Social Housing in contemporary Teheran, Iran: Scrutinizing the Gap in the Housing Market for Low-income Households during the Last Three Decade

Social Housing in contemporary Teheran, Iran: Scrutinizing the Gap in the Housing Market for Low-income Households during the Last Three Decades In my PhD research, I examine the complex housing system in Iran to understand why this system failed to properly meet the housing needs of low-income groups. To achieve this, I analyze how actors in the contemporary housing system (e.g. developers, the state and real-estate capital) work and whose interests they pursue, how larger social structures (e.g. the free-market, the State) restrict or facilitate these actors, how and through which institutional mediation and consolidation the provision dynamics work (e.g. formal regulatory frameworks), and when and which discourses are mobilized to initiate change (e.g. the model of neo-Fordist large scale social housing projects). Subsequently, I focus on a contemporary social housing program, Maskan-i-Mehr, to investigate whether it failed or succeeded in meeting the demand for housing of low-income households during the last decade in Iran. This dissertation consists of five main steps. First, I characterize the distinctiveness of housing systems in the Global South to identify essential aspects that a study on social housing in that region will need to consider. I argue that although during the post-Fordism period it is possible to observe more generic similarities between housing systems in all countries, my theoretical investigation recognizes five distinctive factors of the housing systems in the Global South. These are: (a) the diverse facets of global financialization; (b) the role of the developmentalist State; (c) the importance of informality; (d) the decisive role of the family; and (e) the rudimentary welfare systems. In this step, I conclude that one should be careful when applying a social housing approach to the Global South, as there are significant differences between housing systems in the Global South and North, as well as significant differences between the housing systems within the Global South. Second, I narrate the 'story' of the Iranian housing system's development trajectory within a broad spatiotemporal context. To identify the context of the housing system in Iran, I illuminate different periods in the trajectory of urban and regional development. Based on the ASID methodology, I also provide a clear account of the current situation in the housing system and the contemporary trends that have shaped this system. Third, I argue that the housing market in Iran has been highly commodified during the last three decades. In this capitalist system, housing is seen as the best investment for speculation and the accumulation of wealth. I conclude that the aggregated consequences of four specific factors explain the incapability of the formal housing system to meet the housing need of a group of society (market-failure). These factors are: (a) the decisive role of petroleum/real-estate capital to exploit housing as a speculative commodity, (b) the behaviour of the State undermining welfare policies in housing, (c) the contemporary social demographic change and the evolution in the institution of 'family', and (d) the expansion of informal relations in housing and land markets. Fourth, I elaborate on the concept of State-failure to understand why the State could not compensate for the (market) failure of the housing market. I consider Maskan-i-Mehr, a contemporary social housing program in Iran, to determine whether the program was able to sufficiently meet the housing needs of low-income families decently. The analysis of Maskan-i-Mehr serves as a vehicle for an examination of power, the social imaginary, and the socio-politics of the possible, i.e. what is possible as a (social) housing system at a particular historical epoch. This is done in light of the program's historical context. I conclude that despite the massive construction of housing units (more than two million in total in about ten years) the problem remains the inability of the housing system to meet the needs of low-income families. Fifth, I focus on the contemporary social housing program in two towns in the Province of Tehran—Parand and Pardis. The outcome of the formation of new communities on the edge of formality and informality is a result of social and spatial segregation (limited access to essential services and facilities). I describe how the segregation has brought about tension and dissatisfaction in the lives of inhabitants. Theoretically, the involvement of the State in the housing market, for instance, through social housing programs, might alleviate the social differentiation of society (mostly in terms of housing conditions). However, the case of Maskan-i-Mehr, shows the opposite outcome with the emergence of marginalized communities. The marginalization of those who settled in Maskan-i-Mehr is not as intense as that found in some slum-like informal settlements in peripheral areas of Tehran; but in comparison to their former lives, the inhabitants of Maskan-i-Mehr are now socially and spatially segregated. I conclude that Maskan-i-Mehr, which encompasses nearly 7% to 9% of the housing stock in Iran, has formed a new market at the bottom of the formal housing market. My research discloses how the housing system in Iran is locked between market-failure and State-failure, which prevents it from fully meeting the housing needs of the country's low-income population.

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Toegankelijkheid:Closed