Physical Impacts of Industrial Buildings on Urban Development in Iran “Case Study: Tehran Refinery & Baghershahr Residential District”

Scientific and technological developments particularly after the Industrial Revolution have led to the creation of numerous industrial buildings in city suburbs. Although industrial plants are developed to meet the various needs of humankind, they do entail a series of negative effects and though built in suburban areas they strongly influence urban expansion.
This paper studies the physical impacts of industrial buildings on urban development in Iran. It requires a look into several fields of study and employs a composite research method to proceed. In a deskwork process, the authors first present a summarized history of urban developments in the face of growing industrial advances. They then study the urban expansion of Tehran with the industrial plants developing around it through a comparative method employing maps and documents.
The Tehran Refinery and the Baghershahr residential district are chosen as components of a case study. The authors use questionnaires, conduct interviews and take note of their observations to evaluate the impact of industrial buildings on urban expansion. Finally, an analytical strategy is employed to conclude that industrial plants, which are mainly built in city suburbs as new urban indicators, inevitably affect urban development and people’s lives. The paper ends with a series of proposals for architects and urban developers to reduce the destructive impacts of industrial buildings on urban development.