Anytime I find myself panting like a fish out of water in the stifling heat of an airless auditorium, where I have had to resort to fanning myself with an event brochure to escape the odorous heat, or shivering in the sub-zero temperatures of a hall fitted with “very good” air conditioning, or when in the dead of winter I have had to open windows to avoid suffocating in an over- heated train carriage with no control dial for the heating in the compartment, I say to myself that the day we succeed in solving the mechanical problems of buildings and transportation means will be the day of our salvation. At the same time, we all know that the list of chronic problems, the resolution of which could signal our salvation, is much longer and encompasses an infi- nite number of topics, including the main subject discussed in this issue which is the design of stations or terminals- whether hot or cold - that house our various means of transport and their passengers. The reasons behind the chronic and unsolvable nature of the problems in question, many of which involve serious techni- cal and engineering matters, have led to many socio-economic discussions. Some experts trace these problems back to our failure to achieve the goals of the Constitutional Revolution, while others believe they are linked to our submissive atti- tude towards west, which in turn goes back to the very same Constitutional Revolution. To justify their arguments they often refer to our architectural heritage and very efficient water and ventilation old systems, such as badgirs and ghanats. However, it does not seem that these arguments can be used in the case of transportation means and stations, for as far as I know, for some unknown reason our forefathers appear to have had little interest in building vehicles, wheels, carriages and coaches and were generally happy to stick to horses, and donkeys, or their own two legs. This may have had something to do with a lack of interest in travelling in Iranians. This reluctance can be further deciphered through sociological studies. To nurture a desire to travel society needs to experience political and economic stabil- ity for a period longer than the life of one generation, a rare occurrence in a land constantly under attack by desert roaming tribes and ravaged by power seeking lackeys and rascals, in constant battle with one another. That is why the eras of Karim- Khan Zand and Shah-Abbas the 1st - the relics of which can be found in caravanserais still standing throughout the country – could be considered as exceptions that highlight the main trend which has been chronic chaos through many centuries. Given this historic background, one can easily understand and even deem natural the current problems relating to our
terminals and stations, whose history begins and ends with our old caravanserais. Stations and terminals are an impor- tant part of modern urban civilisation. It is no surprise that for a time they occupied an important place in modern literature and philosophy. The operating mechanisms of such terminals are as complex as urban life, or any programming that involves so many factors, something which we clearly do not have the expertise for. So it is no surprise that after almost 70 years, the North- South Railway project and its stations which were built during the first Pahlavi dynasty are still considered the largest project of this kind to be completed in Iran. As for bus terminals, apart from the large Southern Terminal in Tehran which was built before the revolution there have been no other large projects of its kind. It appears that some larger cities including Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashad have fared better in this respect, though even there, the facilities cannot cope with the ever growing demands of the urban population and are affected by the same chaos one witnesses in all our public spaces. In most small cities and towns a dusty vacant piece of land and a small shed generally serve as passenger terminals. And airports are no better. Following the construction of Me- hrabad Airport in 1949, and a number of other airports built in larger cities during the following years, there has been no other significant projects apart from the Imam Khomeini Airport which took 30 years to be completed, and is therefore nothing to be proud of. (The initial studies for this project began in 1967 and the American company TAMS began construction in 1975 which was halted shortly after because of the revolution. Work on the airport began again in 1995 under the collaboration of a French and Iranian company which led to the inauguration of the some- what incomplete phase 1 in 2002. It was recently announced that phase 2 will take approximately 10 years to complete.) Sea ports appear to be the worst of all. Those who have recently travelled through any of the main ports in the country can verify this claim. In many such locations including Bandar- Abbas, which has served as a main shipping port from its very first days when it was called Gamrun, port facilities and termi- nals are generally engulfed by chaos and disorder. The only exception is the Kish where a proper shipping port and facilities has been established. All in all it seems that serious attention to design and con- struction of stations and terminals is needed today.