Improving Transport Project Appraisals
In the Islamic Countries
91
Figure 5.5: Structure of the Iranian urban transport planning system68
Source: Döge and Arndt (2013) 69, p. 22.
Additionally, it may be underlined that transport project appraisal at the local level is strongly
linked to urban planning, whose fragmented decision-making has been singled out by the
literature as a significant obstacle70. In the last decades, urban planners have rarely paid
attention to impacts of land development on the transportation network. In particular, the
financial independence granted to municipalities has frequently led them to convert public land
to more profitable uses (e.g. commercial ones) in order to increase local revenues, as explained
by Soltani (2017). However, Traffic Impact Assessments not being required for new
developments, such conversion of land has exacerbated congestion issues. More generally, an
overall lack of appraisal has been highlighted with regard to transit planning (e.g. monorail
systems in Tehran and Qom) and transport infrastructure construction (e.g. overpasses and
interchanges)71 .
68 With the addition of the Local Transport Plan proposed by Döge and Arndt, 2013
69 Pg. 22.
70 Soltani, A., 2017. Iran, in D. Pojani, D. Stead (Eds.), The Urban Transport Crisis in Emerging Economies, Springer.
71 As a result, the lifespans of these projects are reported by the literature to be shorter than anticipated, also because of
inadequate technical capacity. Source: Soltani, A., 2017.