industrial activities and contributed to the recent rapid
urban growth. The major spatial structural development during the second
phase of modernization could be seen in less compact physical development
of city, shifting the industrial activities from city centre to the periphery of the
1 Quri Chay is a river in Tabriz. It arises from the east of Tabriz mountains and joins the Aji Chay
just northeast of central Tabriz. The river divides Tabriz into northern and southern parts which
are connected to each other by several bridges. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quri_Chay).
2 Elgoli garden is a large garden in Tabriz. Early history of it is not clear. However, it seems that
it was used as a water resource for agricultural purposes. It was used as a summer palace during the Qadjar dynasty, when Tabriz was the official residence of Prince of Iran.
27
m
city. It appeared with establishment of modem factories (e.g. refineries, steel
factories and automobile assembly factories) along the major roads, expansion of transport networks, and social segregation among residential groups.
The recent process of urbanization in Tabriz, generally, has led to an uneven
urban development both at the inter and intra-urban scales (Amirahmadi H.
et al. 1993).
The impacts of modernization on the old spatial structure in Tabriz, led to the
establishment of new physical elements such as planned streets, rail station,
airport, new factories and modern buildings. With modernization process and
increasing the integration of economy of large cities, national and eventually international economy brought a major socio-economic and technological
changes within the urban life.
2-2-4
Impact on present urban structure
The most important impact of history in today’s structure in Tabriz is the presence of the old part in the middle of the city (Figure left up), which is easily distinct, from newly built districts (Figure left down) in terms of the street pattern,
and the age, density and quality of buildings. The old structure of the city from
recently developed areas is recognizable simply by looking at an air photo
or a map sheet. The existence of irregular, narrow and many dead-end passages in the old section of the city implies the elementary transportation and
◄ Views of the city
center (up) and a
recently developed
district (down) of
Tabriz. Source:
Tabriz municipality,
2010.
the security strategy used to minimize losses in the case of an outside attack.
Despite the construction of a number of new streets which have cut through
the old section of the city, the present main transportation network had to be
adapted to the old street pattern in order to use the existent public spaces and
minimize the demolition of buildings (Azimi N., 1996).
Another impact of historical development on the present structure of Tabriz, is
the existence of the bazaar in the old part both in terms of its physical struc-
29
m
ture and its economic role which has influenced the present street patterns.
Complex of the bazaar in the city centre, Figure left up, built in 11th century,
with relatively large size and exotic structure (e.g. domes, covered passages
and traditional architecture) forms one of the major present physical elements
of the city. The centrality of the bazaar has led to the orientation of many
◄ Bazaar of Tabriz.
Source: Tabriz municipality, 2010.
streets towards this major activity centre, making the city form similar to a
radial plan. The centrality of the bazaar has also led to the concentration of
other services such as banks, clinics, and many government offices around
the bazaar making the city centre more crowded than any other part of the city.
The Bazaar, as the main economic centre in the past and as the most important commercial complex at present is the focus of the main present transportation network in order to facilitate the accessibility of residents and transportation of goods to the bazaar.
The other impact which have influenced transport system in Tabriz is the existing of religious buildings in the center similar to the other historical cities (e.g.
Isfahan1). The old section of the city has many more mosques than its planned
districts. For example, inside the old part of Tabriz in average there are 14 to
17 mosques in each square kilometer, such as Masjid Jami, Alishah mosque,
Masjid Ostad Shagherd2 and Blue mosque3 (Figure left down), but within the
newly built peripheries there are only about 3 or 4 of them in each square kilometer. This has made them important landmarks in the central part of the city.
1 Isfahan or Esfahan is located in the south of Tehran and Iran’s second largest city. It is famous
for its Islamic architecture, with covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isfahan)
2 Masjid Ostad Shagherd is one of the most important mosques in the Bazaar of Tabriz, The
construction date backs to 14th century. This mosque has been renovated during time and now
is one of the most popular mosques in bazaar.
◄ The view of Blue
mosque from
Khaqani park.
3 The Blue Mosque is a famous historic mosque in Tabriz. The mosque and some other public
buildings were constructed in 1465. The mosque was severely damaged mainly in a earthquake
in 1779. Reconstruction began in 1973 under the supervision of Iranian Ministry of Culture.
However, the tiling is still incomplete. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Blue_Mosque,_Tabriz). Park
Khaqani is constructed in 2000 around the blue mosque and this complex (mosque and park)
has become a public space. Blue mosque is not used now for religious purpose and it has been
turned to a museum.
