TEHRAN — Iran is preparing to put 4,770 housing units in new towns into operation during Government Week after completing supporting infrastructure, the head of the New Towns Development Company said on Wednesday.
Shahram Maleki, also a deputy minister of roads and urban development, said government assistance ordered by the roads and urban development minister had accelerated infrastructure, site preparation and landscaping work on several housing projects under construction in new towns and projects overseen by provincial road and urban development offices.
The assistance has enabled the completion of preparations for the handover of the 4,770 units, Maleki said.
He said the New Towns Development Company had used its capacity for barter arrangements and available liquidity to complete infrastructure serving the housing projects.
In addition to the completion of the buildings themselves, water, sewage and electricity networks for most of the units have been prepared for operation, Maleki said.
All of the units scheduled to be delivered during this year’s Government Week will be handed over to eligible beneficiaries together with supporting housing services, he added.
The government’s housing program has increasingly focused on completing projects where construction has advanced but supporting infrastructure has delayed delivery. Maleki’s comments indicate that infrastructure, rather than construction of the housing units themselves, remains a key factor determining when some projects can be handed over.
The New Towns Development Company is responsible for developing infrastructure and urban facilities in Iran’s planned new cities, which have been used as a major channel for expanding housing supply around the country’s larger urban centers.
The latest planned handovers are part of broader efforts to accelerate the delivery of state-backed housing projects by coordinating construction with essential services, including water, electricity and sewage networks.
Government Week, held annually in Iran, commemorates the establishment of the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Rajai and President Muhammad Javad Bahonar in 1981 and is traditionally marked by the inauguration of infrastructure, housing and other development projects.