A National Guideline for Transit-Oriented Development: Challenges and Prospects for the Iranian Edition

The outstanding consequences of transport land-use integration under the label of transit-oriented development (TOD) approach in pioneer countries have spurred several newcomers to apply such a policy. Of which, Iran with a centralized planning system has recently provided a TOD national guideline with the purpose of curbing traffic-caused challenges. This study attempts to describe the process applied for the guideline preparation and discover operational challenges and prospects for successful TOD implementation, offering a native edition in Iran. The research has a qualitative approach, based on the case study. The critical analysis of Iran s existing situation, together with the review of a five-year process which ends up with the final approval of the guideline, are basic tools applied to investigate the situation. The results demonstrated that although the guideline, as a turning point, pinpointed the integration policy in Iranian policymaking efforts, there are still several barriers to realize TOD policies in Iran including inconsistent urban policies, profit-making from TOD potentials, no practical experience, lack of public support and weak local authorities. This study also offers some lessons for those countries with a similar system of urban planning and/or policy challenges, which are planning transport and land use integration.