31
Blue mosque
Alishah Mosque
These land marks also have influenced the existing street network by being
◄ View of Saheb-olAmr mosque and
its bypassing main
street.
selected as major transportation nodes.
One of the examples of the impact of the historical buildings in road network
is the main axe passes by the Saheb ol Amr1 mosque (Figure left up). Another
one is the Imam Khomeiny street, passing by the blue mosque (Figure down
in page 30) and connecting to the Alishah mosque (Figure left down).
◄ Imam
Khomeiny
street and accessibility to Alishah
Mosque and Blue
1 The Saheb ol Amr Mosque located in center of Tabriz near Bazaar and was initially built in
1636 and has a history of destruction and repair.
33
During years
First year popu-
Last period
Population
Purcantage
lation
poplulation
growth
change per year
1940-1956
213,542
289,996
76,456
1.93
1956-1966
289,996
403,413
113,417
3.35
1966-1976
403,413
597,976
194,563
4
1976-1986
597,976
971,482
373,506
4.97
1986-1996
971,482
1,191,043
219,561
2.19
1996-2006
1,191,043
1,398,060
207,017
1.74
2-3
Actual context of Tabriz
This chapter examines the process of recent urban growth and its impact on
population density, transportation system and road network. Like other large
Iranian cities Tabriz has experienced rapid population growth during recent
decades.
2-3-1
◄ Population of
Tabriz from 1940
to 2006. Source:
Tabriz university.
Population density
Two main factors caused the rapid population growth in Tabriz. First is high
natural population growth rate and the second is massive rural-urban migration. These two factors influenced by socio-economic changes due to technological improvements of Iran.
Due to breakthroughs in the medical sciences and the high birth rate after the
1950’s, a high population growth rate was occurred. Parallel to the population
growth, mechanization of agriculture and the limited amount of agricultural
lands resulted in rise of unemployment rate, which consequently pushed jobless people from rural areas to cities. The overpopulation continued with the
selection of Tabriz as an industrial pole in the north west region of Iran in 1998.
As a regional pole, Tabriz received considerable industrial investment which
attracted the unemployed people from rural area (Danesh A., 1985).
In pre-modern period, people tended to live as close as possible to the city
centre, the dense housing allowed higher population density. The city centre
with the bazaar, government offices and major religious institutions was for
long time the residence of wealthy famlies, religious leaders, local authorities
and high ranking government employees. For this reason, security in the city
centre was better than other places in the city. These tendencies, namely,
accessibility to the activity centre, amenities and security, and historical development have been major factors in the development of a higher population
35
0
1
2 km
density in the city centre (Mohammadi M., 1990).
However, later this trend was changed in a way that population density declined in the city center. As seen in Figure left while the central districts have
low density, northern and southern parts of the city indicates a high population
◄ Population density
of Tabriz in 2008.
density. In between, districts surrounding the centre show a medium density.
In comparison between east and west of the city, on the other hand, the eastern districts have been gained lower density than western peripheries. The
population density pattern in the north and south of Tabriz relates to the settlement of low income groups.
2-3-2
Mixity
The term “mixity” is qualified by “functional” or “social” and is used for policies
on housing. It is to avoid the social segregation as well as the trend in urban
zoning that has separated housing, work places, shops and services (Santangelo M., 1999).
Social mixity is based on an evaluation of the social situation. The goals of
262-652 persons
per hectare
254-362 persons
per hectare
social mixity is making the areas more dynamic, preserving businesses and
public services, and encouraging the mechanisms for obtaining a financial
balance. Tabriz as an Islamic city contains highly differentiated conceptions of
social mixity. Except some districts in the city, other parts are segregated on
different social status groups. In general, one may find a very little examples
163-254 persons
per hectare
83-163 persons per
hectare
1-83 persons per
hectare
of social mixity in residential districts but may easily find in public places such
as weddings, religious ceremonies, parks and restaurants.
Functional Mixity means bringing together the different functions such as
work, housing and leisure into close proximity, which highlights the importance of an integrated approach to improve the quality of life in disadvantaged
neighbourhoods (Baumont C., 2009). This includes the development of an ap-
37
propriate mix of housing and of more attractive public space, the upgrading of
commercial centres, improved transportation which, in turn reduces the need
◄ Example of the
mixity of housing
and commerce
in one of the
recently developed
districts.
for mobility and favors the development of collective modes of transportation.
Functional mixity also favors social mixity. There are some caces of functional
mixity in both traditional and modern style in Tabriz (seen in left photos). In
both cases there are shops in first floors and housing in upper floors.
