Symbolic of Iran’s urban future, Shahestan Pahlavi will stand on nearly five million square meters of open land in the heart of Iran’s capital, Tehran. It will be a new city center of distinctive civil and ceremonial spaces, balanced with open areas,
pedestrian precincts and vehicular access, and with cultural and business functions.
Within the central spine running north-south through the sloping site, ministries will be mixed with commercial uses; entertainment and restaurant facilities will occupy the lower floors of private office blocks to encourage continuous day and night activity. The Shahanshah Boulevard, the main vehicular and pedestrian route along the central spine, will be flanked with a stepped linear park with cascading water courses; while below the boulevard will run the first link of Tehran’s metro system, connecting to other parts of the city and to the new international airport south of the city.

Proceeding northward and uphill along the central spine,
where building heights are controlled to preserve major
views, the Shahanshah Boulevard terminates in the Shah
Nation Square, the ceremonial and symbolic center of
Shahestan Pahlavi and one of the largest urban spaces in
the world, exceeding in size even the Meydan-e-Shah of
Esfahan. North of the square a cultural precinct of
museums, facilities for the performing arts, and libraries,
including the Pahlavi National Library, will overlook the
Shahbanou Park.

More than a third of Shahestan Pahlavi will be open space
– plazas, formal parks, and gardens within the denser, central section and larger, more natural green spaces on the surrounding ridge and valley system. Here, three residential areas of mid-and low-rise housing with related
social and community facilities will bring Shahestan Pahlavi’s total population to 50,000.

Shahestan Pahlavi mentioned in an article by Newsweek of, February 10, 1975

The extent to which the oil producers plan to use
petrodollars to finance internal development is not
sufficiently appreciated in the U.S., according to American officials. “The Shah of Iran has committed his next three
years of revenue to the end,” reported one Treasury
Department expert. Among other things, the Shah has
announced a $5 billion scheme to build a 2-square mile
“city within a city” in Tehran as part of his dream of
making Iran’s capital a major world city.

Projects like these are more than matters of national pride. A central concern among Mideastern leaders is what
happens when their oil runs out – and that will occur in
twenty years for some producers – or when the West no
longer needs it. To guard against the economic ruins that
day could bring, they are embarking on a program of
industrialization that they hope will carry them safely into
the next century. At the same time, they are trying to
encourage a growing interdependence between themselves and the West, investing in Europe and America in such a
way as to make sure that the already industrialized nations
will remain oriented to Mideast development needs for a
long time to come.