The Director of the Urban Regeneration Committee at the Ministry of Roads and Urbanization, Nariman Mostafayee, said: “30% of the country’s urban population, equal to 20 million people, live either in unofficial settlements or eroded accommodations.”
He announced the existence of nearly 1000 unofficial settlements across the country: “The population of these unofficial settlements is close to 13 million people which is 20% of the country’s population”, continued Mr Mostafayee.
Most of these settlements lack legal titles and are lacking in facilities and basic infrastructure, such as water and electricity. Intervention in these settlements with the intent of improving living conditions is only possible with the help of the residents.
The organizing of unofficial settlements has begun in sixties cities. A research project on unofficial settlements has started as a pilot program in the region on Bukan, which is one of the most populated cities in West Azerbaijan Province.
The Governor of Bukan, Jamal Khosravi, said: “The immigration status and urbanization rate of Bukan is higher than the provincial and national average. However, the increase of unofficial settlements has prevented the development of Bukan in the past years. The city of Bukan has a growth rate of 12.5% which places it at the second place after Eslamshahr in the province of Tehran. Currently however, nearly half of its urban population resides in unofficial settlements and eroded accommodations.”
Eslamshahr, the capital of Eslamshahr county, is the second most populated city in Tehran Province. It has nearly 590,000 population with a density of 10,000 persons per square kilometer. Bukan city had 200,000 population as in 2016.
Source: Ministry of Roads and Urban Developments Official Reports
