The Challenges
The priority challenges identified by Iranian authorities and the UN in Iran includes: Environment; Health; Resilient Economy; Drug Control. Iran faces some acute environmental challenges because of its dry climate, rapid urbanization and economic dependence on oil revenues. Many of Iran environment challenges will be aggravated as a result of climate change.
Since Iran is situated in one of the most seismically active regions which due to occurrence of multi-hazard disasters faces serious urban challenges, the human settlements in Iran have to cope with issues such as lack of sufficient resilient infrastructures of water/wastewater systems, and vulnerable lifelines in big cities and essential buildings, spontaneous growth of informal settlements, increased deterioration of historic fabrics, inefficient rural-urban linkages; unaffordable housing stocks, physical and socioeconomic vulnerability