Although one may find types of mixity in Tabriz, but we can notice easily that
in each cases public and private have a visible limit. For example, in Tabriz we
can’t have every function besides the housing. The neighborhood commercial
areas are designed to the small scale shopping places intended to serve the
daily needs of residents living in adjacent residential districts. They typically
include small grocery stores, beauty shops, restaurants, health clinics, bakery,
and wedding salons.
◄ Example of the
mixity of housing
and small shops in
the ancient district
in center.
39
A
B
0
1
2 km
C
2-3-3
Road network across the city
City roads have many important functions, such as connecting city parts, providing many traffic services, constructing a framework for city structure, laying
◄ Roads network in
Tabriz.
many kinds of public establishments, partition street blocks and organizing
buildings along street, etc. (Sun J., 1997). With the rapid development of city
traffic, city roads play an important role to control traffic, expected population
growth and development of new districts and is closely tied to the continued
growth of economy.
As shown in the left map, Tabriz road network consists of 2 major concentric
ring roads, the inner ring route around the center and the outer ring which is
indeed a highway around the city. These are served by a number of main and
A
Direction to
Tehran
B
Direction to
Jolfa-Republic
of Azerbayjan
C
Direction to
BazorganTurkey
Outer ring
highway
side streets. As mentioned before the old part of city has irregular, narrow
and many dead-end passages but new districts have more regular and larger
streets.
The outer ring, known as Tabriz periphery highway, connects different regions
of the city as well as linking intercity roads and freeways to each other. This
highway ring has been developed and upgraded since the 1990 master plan.
However, it needs to improve connections to the local street network as well
Inner ring route
as the main roads of the city.
Emam Khomeyni street
The inner ring route circulates to connect different old parts of the city. It origi-
Rail way
nates from a main circle in the northwest of the city close to the airport and
passes from heavy traffic parts of the city. The inner ring is a principal access
that traverses the main parts of the city. This route expanded and improved
in 1998 and has sufficient capacity to accommodate existing traffic volumes.
Traffic jam is not an issue at present, however, traffic volume is expected to
increase in the future due to the redevelopment of new districts and increasing
density of population.
41
◄ View of Chaykenar
route.
Chaykenar1 route (Figure left up) is a main road along the Quri river, which
forms upper side of the inner circle as appears like a two lane road in the map.
It provides access to the north and the airport, also passes through the middle
of the city, connecting the eastern and western parts of the city without any
traffic lights. This is a direct link between Elgoli in the southeast and airport
in the northwest of the city that enables to bypass the central heavy traffic
regions.
Emam Khomeyni street (Figure left down) is the second main route of the
city, which provides access from Elgoli in the southeast of the city to the west
where Tabriz railway station is located. It indeed traverses the inner ring route.
Since 2008, BRT service (Bus Rapid Transit) has been established along this
street that connects the east to the west of Tabriz.
Like other megacities in Iran, traffic control is one challenging issues in Tabriz.
The traffic system of Tabriz is currently on the process of upgrading traffic
plan to improve the quality of inner city travels. This project is expected to
improve traffic fluency and roadway safety, especially during peak periods.
To control the mass of vehicle and traffics in main roads, tens of bridges and
underpasses has constructed during past ten years. These underpasses provided a reasonable traffic current and is expected to make a non stop current
◄ View of trafic jam
in Emam Khomeyni street.
of vehicles over some routes of the city such as the inner ring.
1 Chaykenar means beside river. This river named Quri River which means dried river.
43
0
1
2 km
2-3-4
Transportation
With spreading urban population and increasing middle class population in
the city, car population has been grown rapidly in Tabriz. The consequence
is a growing demand for additional road to absorb the growing fleet of cars.
In parallel with growth of the city an inevitable development in the periphery
low-class population, who may not own a private car, occurred. One of the
consequence of this development is the isolation of these inhabitants from
access to the city centers and hence isolated from access to jobs, thereby
locking them in poverty. Access to transportation services for this group of
population is a major issue. Therefore, much more attention has been paid
to the public transportation system during past 10 years which led to the construction of new transport infrastructures as roads, bridges and underpasses
together with development of services like bus and metro lines.
2-3-4-1
◄ Bus network in the
city.
Public transportation
Most of Tabriz residents travel by private cars. Tabriz is also served by taxi and
bus networks. Taxi services are a reasonable way of transport in Tabriz, which
is available at any corner and street junction in the city. One may also call
Bus lines
any bypassing taxi. There are also some private businesses, which provide
services called phone-taxi.
