The Rivers of Tehran: River Valleys Potentials in the City Development.

Undoubtedly, the seven river val-leys of Tehran city have been the most sig-nificant natural factors in the city structure throughout history; the factors which no longer play a part in city estimation. Although the river valleys, as the most important factors of urban ecological structure, play a role in creating a balanced relationship between city and nature space, they have not been considered as sig-nificant factors of Tehran master plan. Despite the fact that the last master plan largely refers to the potentials of the river valleys, the proper way of fulfillment has not been clarified in the organization program. This paper focuses on the facilities, opportunities, limitations, threats and strategies for planning and restoration of the natural environment as initial proposals aimed at improving the quality of life by re-viewing the position of Tehran river valleys in municipal documents and actions taken in the case of Farahzad river valley in Tehran. This article will also focus on these two basic points: 1) natural potentials of river valleys including green space and water flow 2) human scale and construction of pedestrian path connected to river valleys. Considering these two facts and combining the natural potentials of river valleys with human needs can lead to favor-able results in organization of the valleys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]