The Streets of Tehran
Like most of you I’ve been following the events unfolding in Tehran, Iran. The images of conflict are often heartbreaking to view. But the urban planner in me can’t help but notice details unrelated to the subject of the images —- the scale of the streets, the well marked crosswalks, the architecture, etc. A couple of pics showed an intersection along a major Boulevard. The traffic signals had a countdown timer to show drivers how much longer the green light would be green or how much longer the red would be red.
I pulled up Tehran on Google Maps. Wow, had no idea:
Transit lines, lots of parks. A tight street network. Unfortunately no Google Street View. I never realized the scale of the city before.
My next stop was Wikipedia’s entry on Tehran:
Area
– City 686[citation needed] km2 (265 sq mi)Population (2006)
– Density 10,327.6/km2 (26,748.3/sq mi)
– Urban 7,088,287
– Metro 20,413,348
That is one dense city! For comparison I pulled up New York City:
Area
– City 468.9 sq mi (1,214.4 km2)Population (July 1, 2007)
– City 8,310,212
– Density 27,264/sq mi (10,527/km2)
– Urban 18,223,567
– Metro 18,815,988
Both Tehran & New York City have over four times the population per square mile compared to the City of St. Louis. Of course we have a greater density than numerous other cities. Still there is a minimum density required to achieve that cosmopolitan feel. Not sure what the magic number is but I know we are below it.
With density comes active streets. Granted, Tehran’s streets are too active right now and in the worst possible way. But street vendors, bustling storefronts along sidewalks rather than busy malls or big box stores. Good mass transit becomes a necessity for a dense city to function.
I hope the people of Tehran, Iran and all the Middle East can find peace.
– Steve Patterson
The civilization in Iran is millennia old, and its population has essentially evolved in-place from antiquity to the modern day. Although its tumultuous political climate of the past few decades has rendered it in unfashionable to the West (which insists on viewing Iran through the narrow prism of Islamic Fundamentalism), Iran has been in the practice of building civil society for ages.
Iran’s history is rich and storied, much more so than the European-derived settlements of St. Louis and New York:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran
Even classical Iranian architecture could do wonders to the current trend for Green building, should we ever chose to emulate it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat
A solar chimney would work wonders in St. Louis right now.
The social scientist in me wonders if Tehran’s urban density has something to do with its relative propensity for revolution.
Personally, I don’t think the streets are active enough. The theocrats should recognize the people’s will. Though, I admit I don’t know what exactly that will is.
I’m not sure why the streets are too active in the worst possible way at this time. It is the best if the streets are owned by the people. The people of Tehran are demonstrating that sentiment.
It is a great use of the street and for St. Louis once again highlights the lack of public gathering places, such as squares and plazas throughout the city.
Connected they help to insure democratic communication and interchange. Disconnected , like St. Louis, you have a city with few public gathering places, and like Iran, a monolithic governing apparatus.
St. Louis doesn’t have to worry about the government silencing twitter or faceback. The governing forces of the City of St. Louis already have silenced urban planning. It is the first line of democracy.
“Both Tehran & New York City have over four times the population per square mile compared to” us. “What the magic number is” obviously something in between, and likely something closer to 3 times what we have now (and what we likely were at our maximum population around 1950). Do you have any idea where Portland, OR and San Francisco fall? They seem to be something we can aspire to. Unlike NYC, their scale is something that might be “sellable” to our current politicians and residents.
Bangalore, India also has countdown timers showing when the lights are going to turn. I really miss those, and I do enjoy using the pedestrian walk signal timers where available – as an approximation of when the lights will turn after the walk signal. It’s an environmentally friendly device in India where traffic turns off its engines once they know that their wait is longer than a minute.
Regarding classical architecture & green building – referencing Ben’s comment:
Indian architect Karan Grover had LEED rated some of India’s ancient monuments and palaces. They turned out to all be LEED platinum. Think about getting local materials (not from 500 miles radius, but 5 miles), Sustainable materials that are gathered from sustainable harvesting and forests that replenish within 5 years or less.. Or Carbon dioxide / monoxide monitoring & improved indoor air quality through the use of open courtyards and plants within the building. Yup, somewhere in our history we have de-evolved our building practices, regressing quite a bit into the abyss of mass produced conveniences.
We'r ed hardy outlet one of the most profession
of the coolest and latest ed hardy apparel, such as
ed hardy tee ,ed hardy bags,
ed hardy bathing suits, ed hardy shoes,
ed hardy board shorts ， don ed hardyt,ed hardy tank tops, ed hardy for women,
ed hardy swimwearand more,
ed hardy clothing. We offers a wide selection of fashion
cheap ed hardyproducts. Welcome to our shop or just enjoy browsing through our stunning collection available wholesale ed hardy in our shop.
our goal is to delight you with our distinctive collection of mindful ed hardy products while providing value and excellent service. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction and we offer only 100% satisfacted service and ed hardy products. Please feel free to contact us at any time; we are committed to your 100% customer satisfaction. If you're looking for the best service and best selection, stay right where you are and continue shopping at here is your best online choice for the reasonable prices. So why not buy your ed hardy now, I am sure they we won’t let you down.