Urban Heritage Planning in Tehran and Beyond

An investigation of the discursive-spatial assemblage of urban heritage planning in Iran, situated within Katouzian's concept of »pick-axe society«.

Despite the impact of ideological rigidity, the primary challenge of heritage planning in Tehran and beyond lies not in the dominance of an inflexible Authorized Heritage Discourse, but rather in the absence of stable spatial-discursive and administrative structures. Solmaz Yadollahi maps the historical trajectory of conservation and urban heritage planning in Iran, depicting a discursive-spatial assemblage that tends to knock down its accumulated resources. This is in line with Katouzian's portrayal of Iran as a pick-axe society. Residing within this society, the studied assemblage strives to deconstruct the prevailing structures and usher in a fresh one, paradoxically perpetuating the very cycle it seeks to escape.

Auteur
Solmaz Yadollahi (Dr.), a conservation architect, earned her doctorate in heritage studies. Her academic journey includes positions as a research fellow at the Chair of Urban Management and an affiliated post-doctoral fellow at the DFG Research Training Group 1913, both at Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg. Namely, she assumed the role of Principal Investigator for the DFG-funded research project 431496196 entitled »Assembling Iran's Urban Heritage Conservation Policy and Practice: Problematized in Tehran«.