Shushtar New Town: Respect Tradition, Sustainable Future

After modern urbanization in Iran from early 20s, the cities came across major population growth.To resolve the issue, Iran Urbanization and Housing Ministry constructed new towns in the suburbanof metropolises to accommodate the immigrants from other parts. Shoushter is one of these cities.Shushtar, an ancient city in Khuzestan Province located at south west of Iran, is considered as a worldheritage. Based on the stone tools found in Pideh Cave, archeologists believe that human settlement inthe area, back more than 7,000 years ago. This research explores the context and the process ofShushtar new town Design. The design was based on an effort to reinterpret the figure and structure oftraditional cities, specifically the ancient towns of Shushtar and Dezful. The result was one of the mostlegendary and widespread models of new town design in the developing world, as described in theAga Khan Technical Review Summary for its award, was a residential community for 25-30,000people. The project was praised in the 1986 Aga Khan Award panel technical review for remainingfaithful to the tradition, customs and identity of a region through an architecture expressing theseambition and making balance and harmony, for engendering and facilitating a sense of community.As it is arises from accurate analysis, this town has not develop as it was planned. There are severalreasons for the failure, such as political conditions, war and making wrong decision. All discussionsregarding issue revealed that reclamation of this new town needs cooperation between differentorganizations to reach the best result as an integrated management. Besides, it is recommended toinvite professionals who designed this new town, hold the primary plans as well as cooperate with newmanagement and guide new developments.

Keywords:

sustainable design , urban complex , social housing , identity