Tehran: Growth and Contradictions

Tehran, the capital and largest city of Iran, has witnessed two parallel trends: a rapid and multi-faceted socio-spatial growth, and increasing separation among social classes. The former is manifested by population increase, physical expansion, concentration of institutions, and administrative centralization. The latter is indicated by rapid accumulation of wealth and capital by a tiny layer, poverty of most of the population, and spatial segregation of social classes. These phenomena reflect the transformation from a pre-capitalist city in the 18th through the early 20th century to a transitional capitalist city in the 1920–1950 period, and to a dependent capitalist city after the 1950s.