Qualitative Sustainability Assessment of the Large- Scale Redevelopment Plan in Samen District of Mashhad

Redevelopment of distressed and blighted areas are targeted by most of development policies.However, a number of policies have been changed as the result of the ineffectiveness of the previous experiences, theincompatibility of the development tools and plans, the lack of financial resources or social movements. Large-scaleredevelopment projects have usually been considered as the powerful tools for urban revitalization, modernizationand implementation of radical plans while many of those were criticized due to their various consequences includingsocial exclusion, inequality, social conflicts, environmental damages, inconsistent scale, etc. Downtown of the City ofMashhad; Samen District, has experienced various physical interventions in the form of large-scale projects during thelast century. Although the projects and intervention policies have been transformed during the past decades, previousfaults were ignored and sometimes were iterated in these experiences. In fact, it seems that urban developmentsolutions in the district have not been sustainable solutions and couldn’t maintain or shape a sustainable communityin the historical and formerly economic urban core of Mashhad. This paper, focusing on mega redevelopmentprojects experienced in Samen Districst after 1920s, aims to highlight the critical aspects neglected or bent in Samenredevelopment program. Based on the nature of large-scale redevelopment projects and the current sustainabilitycriteria, it qualitatively assesses the sustainability of the redevelopment projects through content-analysis method.According to the results, despite the competitiveness and place promotion goals of the Samen redevelopment project,the adopted approaches and policies could not lead to a state of sustainable development.