As mentioned before 52 out of 63 existing public bus routes originate from the
BRT line
bazaar and cover the whole city transportation. Tabriz is the second city in Iran
after Tehran that BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system has been established. It includes a distance of about 18 km from Baseej Square in the east to the railway
station in the west of the city (Figure left). There are more than 50 stops over
the BRT routes, which connects long distanced parts of the city.
45
0
1
2 km
◄ Metro lines of
Tabriz.
Tabriz metro is the most significant transportation investment in the city and
is expected to have a positive impact on the urban and suburban transportation, quality of life and economic development. The integration of this new
transportation system into the city’s existing transportation system is an important issue to be considered. The metro line pass underneath the historical
city center, as well as a number of important archaeological sites such as the
Blue-Mosque. Tabriz metro network is still under construction. It is planned to
finish 6 km of line No.1 within 2011.
Metro line 1
Metro line 2
Metro line 3
47
2-3-4-2
Intercity transportation
Tbariz in the northwest of Iran plays a major role in connecting the country’s
transportation system to the north and west of the country. It is linked to Europe through Turkey’s roads in Bazargan1 and linked to north Asian countries
through the republic of Azerbaijan in Jolfa2. In side borders due to high local
and transit traffic, from about 30 years ago a new 6 lane freeway is built in
addition to the customary roads connecting Tabriz to Tehran and other major
cities of Iran. This freeway is an important transit road that connects Iran’s
industrial zones to Tabriz and Turkey and it is almost complete except for the
last 20 km ending in Tabriz. These three routes are connected by three road
entrances from southwest, northwest and southeast of the city.
◄ Railway map
inside Iran.
Source: http://
en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Iran_railway
Concerning the railway transportation, Tabriz is connected to Iran national railways, which converges on Tehran and connects all major parts of the country.
Iran lies at the crossroads of east-west and north-south transportation corridors that are active or potentially active. Similar to above-mentioned road
networks Tabriz is connected to Europe railway system through Turkey’s railway in the northwest of Iran and to the Republic of Azerbaijan in the north of
Iran. Tabriz railway station where all the trains starts or ends is located in the
west of the city.
Tabriz airport is located in the northwest of the city opened in 1950. Later in
1990 it upgraded to an international airport and then to one of the four open
sky airports of Iran. It serves now 200 domestic flights in addition to 20 international flights a week. Its international air routes are to Istanbul, Antalya,
Izmir and Bodrum in Turkey, Damascus in Syria, Baghdad and Najaf in Iraq,
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Dubai in UAE.
1 Bazargan is an Iranian city behind the Iran and Turkey’s border. It is the most important Iranian ground border of import and export.
2 Jolfa is a small town located to the north of Tabriz, in the East Azarbaijan province of Iran. It
is separated by the Aras river from its northern neighbor the town of Julfa in the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
49
0
1
2 km
TALKHE RIVER
2-4
Future of Tabriz
Tabriz master plan describes the vision for the future of the city. Prospects
are the development of new residential districts and conservation of ancient
parts of the city and it concerns in the improvement of life quality. These goals
relates to land use, urban design, housing, infrastructure, parks, open space,
transportation, economic development and historic preservation. Left map
shows some of the goals of Tabriz master plan in 2021. This map is not an
official version and has been prepared by author highlighting some important
projects.
The main goals are summarized here:
1. Provide a balance of land uses in appropriate locations to preserve the
residential character, encourage economic development, increase parks and
open space, facilitate local and regional circulation.
2. Preserve and protect the established residential area characters, provide
residential development in appropriate locations and encourage a broad
range of housing choices for residents.
Residential redevelopment
3. Development of transportation system that enhances local circulation, in-
Commercial redevelopment
creases regional access and provides links to international destinations. One
New parks
of the most important goals of Tabriz master plan is to finish metro construction
and open the lines of metro to balance the traffic and transportation system.
Historical Renovation
parts.
Metro lines
Cable car
4. Preserve the existing system of parks and open space and establish new
parks and open spaces in the city. The most important ones are mountain park
in the north and east of the city and completion of Tabriz great park in northwest located next to the Tabriz international airport.
5. Preservation of old parts to maintain the unique ancient character of the
51
city. The most important part is Tabriz Bazaar, which is under protection since
many years and as result it was named as a world cultural heritage by the
UNESCO world heritage center in 2010 (Xinhua M., 2010).
6. Development of commercial districts, especially in the newly built parts of
the city, to provide employment, retail opportunities, services and entertainment.
7. Provide a balance of housing options to meet the needs of all residents
including low income, middle-income and market rate or luxury housing styles.
