What comes to your mind when you hear the word “marginalization”? Halabiyabad? Small and large slums? Life in shantytowns or whatever we have heard in recent years in defining this title? It seems that such signs are less noticeable on the outskirts of cities than ever before, but is there no more news of marginalization or has this phenomenon found another definition? To better understand this answer, it is best to set aside clichéd definitions and go to the outskirts of cities and compare life in these areas with life in the city.

Marginalization is actually the result and outcome of social and structural problems that mainly occur due to the rapid flow of migration from cities to villages. This social phenomenon is more prominent in developing countries and has a greater negative impact on urban management processes.

If we want to provide a definition of marginalization and target the individuals who reside in these areas, we must say that marginalized people are those who live in the economic periphery of the city, but have not been integrated into the economic and social system. A marginalized person is someone who, due to economic difficulties, has not been able to resist the urban system and has sought refuge in the outskirts of the city to avoid the high cost of living in the urban center.

There are certainly more definitions and reasons for the formation of marginalization, but by looking at the history of its formation, one can see that the main reason is the uncontrolled expansion of urban slums and the disappearance of suitable job opportunities for rural residents who have chosen to migrate to cities for a better quality of life. However, their lack of necessary economic means to live in cities has forced them to live on the outskirts. In recent years, due to the exorbitant cost of urban land in major cities, we have witnessed a rapid increase in marginalization in a different form, and this time the migration route was not from villages to cities, but rather most urban residents (especially in Tehran) were unable to continue living in the city and were pushed to the outskirts.

Tall buildings, known as “affordable housing,” have been built side by side in the eastern and western parts of Tehran, in new cities such as Pardis and Parand. They do not show signs of past marginalization, but a closer look at the lives of people in these areas reveals that issues such as health and education may no longer exist. However, their access to job opportunities and healthcare remains a current problem for living in these areas.

Residents of Pardis city can be divided into two main categories at a glance: residents of “Mehr housing” and other buildings, the majority of which are owned by retirees of various government and ruling institutions. The mountainous climate of Pardis city is a point that almost all Tehran immigrants mention as a privilege of living in this city. Certainly, Pardis city has no relation to Halabiyehs, but if we want to analyze life in this city more accurately, it is better to turn to its residents.

Lack of maternity hospital is one of the main problems of Pardis city.

One morning in the month of Shahrivar, we went to the city of Pardis. In a tour around different areas of the city, we talked to various people. One of the young residents of this city, who had spent his single life in Tehran and moved to Pardis after marriage, mentioned that he has to commute a long distance in traffic every day to get to work, and the same distance is repeated on his way back. He expressed his frustration with this situation, emphasizing that most of his energy is spent not on work, but on commuting, leaving him with little time to spend with his family, affecting his quality of life. Another issue he mentioned was the lack of a maternity hospital in Pardis. He mentioned that a few months ago, when his wife was in the final days of her pregnancy, they had to stay in Tehran and couldn’t return home until their child was born and they could go back home.

But this issue was also mentioned by another young man; a man around thirty years old who was carrying a sports bag on his shoulder and was coming out of the gym, walking towards his house. We talked to him and asked about life in Pardis. His workplace and residence are in Pardis. He said, “I have been living in this city for more than twelve years. I have two children and my second child was born a few months ago. During my wife’s delivery, I had to transfer her to Tehran due to her high stress levels. The lack of a maternity hospital in this city made my wife endure difficult conditions for several hours until we reached Tehran.”

He continued, “My father is retired and lives with my mother in Pardis. Every few months, they go to Tehran for their medical treatments and check-ups. Pardis has a clinic and even a hospital, but it is not well-equipped enough for us to receive proper medical care there.”

The occurrence of car accidents in Pardis city is more dangerous than accidents in Tehran.

The same person remembers a bitter memory in the midst of conversations and this time, with anger, describes it and says: “If an accident happens in Pardis city and there is a need for emergency services, all ambulances are contracted with three hospitals: Tajrish, Behesht, and Imam Hossein. Even if the injured person needs urgent treatment, they have to travel this long distance in an ambulance. A few weeks ago, one of my friends had an accident. When the ambulance arrived and the doctor saw his condition, he requested a helicopter and transferred him to Tajrish hospital by helicopter, but unfortunately, he lost his life. I am not familiar with medical knowledge, but perhaps if there was a hospital nearby, my friend would not have died. Many people have had accidents in Pardis and have been severely injured, but in those situations where they need to get to the hospital quickly, they have had to endure a long distance for transportation.”

It can be considered a serious problem that there is no equipped hospital and maternity ward in Pardis; a city where the number of newlywed couples is actually very high and, according to many residents, will have a significant population increase in the near future. To address this issue, we went to a real estate agency to gather information from various groups who are looking to buy or rent a home. A young man (around 35 years old) was sitting behind a desk. We asked him about the prices of houses for sale; prices that he said were truly shocking. The prices of houses in Pardis are cheaper compared to Tehran, but the strange thing is the difference in prices in different areas; there are even villas in this small city that belong to the wealthier class of society.

