Obstacles of Sustainable Planning in Housing Sector of Iran

Abstract: housing has been a major challenge for the rising population of countries during lastdecades and the provision of affordable standard house for low and middle-income households has alwaysbeen at the forefront of sustainable development strategies and plans, especially in developing countries.besides, the need to high-density housing systems due to rising population has become a central issueto most urban design or renewal programs in the late 20th century. therefore, residential complex hasrapidly developed into one of the most important prototype of modern housing in urban and metropolitanareas especially in developing countries leading to unprecedented challenges from the sustainability pointof view. on the other hand, despite existence of many sustainable principles of residential architecturein ancient era, diverse housing problems and issues have originated in modern housing patterns of urbanareas due to consequences of the process of uncontrolled urbanization and industrialization. it is obviousthat in most cases, ancient principles of sustainability which have stood the test of time have beenignored in modern housing strategies and plans leading to obstacles in achievement of sustainability inresidential buildings. in this paper, the intention is to introduce and analyze diverse obstacles of achievingsustainability in modern housing strategies, policies and regulations in iran.