8. Upgrade school educational system according to new facilities, programs
and technological advances.
9. Maintain and upgrade existing emergency service facilities, especially those
which are aged or obsolete. Provide new facilities to serve planned growth of
the city and improve the efficiency of services.
11. Construction of new streets and roads, e.g. completion of the Tabriz-Tehran highway is one of these programs.
Master plan 2021 is aimed to be the city of modern infrastructure and increased mobility, improve the quality of life and generate redevelopment in
different areas. It is also possible in some cases to revise the program during
execution due to the political and financial issues. Access to a detailed master
plan of Tabriz in 2021 is not possible as it is under preparation to be finalized
in 2011.
53
3.
◄ Position of Madani
complex in the
city. Source: Tabriz
municipal 2008.
SITE ANALYSES
There are significant opportunities for the redevelopment of residential districts, especially in areas where there are plenty of commercial and recreational activities. Redevelopment opportunities on the east of Tabriz which have
several vacant and unused properties are good candidates for residential or
commercial reuses. Elgoli1 (see orthophotos in page 8) is one these districts
located on the southeast of the city and has significant redevelopment potential. The Elgoli district is intended to function with a mix of uses and high
density residential parts and public and recreational places. As it was mentioned in part contemporary period, the city of Tabriz was developed toward
southeast of the city, which was due to the unique whether conditions and an
existing amusement-recreational park, Elgoli (see Figure left and down), in
persian garden style.
Madani comlex
Elgoli park
View of Elgoli park toward the city.
1 Elgoli is the name of a large park in Tabriz. It is a square water pool surrounded by a garden.
Before the Iran Revolution, 1979, its name was Shah-goli (King pool).
55
At early times building of private houses was not possible in this region due
to its distance to the city center and lack of transportation system. However,
construction of a residential complex might be a good idea to reside a group
of population in this region to initiate its development. Hence, a residential
mix program was founded in this region by a industrial factory. It is later after
revolution called Shahid Madani complex (Map in page 54) and encouraged
city development toward southeast of the city. It acted as the core of urban
development in the Elgoli region.
3-1
◄ Position of Madani
complex in the city
master plan in 1970.
Source: Tabriz municipal, 2008.
History of the site
Tabriz Machine Manufacturing Factory based on technical and economic cooperation agreement between Iran and the former Czechoslovakia with the
aim of producing machine tool was laid in 1959. During this project, new program of cooperation between two countries expanded from industrial development to absorb the technologies introduced in Europe for building and living
style.
The most important project beside machine factory was to create residential
complex in the east of the city which was very special and different from traditional houses located in the center. It subjected to import European style of living having commercial and recreational places, kindergarten and schools and
it was the only constructed area in Elgoli district. Construction of site finished
at early 1960’s with unknown architects from former Czechoslovakia. Figure
left shows the master plan of 1970, and as we can see there are few constructed area on that time. One is Madani complex and the other constructed
site is in front of the site which is indeed a water supply equipment.
57
B
B
C
B
C
D
C
B
B
A
C
C
B
A
B
A
B
B
0
0.1
0.5
1 km
3-2
◄ Different typologies of the district.
District morphology
After half a century since the establishment of the complex, it is now surrounded by mainly housings of 2-6 floors with maximum use of land for construction. The newly build residential complex is just at the back of the site, named
Asmane Tabriz, consisting of 8 apartments of 13 levels.
We can see different typologies in neighborhood districts which are very different from the Madani complex. There are some parts which have been built
in the style of the city center so called typology A similar to what was shown in
(Figure page 28). The second style is a regular repetition of housings linearly
oriented facing to the south. It is called typology B. Typology C is the recent
built areas having discrete morphology open from four facades, however,
having the same orientation as typology B. Madani complex is considered
in typology D, which is diverse in the manner of the orientation and the form
comparing with the surrounding discrete morphology.
Typology type A
Typology type B
Typology type C
59
0
0.1
0.5
1 km
3-3
◄ Roads network
across the Elgoli
district.
Road network across the district
Roads network across the Elgoli district is shown in the left map. It appears
that there are two principle axes in the Elgoli district. One is Chaykenar route,
as described before in page 43, which originates from Elgoli park and connects the district to the west of the city. The other axis is the main ring highway, seen in map page 40, which circulates around the city. In addition to the
principle axes there is a network of secondary main and side streets circulating vehicles through the district. Public transport supports always the main
axes, and some times secondary streets, however, there is no public transportation though the side streets.
