Land-use change and quality of life in residential neighbourhoods: Evidence from Tehran, Iran

Abstract Land-use planning generally aims to manage the development of urban areas to address the needs of the communities. In this regard, the multiple and often competing environmental, economic and social conflicts complicate the process of land-use planning. Commercial development in residential neighbourhoods is a common type of land-use conflict that can dramatically exacerbate these potential conflicts. Over the recent decades, many affluent neighbourhoods of Tehran Metropolis (the capital of Iran) have been confronted with an unbridled development of commercial activities within the residential areas. This paper seeks to understand the process of land-use change and its impacts on the residents’ quality of life in an affluent neighbourhood of Tehran Metropolis (Gisha Neighbourhood) by adopting a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of impact assessment including semi-structured interview, purposeful field survey, and traffic survey. The results yield that incompatible land-use policies of the Tehran Comprehensive Plan and structural defects in the land-use change regulations led to an unbridled process of commercialisation which intensified non-local activities with city/regional service coverage along the main streets of Gisha Neighbourhood. The analysis demonstrates that despite improving the accessibility of residents to urban facilities and reducing their travel time/cost, the process of land-use changes in Gisha Neighbourhood declined the residents’ quality of life by its considerable negative effects on socio-cultural structures, landuse patterns, traffic flow, and human health in the residential areas of the neighbourhood.