An analysis of spatial strategic planning of housing policies using the Meta-SWOT model (Case Study: the city of Kermanshah)

Housing, as the environment in which the family has formed and developed, plays an important role in many aspects of human life. However, millions of people live in cities without the security of enjoying the proper ownership of housing and related services. With regard to this, governments should increase their efforts to promote, preserve and ensure the full realization of the right to adequate housing for those social strata. In this way, as the first measure expected of the governments, housing is provided for a decent life of the citizens. Depending on their views, governments apply policies and interventions. The problem of housing in Iran, as in most other societies in the world, is of particular importance. The government was obliged to meet this requirement in the form of a five-year development program. However, housing policies, as tools for proper development in accordance with Islamic principles, have not been able to meet the housing needs. Therefore, considering the housing problems in the city of Kermanshah and the continuation of these problems, this research is carried out to identify the factors affecting housing policies in the city and to present the necessary strategies in this area.

Based on the strategic plan of housing policies in Kermanshah, the existence of a series of macroeconomic factors hinders the full realization of housing programs and policies. The contradictions, discrepancies and heterogeneity in the physical structure of the city were considered as the biggest obstacle on the macro level, which needs serious attention. It is necessary to pay attention to external macro factors such as managers’ ‘taste’ in looking at housing policies, lack of public sector facilities, housing market downturn due to lack of investment by the private sector with moderate importance, lack of adequate oversight on the implementation of national building regulations in designing and implementation of all urban and urban development projects, feeling of insecurity for public and private investments with little significance, inadequacy of government’s housing policy for the entire social strata of the community, non-establishment of factories in the industrial and agricultural sectors, and expensive materials and building materials. On the other hand, there is a range of effective factors on housing policies in Kermanshah. Using these factors, one can deal with some of these problems. Considering these factors, offering housing loans in accordance with the up-to-date requirements has the highest strategic appropriateness. Therefore, one should pay particular attention to these factors.

Regarding the plans and policies implemented in Kermanshah, as one of the metropolitan cities of Iran, there has been some difficulty in furthering development goals despite the improvement in the quality of residential units. The root of these problems is mainly in the regulation of residential development policies with a purely economic viewpoint without regard to target groups. Therefore, one has to find suitable strategies and solutions in order to resolve the housing problems of this city. Therefore, in this research, after understanding the city’s problems and the opinions of experts in the field of housing, with the consensus of the experts, it was concluded that the most influential programs were the housing mass production policy and Mehr housing plan. Despite all the quantitative measures, the city of Kermanshah needs about 20,000 houses for its citizens in the 2010s. Providing housing facilities for different income groups, encouraging the private sector to build and provide housing through industrial practices, education and culture, enforcing national building regulations and optimal monitoring of these regulations are the most important strategies for this research.