THE URBAN TRANSFORMATION IN A PRECARIOUS HOUSING AREA: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN BAKU (AZERBAIJAN) AND TEHRAN (IRAN)

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T. ALIYEV, A. HASHEMI BEHRAMANI

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Urban transformation has become an increasingly important tool in cities for achieving a range of goals. Among many other cities, Baku and Tehran have been subject to urban transformation practices. Despite the differences (scale, size of population, geographic particularities etc.), these cities have experienced a similar urban development model: initially being part of the Eastern world, they subsequently integrated, in different ways, the approaches applied to Western cities. Urban transformation is generally focused on facilitating the city network(s), the need for housing for the population and providing circulation. These aspects are guiding the city’s development at first. The presented article is also focused on a transformation of the precarious area of the city in relation to the housing and transportation. Based on two urban transformation projects – “Winter Park” (Qış Parkı) in Baku and the “Navvab Highway” in Tehran – the aim of the study is to analyze the logic of urban development, explore the reasons behind the transformation and see what defines the logic of such transformation in Baku and Tehran, which will lead to better understanding of such possible urban transformations in the future.

Keywords: urban transformation, precarious housing, logic of intervention, comparative project analysis, Baku and Tehran.