Land Use and the Efficiency of Transportation Laws with Regard to Air Pollution in Tehran Metropolitan Area

Air pollution is a major concern and challenge of Tehran urban management. Various rules, regulations and laws had been codified with respect to this matter. Investigating the effectiveness of laws and regulations and the responsibility of the governmental trustee is one of the administrative and executive aspects of air pollution control that has received less attention than its technical and infrastructural dimensions. This study highlights the legal and executive challenges of air pollution and its related actors; the enforcement of laws and regulations concerning air pollution in the field of land-use and transportation has been addressed. The purpose of this article is to suggest an applicable (applied) framework embracing a descriptive-qualitative method. The following data has been extracted through documentaries, library studies, and semi-structured interviews. Finally, the role of each actor concerning air pollution has been analyzed in Tehran urban area using the actuator network theory by cluster analysis in UCI-NET6 software. Study of the feasibility of the reviewed laws and regulations illustrated that among 79 extracted substances, only 17.8% of those were fully completed. Moreover, 60% of laws have a single trustee and the remaining 40% is defined as a joint action between the systems. The 8, out of 20 main actors have been recognized who are the law trustees. These actors are responsible for carrying out 87 percent of all studied regulations. The results show that the Department of Environment, which is responsible for matters related to safeguarding the environment, has no significant role in implementing the air pollution regulations as the main body responsible for the air quality control, and it has no topological connection with other organs either. Sectorial and organizational views and lack of supervisory and punitive mechanisms and government issues implementing rules and regulations of for air quality control policies are the most important problems in the low realizability of policies and laws.