Estimating the effect of rail transit on residential property values has resulted in mixed findings. Some researchers report positive effects on property values while others are negative or insignificant. The current paper argues that the impact of rail transit on property values depends on contextual factors which can influence magnitude and direction of the impact and cause variation in the findings. Tehran’s Metro Rail System is chosen because the neighbourhoods served by the metro to the north side and south side of the city are dramatically different in terms of economic, social and physical circumstances. A comparative analysis of six of Tehran’s metro stations is conducted between the high-income neighbourhoods, which are located primarily on the city’s north side, and lower-income neighbourhoods on the south side to determine the effects of proximity to metro stations on residential property values. The paper uses a mixed-method sequential explanatory design based on a before-and-after estimation strategy, which includes trend analysis, difference-in-differences model and qualitative impact assessment methods. The results show that there are large increases in premiums for residential properties near the lower-income neighbourhoods, the south side parts of the Tehran Metro Rail System, while a negative treatment effect for residential properties lying close to the northern stations in the high-income neighbourhoods. The qualitative survey also suggests that the impact of metro station is affected by a number of contextual factors, including the need for public transportation, land-use planning and management, socio-cultural effect and possible nuisance effects.

Building a rail transit system into a neighbourhood generally raises expectations about the positive impact of the rail project on property values. Despite this general belief, the paper argues that the nature and magnitude of the effect vary depending on local and regional contextual factors. In this respect, the introduction of Tehran's Metro Rail System (TMRS) between the low-income/run-down neighbourhoods on the south side and high-quality/affluent neighbourhoods on the north side of the city provides a suitable opportunity to examine this issue. Thus, the paper focuses on Shariati and Qolhak Stations in the northern parts, and Shohada and Shemiran Stations in the southern parts of the city, comparing price trends before and after the opening of the stations. The effect is estimated for treated and control properties of the metro stations using both trend analysis and a difference-indifferences model. Moreover, in order to identify the mediating contextual factors that influence the magnitude and direction of the impact, a survey is conducted close to the selected metro stations by means of qualitative methods of impact assessment. The paper found an overall negative effect of the metro stations on the sales value of residential properties located in Tehran's affluent neighbourhoods. On the contrary, the effect is positive and high for properties located close to the southern stations in the poor and run-down neighbourhoods of the city. The qualitative survey indicates that this negative effect in the northern neighbourhoods may be due to such contextual factors as a lack of considerable demand for public transport, inappropriate land-use management, perceptions of crime and privacy, and nuisance effects.

Urban decay is the process by which a historical city center, or an old part of a city, falls into decrepitude and faces serious problems. Urban management, therefore, implements renewal mega projects with the goal of physical and functional revitalization, retrieval of socioeconomic capacities, and improving of quality of life of residents. Ignoring the complexities of these large-scale interventions in the old and historical urban fabrics may lead to undesirable consequences, including an additional decline of quality of life. Thus, the present paper aims to assess the impact of renewal mega projects on residents' subjective quality of life, in the historical religious district of the holy city of Mashhad (Samen District). A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of impact assessment, including questionnaires, semi-structured personal interviews, and direct observation, is used in this paper. The results yield that the Samen Renewal Project has significantly reduced the resident's subjective quality of life, due to its undesirable impacts on physical, socio-cultural, and economic environments.