Energy Efficiency Policies in Urban Planning System, The Case of Iran

Urban areas are the main consumers of energy resources with a considerable amount of waste in building and transport sectors. This comes about due to inefficient development patterns as well as consumption habits. Towards steering an energy efficiency transformation in cities, it is thus crucial to develop policies, strategies and measures to improve efficiency in these sectors. Hence, not only physical but also climatic as well as socioeconomic characteristics should be taken into account in development of energy efficient urban areas. The respective urban development factors besides technological applications and organizational readiness can support better energy performance of cities. Against this background, the present research emphasizes on identifying energy efficiency planning measures together with their integration in local urban development practices. In terms of methodology, the research investigates relevant theoretical knowledge in urban sustainability and energy efficiency and develops a comprehensive set of spatial planning measures to be analysed in the Iranian context. Furthermore, Iranian urban energy facts and figures are surveyed in line with current practical procedures and bottlenecks in the local planning context. The methods used to examine the local context are diverse and include: via desk research, field observations and interviews with local experts. Besides, GAP analysis is utilized aiming at identifying the existing gaps from technical, regulatory as well as organizational perspective. This is followed by a comprehensive set of strategies and recommendations for the integration of the missing spatial energy measures in the local planning practice.