Figure 4. Map of Tehran in the 18th century,
courtesy of Madanipour
https://urbanismwarehouse.wordpress.com/tag/tehran/
Sprawl of shopping malls is a recent phenomenon in the history of
Tehran. Roots of shopping mall in Tehran dates back to the 1930s. There
have been various types of shopping facilities established in Tehran
after the Grand Bazaar, including passages, Modern Bazaars, shopping
streets, shopping malls and recently built shopping/ entertainment
complexes10.
Modernization of Tehran has been parallel to decentralization of bazaar.
According to Habibi & Mahmoudi (2017), the sprawl of shopping centers
has begun with a single core of Grand Bazaar; and continued by the
growing of shopping streets in central districts of Tehran. As (Hamidi,
1997) mentioned, due to economic boom in the late 60s and raise of
demands for more commercial space in Bazaar, residential neighborhood
surrounding Bazaar were destroyed and mercantile streets started to grow
rapidly. This phenomenon is a result of the formation of the economic
middle class and its consequent new consumer needs and demands, which
led to establishment of first shopping streets in Tehran. The focus of
this sprawl has mostly been towards north, including districts 1, 2, 3,
5, and 6. However, it is evident that formation of these spaces in
contemporary time follows the growth of the wealthy consumer society
mostly towards the same direction (Figure 5).