The quality of housing has declined with more focus on the quantitative aspect of the construction sector, said Deputy Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Mohammad Beheshti Shirazi, at the recent national conference of sustainable development and urban construction.
He warned about the consequences of apathy towards quality housing. The conference was held at Imam Khomeini International University.
It is unfortunate that the rich climatic, natural and cultural textures in urban patterns and historical buildings, representing Iranians’ national identity, are on the brink of destruction, due to the massive constructions. “By ignoring quality, we are aggravating the losses,” Shirazi noted. Low standards of urban development contribute to economic and cultural setbacks.
Drinking Water Shortage
Pointing to the other crisis Iran faces, he called for finding a long-term solution to confront water shortages through people’s cooperation. “We should seriously ponder on our bad consumption habits.”
In olden days, Iranians’ consumption and management of water resources was judicious, he noted. All the people, from economists to schoolchildren, should be convinced to change their behavior and move towards logical water usage or “we will witness displacement of millions from their homelands.”
Iran has a continental climate, with cold winters and hot summers. On the plateau, the annual rainfall does not exceed 30 cm and the deserts and the Persian Gulf littoral areas receive less than 13 cm of rainfall. Geographically, 75% of the country has a dry, arid and semi-arid climate. As the water crisis worsens in scale and scope, it is necessary to take prudent decisions, he added.
