Impacts of relocating public organizations to deteriorated areas as urban catalyst projects

Urban catalyst projects are implemented in order to accelerate and facilitate the regeneration process of disorganized and disordered urban areas and are accomplished by relying on social participation and the use of local capacities. This study mainly aimed to investigate the effects and impacts of relocating public organizations to deteriorated areas in Tehran as urban catalyst projects. Thus the methodology was designed based on social impact assessment. Using documentary and field research, needed data was collected, and afterward, using different techniques such as comparative analysis, the changes derived from the intervention in different variables and impacts on stakeholders were evaluated. In addition to literature review, reports from several similar urban projects were also studied. Related officials, urban managers, elites and local social actors which were selected by targeted sampling method, were also interviewed and the interviews continued to reach a theoretical saturation. Based on all the data, the impacts on various aspects including social (changes in population density, social control, safety, social conflicts, female presence and participation, migration and gentrification, quality of life, etc.), physical (infrastructures, traffic, deterioration, urban landscape, etc.), economic (property prices, job creation, local businesses, investment, etc.) and environmental subjects were explained. In the end for managing the impacts, the network of different institutions and organizations which should be responsible for this interventions are identified and then related solutions are provided to increase the positive effects and to reduce negative ones. Keywords: Social Impact Assessment, Deteriorated Area, Urban Catalyst Project, Relocation of Public Organizations, City of Tehran.