University of Tehran | Iran
Mohammad Mehdi Panahi is a top-ranked Master’s student in Urban Planning at the University of Tehran, recognized as a “Brilliant Talent” for academic excellence and interdisciplinary research. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning from Yazd University, where he also graduated first in his class. His academic journey reflects a strong commitment to sustainable and equitable urban development, with research interests that include urban resilience, green infrastructure, housing markets, governance, and climate-induced migration.Mohammad’s graduate research centers on the impact of green infrastructure planning on housing prices in the Tehran metropolis, employing spatial econometrics, GIS, and remote sensing to explore urban-environmental interactions. His parallel work at Tarbiat Modares University investigates how climate migration reshapes real estate markets, using empirical data from the Shiraz Metropolitan Area.He is also a research collaborator with Virginia Tech University, contributing to a phronetic planning project on land governance and elite decision-making within Tehran’s Article 5 Commission (1999–2024). This research was published in the peer-reviewed Land Journal and critically examines how political structures influence urban land use outcomes.Beyond academic articles, Mohammad contributed to the book “Violent Infrastructure: Ecologies of Decay and Displacement” (Virginia Tech University Press), where he created spatial visualizations and thematic maps addressing the link between decaying infrastructure, displacement, and ecological systems.To date, he has authored/co-authored 2 peer-reviewed publications. His methodological strengths lie in spatial analysis, difference-in-difference modeling, systematic literature reviews, and mixed-methods research, making him well-equipped to address critical challenges in urban sustainability, land governance, and housing justice.
Featured Publications
Panahi, M. M. (2025). Seeds of resilience: How social capital cultivates community strength in environmental crisis management. Journal of Environmental Management, 343, 124937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124937
Panahi, M. M. (2025). Phronetic planning’s Janus face: Charting elite advantage in Tehran’s land use decisions. Land, 14(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14010127