The Contribution of “Street” Component in the Process of Modernization and the Development of TehranCase Study: The Lalehzar Street

Problem statement: 

The street is one of the most important constituting components of urban appearance in modern times; by adding the street elements to the ‘urban planning system’, a great change has happened in the formation of architecture and urban planning in the present century in Iran. This development besides affecting the physical construction have had a great influence on the cultural and identity structure of urbanization in Iran. “Lalehzar Street” is one of the most important landmarks of modernism in the architecture and urban planning in Iran , which has had a great influence on the evolution of general landscape of Tehran city at the earlier this century.

This research study is trying to examine the influence of ‘street-linings’ and physical evolution on the process of modernization and development of Tehran, in which “Lalehzar Street” has been selected as a case study. Therefore, the urban development under the influence of ‘street element’ and the cultural impact of “Lalehzar Street” on human interactions will be examined here from various aspects.

At first step, “Lalehzar Street” is selected due to its importance and effect on the modernization of Tehran city, and later based on the library and documentary studies, using interpretive-historical method the urban developments in Tehran is discussed by choosing the case study of “Lalehzar Street”, from the second half of the Qajar rule onward; and at the final step, the role of the street in the process of modernization and development of Tehran is analyzed by using analytical-descriptive method.

The Iran’s political and social developments have been influenced by modernism since the second half of the Qajar rule, that many of its manifestation have been represented in various forms in Tehran. One of the most important appearance of this proceeding is the emergence of the street with its European pattern, which has influenced various aspects such as the city structure, commercialization and citizen interactions in a course of time from Qajar to Pahlavi that has given a new and modern appearance to the city.