Institutional Causes and Obstacles of Converting Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Approach to Urban Development Policy (Case Study: District 9 of Isfahan Municipality)

Transfer of development rights (TDR), as a market-oriented mechanism, which arises after the inefficiency of urban development plans in the protection of valuable lands, seeks to balance the growth and development of the city by balancing public and private interests. In Iran, the TDR approach has been introduced in recent decades; however, due to the lack of the necessary institutional bases, it has not been able to go beyond the theoretical field and enter the field of action. Similar to most parts of Iran, the inefficiency of urban development plans in conservation has led to the destruction of valuable orchards and agricultural lands in district 9 located in the western part of Isfahan, therefore an efficient mechanism such as TDR is necessary. The main questions of the present study are: what are the leading institutional barriers to the success of this mechanism? And how can the necessary institutional capacity are provided to realize the TDR approach by emphasizing the experience of district 9 of Isfahan? The present study, using documentary study methods (such as research mixing) and survey methods (such as semi-structured and structured interviews), first theoretically identifies institutional preconditions. It then identifies the perspectives of the four institutions involved (including people, owners, developers, and urban experts) in implementing TDR policy in district 9 in the form of an extracted conceptual framework. Finally, the results of this study are analyzed by analyzing the root factors using statistical methods such as Friedman and t tests and multivariate regression. As a result of the research, the implementation of this approach due to the existence of many institutional barriers such as low awareness, unwillingness to participate and lack of legal framework requires long-term and conscious plans to achieve success.