Institutional-Legal Analysis of the Challenges of Real Estate Laws in Iranian Urban Development and Its Messages on Urban Sustainability

stitutional Analysis - Urban land is one of the most fundamental components of spatial planning, urban management and sustainable development, and the way in which property rights are regulated, exploited and transferred has a direct impact on the physical, economic, social and environmental structure of cities. In the meantime, property laws, as the most important legal instruments of land management, play a decisive role in guiding urban development, fair distribution of resources and controlling spatial developments. However, the land legal system in Iran faces numerous challenges, including the multiplicity and dispersion of laws and regulations, weak supervisory and regulatory mechanisms, lack of information transparency, inconsistency between responsible institutions and inefficiency of land market control instruments. These conditions have provided the basis for the intensification of land speculation and hoarding, the increase in urban land prices, the expansion of spatial inequalities and the formation of unbalanced and unsustainable development patterns. The aim of this research is to critically analyze the structure of property laws in the Iranian urban planning system and examine its effects and consequences on the realization of urban sustainability. The present study was conducted using a documentary-analytical method and an institutional and comparative approach. The required data were collected through the study and analysis of laws and regulations related to land and urban development, the review of theoretical literature and previous research, and the analysis of urban examples and experiences in Iran. The findings of the study show that the land rights system in Iran has become an obstacle to achieving sustainability in many cases due to the lack of institutional coherence, weak implementation tools, and the lack of effective communication between land policies and sustainable urban development goals. Accordingly, reforming the legal and institutional structure of land management, establishing a comprehensive land information system, strengthening tax and regulatory tools to control the land market, increasing transparency and institutional accountability, and developing multi-level land governance are among the most important proposed solutions for promoting spatial justice and achieving sustainable urban development in Iran. Keywords: Urban law, real estate laws, urban sustainability, spatial justice, land management, urban planning. Legal challenges of real estate laws in Iranian urban development and its messages on urban sustainability