The site is located on the principle route connecting Elgoli to all parts of the
city including the city center, airport, railway station and intercity roads (see
map of page 48). There are three bus lines passing through the main road and
a metro line which is under construction and might be finished within a year.
Principal roads
Secondary
roads
View of the road from the site.
61
0
50
100
200 m
Scale 1:3 500
3-4
◄ Access to the site.
Access to the site
The main access to the site is from the four lane route (image a) which originates from Elgoli park and continues to the center. All the cars, taxis and
busses pass through this route which has a good accessibility to the site. The
station of metro exists just in front of the site which will provide an easy transportation to the site. As seen in the map and image b, site has one entrance
which is the entrance for both vehicles and pedestrians. Cars have access to
the apartments and can drive in some parts (image c). The rest of site is accessible only by pedestrians and vehicles may not be passed (image d).
(a) view of four lane route taken from site.
(b) Entrance of the site.
Vehicles
Pedestrian
sidewalk
Pedestrian
sidewalk in the
site
Metro line
Bus station
Metro station
(c) Vehicle pass way in the site.
(d) Pedestrian sidewalk in the site.
63
0
50
100
200 m
Scale 1:3 500
3-5
◄ Buildings diversity
of the site.
Mixity and diversity
This complex might be one of the modern mix programs that was built it Tabriz, although traditional mixity was common concerning the ancient structure
of the Tabriz (part 2-3-2). The complex consists of 36 buildings. The existing
land use pattern is a mix of apartments, schools, shopping place, and facilities for the storage and technical services. These building include:
- 6 buildings of 13 floors for employees
- 2 buildings of 11 floors for students and guests
- 4 buildings of 4 floors for engineers
- 5 buildings of 3 floors for employees
- 8 duplex villas for managers
- 2 schools
- One shopping store
- One kindergarten
- 7 small buildings for installations and services
One should mentioned that the Mosque and clinic that are shown in the map
13 floors building
do not belong to the site interior.
11 floors building
4 floor building
3 floors building
2 floor villas
Schools
Shopping store
Kindergarten
Clinic
Services
Mosque
65
11 floor appartment
13 floor appartments
4 floor appartment
3 floor appartment
Villa
Shopping store
3-6
Site future
According master plan 2021 a mixed program of housing and working is proposed for this site. It is planned to accommodate a diverse social groups to
preserve the original site character. The district has been designated by the
city municipal as “an area in need of redevelopment” due to its large size,
unique location along the main circulation axes and proximity to the Elgoli
park. The purpose of the mixed program is to promote the redevelopment of
the site with a mix of habitation, working place and open space. Every effort
should be made to maximize public access to the site. Three goals associated
with the redevelopment of the site are:
1. Improvement of the quality of life for the new residents. These include a mix
of residential, commercial, recreational, and educational uses.
2. Establishment of open space in the site to compensate the lack of public
spaces in the city. It is attract not only the residents of the site to these places
but also the people of the neighboring sites.
3. Creation of employment.
◄
View of shopping
store in the Madani
complex.
67
ELGOLI DISTRICT
SEG
REG
0
1
2 km
ATI
O
NL
INE
4.
◄ Segregation of
Elgoli district from
the city.
4-1
SCENARIOS AND DISCUSSIONS
Scenarios
A scenario is the possible future conditions and trends, risks and opportunities
and possible future outcome for development of a site; it is not a forecast and
each scenario may contain different possibilities (Bogers M. et al. 2008).
The Madani complex site needs a delicate planning due to its special positon
in the district, size and existence of reusable buildings with diverse morphology. Different factors in the redevelopment of the site should be taken into
account to preserve the original mix character of the site in addition to the new
social-urban requirements of the Elgoli district. Scenarios allow planners to
deal with this complexity.
Proposed scenarios for the redevelopment of the Madani complex should answer some questions concerning the intrinsic of the district regarding to the
rapid and unpredictable social and cultural changes, and combination of the
district to the other parts of the city in order to avoid the segregation of the district from the center of the city (Figure left). These questions are as followings:
• Does traditional houses in neighboring regions (typology B in page 59) will
spread in whole Elgoli district and also Madani comlex?
• Is Elgoli district being transformed into a mix-used district with economic
activities?
• In Tabriz 2050, will the Elgoli district be an area of wealth and diversity, or it
will be converted to a declined and segregated district?
For such questions there are no firm answers, nevertheless, scenarios offer
69
(a) Modification of the envelope of the existing volume.
(b) Modification of the habitable surface.
