Being well-known places in towns and villages up to the 1906 Constitutional Revolution, Iranian schools underwent fundamental changes in the ensuing upheaval. A few distinct sociocultural developments left deep impacts on the geographical situation, morphology, and the distribution network of schools. From an embryonic stage to full blossoming, these changes took three to four decades to realize. The most effective developments with regard to the traditional urban texture were as follows:
Early pioneers' bold venture of establishing modern schools upon Caucasian, Ottoman, and European models rapidly led to the ramification of traditional schools into elementary and secondary institutions. Religious minorities, especially Armenians and Jewish community, welcomed the development and soon set up their own schools accordingly.
Almost all Iranian towns had their crossroads and central squares built in the years between the two world wars. Best schools with regard to beauty, endurance, and clarity of archaeological logic were built in that era.
In the second half of 1960s, the master plans prepared for Iran's larger cities, as well as guiding plans for smaller towns and villages, specified the size and location of schools for each community with regard to its population density and population pyramid. Nevertheless, not all sites allocated to educational spaces have necessarily been used for this purpose.
The 1979 revolution influenced the educational system from various aspects, including relative youngness of the population as a result of a sharp increase in the birth rate, hence a sudden pressure on already over-taxed educational services that are still lagging behind the global standards. Despite the class gap, Iran's class differentiation is not clear-cut enough for planning school locations. The large number of private cars, hired car-pools, minibuses, and also pupils queuing up at bus stations are indications that youngsters often may go long ways to attend schools the likes of which do not exist in their own neighbourhoods.
Geographical location is an almost universal problem. Rarely, if ever at all, the surrounding of a school to be built or established is taken into consideration. The result is a vexing traffic congestion, wasting the parents' time when taking their children to school and back, and disrupting the neighbourhood's order at least twice a day. No coordination exists between the Municipality and the Ministry of Education. Nor has the Ministry of Housing and Planning ever bothered to forge the required coordinating at the executive level.
Girls' schools only worsen the situation. Before the Islamic Republic, it would not be easy to tell a school's gender from its facade. Now, thanks to sensitivity to female code of dressing and erecting barriers between the two sexes, girls' schools are discernible from a distance. To keep off voyeurism, especially where the building is not detached from the adjacent ones, girls' schools are literally wrapped in sheets of tarpaulin, tin, corrugated iron, plastic, etc., creating ugly scenes in the urban perspective.
How do we learn from the international community? Global approaches to education are ever changing; the first step towards having better school passes through better facilities that could be envisaged only in new satellite towns. A fundamental renovation of existing educational institutions, many of which are rented, within tightly packed neighbourhoods is not feasible. Far bigger sites for better schools could be obtained either through government appropriation and allocation, grants of benevolent citizens, especially in developing communities, and endowments from charities who may benefit their communities while attracting more settlers and businesses to them, the same way a mosque may contribute to the surrounding area's development.
The School as an Element of Urban Texture
Although the school population forms only a fraction of the overall urban population, its sheer numbers, and the spatial extent of its activities, make it a subject of vital importance in urban planning. Schools must interface with the neighbourhood grid of streets, squares, and public transit — their siting affects traffic, commerce, and residential patterns far beyond their own grounds.
In the old quarters of Iranian cities, the school was embedded within the neighbourhood: the same bazaar route that led to the mosque and bath also led to the maktab. This integration gave the school a civic presence. With modernization, however, schools were increasingly built as isolated objects, often pushed to peripheral lots. The resulting isolation severed the old pedagogical link between community life and learning.
A properly sited school can act as a catalyst for neighbourhood regeneration. In the same way that a well-designed mosque draws worshippers and businesses to its surroundings, a quality school draws families, raises property values, and enhances the social and cultural fabric of its area. The challenge is to reinstate that traditional symbiosis between school and neighbourhood.
Can the Experience of Others be Useful to Us?
Today, transportation — which in the past consisted of horses, private cars, hired car-pools, and minibuses — has become one of the most critical planning factors. Schools that were once neighbourhood-centred must now consider regional access, parking, and bus routes. The physical envelope of the school building, too, must respond to contemporary pedagogical approaches: open-plan learning, collaborative spaces, digital infrastructure, and environmental sustainability.
Meanwhile, the transition from rote learning to participatory, inquiry-based education demands new architectural responses. Classrooms have moved beyond fixed rows of desks: group activities, laboratory work, and creative production all require flexible spatial configurations. The wall between classrooms has been breached, and shared spaces for cross-class collaboration are replacing the rigid cellular plan.
Toward an Integrated Vision
What is needed is a comprehensive plan that links school architecture with urban design. Key elements include: (1) review of the open spaces and the relationship between the school yard and the surrounding neighbourhood; (2) traffic and transport planning — motorized access, pedestrian safety zones, bus stops, and bicycle routes; and (3) design of the building envelope in a way that connects the educational complex to the community through shared facilities, public libraries, and sports amenities.
In the new world of evolving education, design of school facilities for movement, use of modularity, heating, ventilation, natural lighting, acoustic control, and digital connectivity have been given paramount attention. Multi-purpose halls, covered play areas, swimming pools, and amphitheatres — facilities that were once confined to universities — are being integrated into primary and secondary school design. The result is a building type that serves the community, anchors the neighbourhood, and offers its students a genuinely enriching spatial experience.