Veranstaltungen
Empowering NGOs in Urban Planning: Halting a Highway Project in Mashhad, Iran.
Dr. Shahab Kermanshahi und Mahsima Moghaddasi (MA)
Dienstag, 1. Oktober 2024, Beginn 18:00
IG Architektur, Gumpendorferstr. 63b (Ecklokal Kopernikusgasse), 1060 Wien
Urban management in developing countries like Iran faces significant challenges due to rapid urbanization. Public participation is crucial to addressing these issues, and NGOs, with their voluntary nature and independence from government institutions, can effectively facilitate organized citizen involvement in urban affairs. A notable example is the recent experience in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city with over 3 million inhabitants. Local NGOs mobilized over 100 national experts and professionals to halt the construction of the South Highway. Instead, the project was transformed into Kooh-Park (Mountain Park), a public pedestrian and cycling space now widely enjoyed by residents, especially on holidays.
Dr. Shahab Kermanshahi is a faculty member at the School of Urban Planning, University of Tehran, with over 20 years of experience in transportation planning in Iran. He led the University of Tehran team that prepared the new Iranian Street and Highway Design Manual.
Mahsima Moghaddasi holds a master’s degree in Urban Management from the University of Tehran, obtained in 2019. Her research focuses on the role of NGOs in urban management in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
