The expansion of informal settlements is one of the fundamental challenges of spatial planning in Iran. Despite the preparation of numerous documents and plans over the past two decades, the dominant approach to this phenomenon has remained largely reactive and remedial, while proactive and preventive policies aimed at curbing the formation and expansion of these settlements have been largely neglected. This neglect has led to the continued growth of informal settlements and rising costs of urban management.
The aim of this research is to identify and analyze the barriers to the realization of proactive and preventive policies against the growth of informal settlements from the perspectives of academic and executive experts.
The research employs a qualitative approach using conventional content analysis. Data were collected through 46 semi-structured interviews with experts and coded and analyzed using MAXQDA software. Sampling was purposeful and snowball, continuing until theoretical saturation was reached. To enhance the credibility of the findings, Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were applied, along with Cohen’s Kappa coefficient, which yielded a value of 0.82, indicating a very high level of agreement between coders.
The findings revealed that the barriers can be categorized into four main themes: operational and executive barriers (with the highest share), institutional and legal barriers, economic barriers, and socio-cultural barriers. The most significant challenges included weak continuous monitoring, lack of sustainable financial resources, inter-agency lack of coordination, the dominance of a project-oriented approach, and the gap between policy and implementation.
The study concludes that achieving proactive prevention requires simultaneous reform of institutional structures, strengthening of executive mechanisms, and continuous monitoring. It is recommended that policymaking shift from a remedial approach toward a proactive, multi-level strategy.