Achieving the Right to the City Through Community Asset Based Development Case Study: Ekbatan Residential Complex, Tehran, Iran

French philosopher, Henri Lefebvre combined the concept of justice with urban concepts to create new ideas which has been reflected in Right to the Cities (1968) and Production of Space (1974).His legacy has been inspiring for further urban theories. Since then, there have been many efforts to utilize citizen’s participation in developmentplanning process. One of the most effective approaches related to citizen participation, isthe Community Asset Based Development (CABD). CABD replaces the traditional Up-Down development Planning process, with a Bottom-Up process which utilizes exiting assets of a community in development process. It is an effective way of involving local residents in investing their potentials and capacities in order to develop theircommunity. This study investigates the mechanisms that Ekbatan residential complex has shapedaround Lefebvre’s idea of right to the city and the roles that CABD can play in facilitating it. Ekbatan is used here as an example in which the planning has provided achance for creating a community but the importance of resident participation has been dismissed by officials through the up-bottom interventions regardless of residents’ desireand need. Our methodology is based on gathering relevant data from the specified documents and compiling databases in order to analyze the material and arrive at a more complete understanding of the contribution of built environment in bringing Lefebvre’stheory in to existence. It is based on active observation and conducting interviews with residents. Emphasis is placed on the mechanisms in Ekbatan residential complex that hasprovided the chance for people participation through creating social control , sense of belonging and social linkages .

Keywords:

Right to the City , Community Asset Based Development , Ekbatan Residential Complex , Citizen Participation