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Reports published by regime’s own media outlets have once again highlighted the severity of Iran’s housing and urban decay crisis. Behind official slogans such as “urban regeneration” and “revitalization,” the reality is one of neglect, displacement, and mounting risk for millions of Iranians who are forced to live in unsafe and deteriorating neighborhoods.
According to the regime’s parliament research center, 19 million people are living in what officials describe as “inefficient” or “decayed” urban areas, and at least 10 million of them reside in structurally unsafe homes. These figures represent nearly a quarter of the population and expose the deepening crisis created by decades of corruption, poor planning, and the regime’s failure to prioritize the people’s most basic needs.
Gentrification Disguised as Renewal
Even regime-linked urban planners now concede that so-called “renovation” projects often result in gentrification rather than genuine regeneration. While presented as efforts to improve safety and quality of life, these projects raise property values, encourage speculative development, and displace low-income residents.
This cycle—disinvestment, cosmetic renewal, and forced relocation—has been evident since the 1980s and accelerated in the 2000s. Despite official promises of “balanced policy” and “support for tenants,” in practice families are pushed out of central districts and forced to the city’s fringes, where infrastructure and services are even more inadequate.
#Iran Faces Cascading Crises as Blackouts, Housing Collapse, And Jobless “Time Bomb” Convergehttps://t.co/iiHtDpBGRy
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 15, 2025
Expanding Decay, Shrinking Solutions
Far from solving the problem, the extent of urban decay has grown dramatically. In the past decade, the volume of decayed urban fabric has increased by 15 percent, rising from 140,000 hectares in 2013 to 170,000–200,000 hectares today, by the regime’s own count.
The capital is at the heart of the crisis. Tehran contains 13,600 hectares of so-called “inefficient” urban areas, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the city’s footprint. Thirty-two of the province’s 47 cities contain such districts.
The situation is no better in Isfahan, which has 11,000 hectares of decayed neighborhoods where nearly a fifth of the province’s residents are concentrated. Officials acknowledge that 18 percent of Isfahan’s population—some 900,000 people—are trapped in unsafe housing. The province alone accounts for about 7 percent of the country’s total decayed urban fabric.
Land Subsidence: A Looming Catastrophe
Beyond crumbling housing, many Iranian cities now face environmental collapse. In Isfahan, experts are warning of catastrophic land subsidence, driven by over-extraction of groundwater and the drying of the Zayandeh Rud river. The head of the Seismology and Risk Department at the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development has warned that, without intervention, between 2.5 and 3 million people may one day have to be evacuated from the region. He described such a scenario as a “national crisis.”
The same conditions—unchecked construction, depletion of aquifers, and infrastructure built on unstable land—exist in other provinces as well, magnifying the risk of widespread disaster.
#IranProtests: Retirees of Telecommunications Company and Housing Beneficiaries Rally Across Iranhttps://t.co/k8HidBnJdu
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 28, 2025
Unsafe Homes in the Capital
In Tehran, the situation is already critical. A joint study by the regime’s crisis management agencies revealed that 60 percent of the city’s buildings are unsafe. Out of 4,960 structures examined—including hospitals, schools, universities, military and police facilities, major commercial centers, and public buildings—3,000 were classified as highly unsafe. In a city built on active fault lines, the implications are catastrophic.
Broken Promises and Hollow Plans
Despite repeated announcements of ambitious programs, the regime has consistently failed to deliver. The Fourth Development Plan, introduced over 15 years ago, promised systematic renewal of urban decay. Yet regime officials now admit that implementation is badly delayed, legal frameworks are ineffective, and promised funds have not materialized.
Even as housing experts call for affordable housing, tenant protections, and community-driven solutions, the authorities prioritize short-term profit for developers and politically connected elites. The Urban Regeneration Corporation, a state body tasked with overseeing the process, openly admits it cannot act without “mass mobilization” of society—while the regime itself diverts national wealth to foreign wars and domestic repression.
Tehran Housing Prices Surge: Average Price Per Square Meter Reaches $1,100 https://t.co/qEhAVGoRvi pic.twitter.com/hQ0h8rMRTU
— Iran Focus (@Iran_Focus) March 16, 2025
A Manufactured Humanitarian Crisis
The reality, even in the regime’s own statistics, is stark: one in four Iranians lives in unsafe or decayed urban zones. What officials call “inefficient” neighborhoods are not isolated anomalies but the daily reality for millions of families. Instead of being addressed, the problem grows larger every year, driven by a ruling system that places its survival and profit networks above the welfare of its citizens.
The Iranian housing disaster is not simply an urban planning failure; it is a direct product of the clerical regime’s corruption, mismanagement, and systemic disregard for human rights. Tehran, Isfahan, and other major cities stand as warnings of the broader collapse of infrastructure and governance across the country.
Until the regime is replaced by a government that prioritizes the people’s needs, promises of “urban regeneration” will remain hollow slogans. The millions of Iranians trapped in unsafe housing today face not only the threat of displacement but also the growing likelihood of natural and man-made catastrophes.