From Home for Living to Housing for Investment: A Systematic Review of Crisis Inducing Trends in Tehran’s Residential Architecture over the Past Two Decades

Objective: Residential architecture in Tehran has undergone major morphological and functional transformations in recent decades under the influence of multiple forces. This study aims to identify and systematize crisis-inducing trends in Tehran’s housing architecture and examines how social, economic, political, technological, and environmental forces have contributed to the emergence of major crisis trends in the residential built environment.



Methodology: This research employed a qualitative meta-synthesis based on a systematic literature review. After collecting and screening relevant documents, directed qualitative content analysis was conducted within the STEEP framework. The findings were then synthesized and organized into a hierarchical structure to identify key megatrends.



Findings: The analysis identified 34 crisis-inducing trends, which were synthesized into five key megatrends: (1) real estate speculation and the decline of residential value; (2) ecological instability and the climate–architecture disconnect; (3) technical reductionism and superficial formalism; (4) the atomization of society and the crisis of spatial inclusivity; and (5) disruptions in urban governance and monitoring. The findings show that housing in Tehran is reproduced within a cycle of decline in which residential quality is sacrificed to excessive spatial compression and profit maximization.



Conclusion: The housing crisis in Tehran extends beyond a shortage of supply and results from the convergence of urban management’s dependence on density-based revenues and residents’ indifference toward architectural quality. The study provides a basis for rethinking architectural policy and advocates a shift from housing as an investment commodity toward a human-centered living environment.