Regeneration-led gentrification: A comparative study of Atabak and Khani-Abad neighborhoods in Tehran

As an emerging concept in urban-related literature, gentrification has focused on the issue of the replacement of social classes in the city from about half a century ago. following the gentrification process, many people have been forced to leave their place of residence or could afford to live at a higher cost. the gentrification has its roots in the excessive stagnation of inner cities and the creation of a gap in land values and rental rates between the deteriorated neighborhoods and other parts of the city. such neighborhoods exist in lots of cities in iran, including tehran.in some cases, urban regeneration projects and actions contribute to an increase in the demand for housing in these neighborhoods through solving the physical problems of neighborhoods and the significant obstacles underlying their poor quality. the rise in the prices of residential units due to an increase in demand causes the old residents to be displaced. in such cases, urban regeneration will accelerate the gentrification process within the context of deteriorated neighborhoods. the main objective of this research is to investigate the effects of urban regeneration policies on the degree of the gentrification process as well as the impact of this phenomenon on the displacement of long-term residents. to achieve this goal, the qualitative method, particularly the case study method and the statistical description of the data related to the past decade as well as the completion of the questionnaire by residents of khani-abad and atabak neighborhoods has been used, both of which have experienced different levels of regeneration policies and measures. in both neighborhoods, the changes in the number of issued construction permits and land prices were investigated during the 2006-2016 period. according to the population and housing census data of 2016, several residents have been randomly questioned about their residency records. the results show that the symptoms of the gentrification process are more evident in neighborhoods where extensive regeneration interventions and more physical changes are observed.