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Research Activities and
Consultative Projects
Tehran today is one of the biggest cities of the world. Statistics speak for themselves:
Therefore the use of the term metropolis when referring to Tehran would not be out of order. An urban center with such magnitude naturally faces a myriad of problems ranging from traffic and pollution, social services and public education/awareness, to information dissemination and management. Since 1990 the Cultural Research Bureau has acted as a consultant and think tank to the Tehran Municipality. The following are the main areas of collaboration: 1- Cultural Affairs 1-
Cultural Affairs
2- Critical Information and Data Gathering and Analysis The Urban Studies and the Demographic Studies departments were responsible for the following research. Their field studies and subsequent analysis culminated in the publication of the following reports for the municipality:
3- Organizational Management The Culture and Management department was responsible
for the following fundamental projects addressing organizational
issues of the municipality:
What is at stake is public awareness, the means and tactics with which one can raise public consciousness with regards to matters of immediate concern to city dwellers of a modern metropolis. Our approach is grounded in the belief that encouraging participation of city dwellers in affairs that affect the quality of their daily life is the key to addressing issues of public concern and guaranteeing the sustainability of proposed changes. As a first step, the department of Urban Studies, prepared a comprehensive master plan addressing the following topics:
Each topic was expanded individually and a strategic media campaign
was devised for different audiences (age group, occupation, literacy,
education, and language). This report was presented to the Department
of Social Affairs of the Tehran Municipality. As the next step the
Cultural Research Bureau has proactively sought after the appropriate
divisions within the municipality to follow up on the proposed plan.
The CRB is currently consulting the department of Solid Waste Management
for finalizing their public awareness campaign.
These projects are still within the initial planning and content
provision phase.
 In
cooperation with the newly elected Tehran City Council (May 1999),
the CRB was selected as the body’s acting Scientific Secretariat.
The first project delegated to the Bureau was the coordination of
scientific and technical activities of an international symposium
that produced the first Tehran City Charter (2001). Under the
supervision of the Urban Studies department the endeavor resulted
in the publication of the following nine volumes: a comparative study
of a selection of city charters of the world (2 vols), original papers
submitted by Iranian academicians in the field of urban studies (2
vols), papers submitted by Iranian university students (4 vols), the
city charter itself (1 vol).
The CRB has undertaken the project of designing the council’s
Urbanization Information Center. This project is in progress
(2001).
Since its inception in 1986 the Cultural Research Bureau has maintained strong ties with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through the years the CRB has acted as a consultant and think tank on a variety of topics for the ministry, resulting in extensive research papers, feasibility studies and proposals. Research into the use of foreign words and terminology in Persian printed media (1996), a databank of university thesis addressing cultural issues (1996), a master plan for the reorganization of public libraries and cultural centers (1997), and definition of productivity indices for the ministry (1997), the economics of the Iranian music industry (2000), are examples of the more recent collaborations undertaken over the past five years. Among the earlier projects of national significance was the Bureau’s research into establishing a scientific and organizational platform from which cultural / movie complexes for the main cities of provinces countrywide could be designed and implemented. Such complexes fall within the framework of urban necessities and services. They are centers of varied cultural activities ranging from creative works in the domain of arts and traditional handicraft, educational enterprises, sites of public exhibition, information services, publication ventures, to entertainment and leisure sites; with particular emphasis on cinema. Furthermore the activities of such centers would be geared towards promotion of local arts, encouraging voluntary civic participation, and opening venues for the implementation of projects proposed by communities themselves. This would therefore necessitate an understanding and awareness of local cultural proclivities. Five cities were chosen as prototype: Isfahan and Tabriz (for cities with population more than a million), Rudbar (destroyed in the earthquake, for cities whose urban infrastructure have been destroyed through war or natural disaster), Babol (exemplary of cities of the northern provinces of Iran), and Dezful (exemplary of cities of the southern province of Khuzestan). The CRB departments involved in the project were: Demographic Studies, Historical Studies, Social Anthropology, Linguistics, Architecture and Economic Studies. The separate studies resulted in a thorough portrayal of the urban and social structure of the respective prototype cities. The project was completed in 1992. The complexes of Dezful and
Rudbar have been built so far.
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Population: 8 million (excluding suburbs)
This
research was based on a systematic approach exploring
grand scale behaviors that would determine factors such
as different consumer groups and classification of distribution
methods thus permitting the designation of the overall
structure of the market. We first examined incentives
and methods of production for both local consumption and
for that of transit through Iran for western markets.
In course of this search economic and social factors within
the system that affected supply, type, quality and price
of drug distribution in Iran was also determined. Next,
the behavioral patterns of the community of consumers
in Iran, its structure and incentives, and specifically
economic demand were analyzed. Outside and non-economic
factors affecting demand were also analyzed. The geography
of consumption and the process of propagation of addiction
in the country were verified using available data and
numerical postulation. Later, with increased accuracy,
the same study was applied to the specific case study
of the Tehran metropolis.
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