Challenges and Problems of Planning the Development of Rural Settlements in the Urban Limited of Tehran Metropolis based on the Perception of Local Managers and Experts

Introduction

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the traditional rural environment has undergone rapid economic, social, and cultural transformations. Accelerated urban development has increasingly blurred the boundaries between urban and rural areas. Rural settlements surrounding metropolitan regions serve as transitional zones where urbanization, agriculture, rural life, and nature intersect. Urban expansion gives rise to various sprawl patterns within these zones, necessitating careful evaluation due to the complex characteristics and potential of the boundaries that connect rural, agricultural, and natural spaces. The evolving landscapes surrounding cities have been described using terms such as urban edge, city periphery, suburban areas. In Iran, studies indicate that villages affected by urban sprawl experience rapid land-use changes. As urbanization progresses, agricultural land is frequently converted into residential, service, and commercial zones. These areas face various opportunities, challenges, and constraints due to their proximity to and physical dependence on the city, setting them apart from other rural regions in the country. Many of these have become primarily residential, with residents commuting daily to the city for employment, services, and infrastructure. The population growth in rural areas surrounding metropolitan further reinforces their residential function. According to the latest population and housing census, these villages have experienced a growth rate exceeding the national average for other rural areas. Consequently, their development processes have been heavily influenced by rapid urbanization. Despite facing numerous challenges in development planning, these areas have received limited attention from local stakeholders and policymakers. Therefore, this study aims to examine the perceptions of regional managers and rural development experts regarding the planning and development of rural settlements around the Tehran metropolitan area.



Methodology

This study employs an interpretive approach with a qualitative research design. The statistical population consists of 273 villages within the urban boundaries of Tehran’s metropolitan area, including local management representatives and rural development experts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 local experts and 17 local managers, selected using purposive and multi-stage cluster sampling techniques. Qualitative content analysis was used for data analysis, and the reliability of the findings was ensured through the Holsti coefficient method.



Results and discussion

The research findings indicate that the most significant challenges in planning the development of rural settlements within the urban boundaries of Tehran’s metropolitan area include weak institutional structures, homogenization, insufficient focus on strategic actions, lack of emphasis on integrated urban-rural development, neglect of community-centered approaches, deficiencies in the monitoring and evaluation system, the proliferation of identity-structural conflicts, and a decline in quality of life. The identification of effective mechanisms for planning the development of rural settlements surrounding Tehran’s metropolitan area reveals that the absence of integrated urban-rural planning has prevented the establishment of a comprehensive rural development plan within Tehran’s functional area. As a result, effective rural development planning is absent in other settlements within the metropolitan area. Furthermore, because the villages are not managed by a single organization, they lack productive economic interactions with other settlements in the metropolis, leading to economic isolation and a failure to harness the economic potential of these villages. The current rural development plan applies a uniform framework to villages with diverse populations, identities, structures, functions, and needs, meaning that the real needs of residents are not addressed, and they suffer from a lack of essential facilities and services. Moreover, due to the dynamic and continuously evolving nature of these villages, their development processes and economic patterns do not align with the standardized framework of the rural master plan. As a result, informal development patterns, such as illegal constructions, have emerged, significantly degrading both the quality of life and the structural identity of these areas. Furthermore, in Iran, the inefficiency of the rural development framework has led to relevant legal and organizational bodies lacking the necessary capacity for effective rural development, with the planning process failing to be participatory and community-centered.





Conclusion

The weakness of institutional structures and the homogenization of planning procedures are among the most significant and impactful issues. These factors, while influencing other challenges and procedural problems, have, through a dialectical relationship, contributed to content-related challenges such as identity-structural conflicts and a decline in the quality of life in the villages within Tehran’s metropolitan boundaries. Based on the understanding of the perspectives of experts and local managers regarding overcoming this situation, they emphasized that the country's policymaking and planning system must create new capacities, especially in the institutional dimension. Among the institutional capacities, the preparation and implementation of development plans at the metropolitan regional and local levels with a strategic-executive approach are important.