He justified this price difference by telling an interesting story and said, “A few weeks ago, we were guests at the house of one of our relatives who lives in Mehr housing units. It was the weekend and his apartment was on the top floor of the building. When it was time to wash our hands before dinner, we faced a problem because the building was crowded on weekends and the low water pressure didn’t allow the upper floors to use water.”

He continued, “It is clear that such buildings should be cheaper. The Mehr housing units do not have much difference in appearance compared to other houses, but in reality, the quality of these buildings is slightly lower. In addition, the designed streets in certain phases of Pardis city where the Mehr housing units are located, do not meet the needs of the large population present in this area. Of course, many of these buildings are still empty and with more people moving in, the traffic situation will definitely worsen. In these circumstances, it is evident that villas in less populated areas should be more expensive. A few weeks ago, I had a client who came from Jordan and I rented an extraordinary villa to him for one billion tomans.”

We asked him about the reason for the emptiness of some Mehr housing buildings and he pointed out an interesting point: “A few weeks ago, an elderly man who owned three hundred Mehr housing apartments came to us and said he was selling these houses as a package. Surely, very few people have the ability to buy three hundred units of houses together. There are many examples of this and it is one of the reasons for the emptiness of these houses.”

“We returned to the city. It seems that Pardis, with its limited size, is a small city with diverse social classes, where extreme class differences have formed and the way of life varies in different parts. We enter phase two and step into a shop. Several young women are busy talking and shopping. We introduce ourselves but no one is willing to talk. In the midst of this, we hear the voice of a young woman who says from a distance, “Sir, I’m talking, ask me.”

We asked about the living conditions in Pardis. He has been living in this city for a long time and says, “When I came to Pardis, the best thing it had was the peacefulness of the city. But today, no matter where we go, we have to endure traffic and sometimes the situation is even worse than Tehran. The city has become very crowded and this crowding has taken away the comfort of previous years in Pardis. Despite this crowding and increase in population, the number of bakeries and supermarkets is still very limited and sometimes it takes us a lot of time to buy bread and groceries.”

We have also heard about other problems from the residents of this newly established city; problems that were only mentioned by one person among those who spoke with us. One of the women living in phase eleven complained about the unpleasant smell of sewage that is sometimes detected, making it seem like the sewage system in this area is not functioning properly; even one of the contractors in this city, who happened to be a contractor by chance, mentioned the insecurity of the Mehr housing buildings, saying that they do not have proper foundations. This issue definitely requires the assessment of experts to be addressed urgently if proven to be true.

Invasion, a danger that threatens the residents of the campus.

In continuation of the tour we had in Pardis, we talked to a few other people and almost everyone was talking about these same issues, and it was easy to come to the conclusion that the lack of a well-equipped hospital, maternity ward, metro, as well as the shortage of supermarkets and bakeries are problems that most people in Pardis mention; but the two more serious problems that almost everyone mentioned were the issues of insecurity and overcrowding in a small area. Insecurity seems to have become much more prominent in recent years, and the simultaneous migration of a certain segment of society to this city has also created a sense of pessimism, which can be seen as a serious cultural and social threat; to the point that the young athlete believed that the transfer of Mehre housing units in recent years was the cause of this problem and believed that it had brought in a larger number of troublemakers and thugs. This statement, which is accompanied by absolutism and was also mentioned by other

Pardis, a city with a prominent appearance and hidden problems.

Undoubtedly, a more accurate discovery and better analysis and investigation of problems require more research, but important results can also be achieved in this one-day research. Although the Mehr housing plan has prevented the growth of slums and living in shantytowns, its implementation has changed the nature of marginalization and this problem still exists in our country in a different form. A citizen who has experienced living in the metropolis of Tehran can no longer migrate to shantytowns and slums for a better life, and perhaps for this reason, it is necessary to create a reasonable appearance for living on the outskirts of the city, which can be considered a modern form of marginalization.

Pardis is a suburban city on the outskirts of Tehran with a reasonable appearance. It cannot be compared to the slums. The presence of villas, technology parks, and various companies under the name of knowledge-based companies may distance our perception of suburban living, but following the concerns of the residents of this city shows that many of the old problems of suburban living still exist here and hiding these problems under the reasonable appearance of this city can actually be more dangerous and make the need for addressing them less obvious.

Note:

1- Mirzaei, Minoo, Lotfi, Heydar, Adalatkhah, Fardad, and Vazirpour, Shabbu, Marginalization Crisis and Informal Settlements in Megacity Management and Global Approaches, Human Geography, Spring 1389.