(c) An example of modification of the habitable surface for the Tscharnergut residence in Bern. Left plan is the original
situation before modification and right plan is after the renovation. Source:PI BAT, 1995.
a valuable tool for understanding the implications of different approaches to
accommodate urban growth. To analyze the possibilities, I try here to describe
◄ Two type of renovation possibilities.
Source: PI BAT,
1995.
parameters on a set of scenarios to understand how the district and even the
city would be different if a new housing and commercial center be developed
within the existing urban district.
4-1-1
Scenario 0: Renovation
Scenario 0, concerns the renovation and bringing of facilities to the same performance level as new construction. As mentioned before the site had a good
reputation and was a good place to live during 1970-2000. However, to keep
the site functional, a significant renovation should be done. The renovation
may includes the changing of installations together with (Figure left (a)) the
building envelope modification or (Figure left (b) and (c)) the modification of
the habitable surface to adapt living spaces to the modern life styles, which is
demanded by the society.
4-1-2
Scenario 1: Reconstruction
This scenario introduce the possibility of the destruction of the whole site and
its reconstruction and may contain tow variants:
Scenario 1.A; relates to the development of the neighborhood morphology to
the site. This scenario leads to the linking of the site to the surrounding structure forming a homogeneous morphology in the district.
Scenario 1.B; intended to keep the character of the site as an island but taking into account the new urban criteria. This scenario aims to keep the site
character as mixity of typology, diversity of population but in modern way.
New dwellings will replace the old medium rise and single-family buildings. To
71
(a) Punctual extension
(b) Laminar extension
(c) Volume extension
keep the site mix character, a new program, e.g. commercial, educational and
recreational facilities, might be added to the complex.
4-1-3
◄ Three possibilities
of extension. PI
BAT, 1995.
Scenario 2: Extension
This scenario concerns the advantages of the actual site situation. It says the
urban form works well and it should be valorized. In this case we have the
character of site as a diversity of living spaces and mix program with adopting the standards of the modern city criteria. In this case urban form will be
kept like the existing configuration and the buildings will be extended where
needed. There are three main types of extension so called punctual, laminar
and volume extension (Figure left) that may be used in the extension of the
buildings in the site.
4-1-4
Scenario 3: Hybridization
Hybridization is the second scenario that is classified among the valorization
schemes for the site. This scenario explains how an obsolete urban form can
be valorized by its improvement. The site was working well during the time but
now it does not function well. To utilize the positive aspects and eliminate the
draw backs a hybrid scenario might be used. It is indeed the hybridization of
various scenarios and can be utilized independently at different parts of the
site. In the case of Madani complex four variants might be devised:
Variant 1: Keep certain buildings and renovate.
Variant 2: Destruct certain buildings.
Variant 3: Destruct certain buildings and reconstruct.
Variant 4: Keep certain buildings and extension.
73
◄ Transformation of
Saint-Nazaire in
France. Source:
Lacaton & Vassal,
2010.
An example of a renovation and extension scenario is given in Figure left,
which relates to the district Saint-Nazaire in France by architects Lacaton &
Vassal. In this complex, some of the buildings have been renovated and some
have been extended. For extension, new volumes have been added to some
of the existing buildings. The intention of not demolishing the whole site was
due to the values of the site (Lacaton & Vassal, 2010).
4-2
Discussions
Each of the scenarios elaborated in the previous section has specific characteristics. Here, those will be analyzed and the properties of each will be
discussed.
◄ Extension by adding new volumes.
Source: Lacaton &
Vassal, 2010.
Scenario 0 proposes renovation for the buildings. It means the site have values and renovation propose to keep the site and keep the character of the
site such as diversity of buildings and diversity of people. However, this kind
of diversity doesn’t work with the new system of the city and life style in 2011.
It should be modernized concerning the new life styles of the society. In addition, buildings quality is not sufficient to renovate all of them. Hence, the total
renovation of the site may not respond to all the requirements of the redevelopment in the site and the district concerning the criteria of mixity and diversity
to attract the different range of people from different parts of the city.
◄ Revovation of one
of the appartments.Source:
Lacaton & Vassal,
2010.
Scenario 1 proposes destruction of the whole site. In scenario 1.A the urban
form of the site will be replaced with the surrounding building typology. It is
indeed a simplest redevelopment of the site without holding its original and diverse character. Although this scenario may unify the district, it is not appreciated due to the loss of mixity in the site, which the district demands. Therefore,
one may reject this redevelopment due to such a drawback.
75
0
50
100
200 m
Scale 1:3 500
◄ Classification of
buildings of the
complex.
