Dissertation Defence: Self-Built Settlements in Iran as an Alternative to Social Housing: Urban Poor Housing Strategies & the State’s Role in the Expropriation of Informal Spaces; a Case-Study of Zoorabad-Karaj

Pegah Behroozi Nobar, supervised by Dr. Paul Shipley and Dr. Nathaniel Lauster, will defend their dissertation titled “Self-Built Settlements in Iran as an Alternative to Social Housing: Urban Poor Housing Strategies & the State’s Role in the Expropriation of Informal Spaces; a Case-Study of Zoorabad-Karaj” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies – Urban and Regional Studies theme.

An abstract for Pegah Behroozi Nobar’s dissertation is included below.

Examinations are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. This examination will be offered in hybrid format.  Registration is not required to attend in person; however, please email paul.shipley@ubc.ca to receive the Zoom link for this exam.

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Abstract

The housing crisis for low-income and vulnerable groups has been a significant challenge, particularly in socio-political contexts lacking social housing policies, such as Iran. In the absence of formal governmental support, the urban poor had no choice but to build their own shelters, mostly on common lands, to meet their housing needs. These self-built settlements are labelled as informal housing by state authorities. However, they have partially addressed the housing crisis for vulnerable populations. While it is the state’s responsibility to adopt a custodian role and provide social housing, the Iranian government’s hostile approach towards these self-built settlements needs critical examination. This research focuses on ZoorAbad, an informal housing settlement in Iran, to investigate the following questions: 1) How and through what grassroots strategies have the urban poor in ZoorAbad addressed their housing needs over the past 45 years? 2) What has been the government’s response and the dialectical relationship between the state and ZoorAbad’s self-built housing? Additionally, this study categorizes different groups of the urban poor in ZoorAbad and examines the power dynamics among them. A qualitative, extended-case methodology was employed, encompassing multiple layers of data collection: 1) Reviewing relevant policies, urban planning documents, academic articles, and theses on ZoorAbad and the national context; 2) Analyzing written and oral histories of grassroots neighborhood development, 3) Gathering the viewpoints of ZoorAbad’s urban poor regarding their housing challenges and their interactions with the state, particularly concerning the Improvement Plan of ZoorAbad. The methods used include semi-structured interviews, walking, observing, and ethnographic analysis. Based on the extended-case method, two key conclusions emerge: 1) Self-built housing should be recognized as a viable alternative to social housing in socio-political contexts like Iran; 2) The concept of the “squatter government” reveals how modern (neoliberal) states, in specific settings like Iran, exploit urban planning and policymaking tools to confiscate common and private resources. To elaborate on this concept, this research presents another case – Roshankouh village – in Iran with a distinct socio-geographical context. It argues that such governments, rather than acting as custodians, expropriate, speculate on, and extract common resources, dismantle communities and advance oppressive agendas – such as the elimination of minority groups, like Baha’is in Iran.