Tehran, the Scene of Modernity in the Pahlavi Dynasty: Modernisation and Urbanisation Processes 1925–1979

In 1925 the Pahlavi monarchy (1925–1979) embarked on a project to create a new modern capital city while modernising Iranian society and creating a modern nation-state. This chapter presents a framework to analyse the transformation of the changing urban form of Tehran during this time. Two elements of this framework stand out; First, the concept of modernity, which emphasises the condition of continuous change in the city. The second element is surveying political geography of Tehran during this period and traces its link to social and urban transformation of the city. Hence this chapter uses several events and particular national development plans of Pahlavi dynasty since the end of the First World War till Islamic Revolution in Iran, in order to understand the impact of different kinds of policies and interactions with different kinds of place on shaping the form and life of Tehran. Ultimately this chapter illustrates the ways in which national modernisation projects of the Pahlavi dynasty produce a particular kind of city while at the same time produce a particular form of urban society.