In scenario 1.B the site will be reconstructed with the proposition of a new
program. Total reconstruction of the site might be of interest since one may
devise a new plan for its redevelopment, although, economically may not be
justified. In addition, some of the buildings in the site are obsolete and worn
out and may not be recovered. However, the author believes that a total reconstruction of the site may not keep some of its original characters that gives
an identity to the site and the district. Therefore, the total reconstruction of the
site should be dealt carefully to avoid such a devalorization.
Scenarios 2 and 3 proposes the valorization of the site with two possibilities, first extension and second hybridization. Scenario 2, which proposes the
extension of the whole buildings can’t be logic solution because some of the
buildings are not in proper situation from urban viewpoint or in good condition
from construction viewpoint. Therefore, this scenario may not be fully applicable to the site.
Scenario 3, as second valorization scenario, proposes use of different possibilities as destruction, renovation and extension for different sections in the
site. This scenario explains that the site is very special in both material and
Good quality buildings
Average quality
buildings
Poor quality buildings
immaterial point of view and should be partially preserved. In this case the site
will be transformed into a balanced mix of housing, working and recreational
spaces. New programs will be integrated into the complex. This scenario will
help the district to develop a higher quality of life. As a new opportunity for
residents to live in an optimum social, economical environment. This scenario,
which hybridize all the previous scenarios is seemingly a reasonable solution
for the redeveloping of the site. Hence, one need to classify the buildings by
their situation and quality (map left):
77
i) Good quality buildings:
4 Floor buildings are in good urban position and orientation and have good
quality. Renovation may help in their durability.
◄ View of 4 floor
buildings.
ii) Average quality buildings:
Villas are located in good position and have good quality but they accommodate only 2 to 3 families, therefore extension is proposed for these buildings.
3 Floor buildings are located in different parts of the site, three of them beside the secondary road, one beside mosque and one in between school and
shopping store. The situation of most of them are good and a volume extension might be a good solution for them.
Schools are located beside the street which means good accessibility for children and also have access from the site. However, due to high demand of educational spaces in the Elgoli district they need to be renovated and extended.
◄ View of villa.
Shopping store is located in the center to provide a good access from the
whole buildings. By redeveloping the site, this building won’t be able sufficient
for the needs of the site and also the district, hence, a renovation and extension plan is proposed.
iii) Poor quality buildings:
Two buildings of 11 floor are located in the site. First one is located in a good
situation, which is near the main route and beside the entrance but don’t have
enough quality for renovation. The second one is not in good position because
other districts have been continued to the site and also the building itself has
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poor quality. Therefore, destruction seems to be a reasonable solution for both
the cases, which the first one could be reconstructed.
◄ View of 13 floor
building (Figure
up) and 3 floor
building (Figure
down).
13 Floors buildings are in good position but not in good orientation, the quality
of buildings are not enough to renovate, for whole the buildings destruction
and reconstruction is proposed.
5.
SUMMARY AND PROSPECTS
Having summarized the results of this study, lets examine what the recent
urban development in Elgoli district may tell us about the future change in Tabriz. This study showed that the modernization period have been associated
with a considerable change in the urban structure of Tabriz. These changes
were characterized with rapid and less compact physical expansion, uneven
development and social segregation.
The recent planning policies and westernization process in Tabriz and other
large Iranian cities reveal that not much attention has been paid to the heritage
of Iran-Islamic urbanization and its values which shaped these traditional cities for a long time. Planners and urban managers in Iran are mainly pursuing
more western style solutions for the existing urban problems. However, these
experience in the west suggests approaches such as densification, mixed
uses and the creation of more homogeneous neighborhoods in cities to deal
with existing urban problems.
One of the recent examples is the Madani complex in the southeast of Tabriz.
The situation of site leads the authorities to demolish and to redraw the mass
plans, without consideration its identity. But destroying the whole site means
destroying the people’s interest and is an error. Because if we look at the
district attentively, objectively, from the inside, we see qualities and capacities
there:
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- the inhabitants, the green spaces, the beautiful trees,
- the modernity,
- diversity of buildings,
◄ View of 11 floor
building.
- the beautiful views far away from mountains ,
- an urban situation close to the Elgoli park, well connected by transport system,
- mixity of uses such as school, commerce, kindergarten and mosque.
All these have value, a sufficient value to consider the existing situation as a
precious asset, which is a reasonable support for a positive transformation of
the complex to an original mix program. The transformation of the complex
goes into this attitude, which will requalify durably the site and all the district.
We hope that this work sets a direction and design guidelines for a more sustainable development of future Tabriz.
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