The pathology of housing policies in Iran: a criterion-based analysis Moslem Zarghamfard and Abolfazl Meshkini Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran Ahmad Pourahmad Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, and Beniamino Murgante School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy Abstract Purpose – Housing policy is a key tool in urban development and has multiple functions that directly affect human welfare. This study aims to review housing policies in Iran from a critical perspective. In fact, the study and pathology of housing policies are considered in this research. Design/methodology/approach – To advance this research, a quantitative (fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy AHP) method was used to rank the policies and the qualitative method (interview and literature review) was used for the pathology of housing policies. Findings – The failure of policies to provide housing in Iran is decisive, but social housing policy has a relative superiority to other policies. Causes of failure of Iranian housing policies are as follows in a pathological perspective: commodification and speculative approach to housing; lake of social and physical sustainability; social stratification and classification; inconsistency with environmental conditions; non- indigenous nature of housing policies; exclusion of local institutions in the decision-making process; and the dominance of a populist perspective on housing. Originality/value – This study is a comprehensive study because it has been extracted from the dissertation. By reading this study, the reader will be aware of the general conditions of the Iranian housing sector. Keywords Urbanization, Housing policy, Housing policy-making, Housing planning, Housing pathology, Iran Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Urbanization is a reflection of human activity (Bharath et al., 2018) that has globally transformed human settlement patterns (Zhang, 2016) and has spatial mismatch effect (Bi et al., 2019). In line with the rapid growth of cities in different parts of the world, the population growth is also rising (Vaa, 2000) and subsequently, demand for facilities and services, especially housing (Paris, 1995) increases. In fact, the provision of adequate housing is a challenge that is caused by rapid and unplanned urbanization (Ogu and Ogbuozobe, 2001) and is always a major concern of professionals and policymakers This paper is extracted from the Moslem Zarghamfards PhD dissertation titled “Explanation of the Right to Adequate Housing Patterns in Iran”. The authors would like to express appreciation for Professor Keith Jacobs (University of Tasmania), Ramin Ghorbani and Majid Akbari. The pathology of housing policies in Iran 453 Received 24 June 2019 Revised 11 September 2019 10 October 2019 Accepted 13 October 2019 International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis Vol. 13 No. 3, 2020 pp. 453-473 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1753-8270 DOI 10.1108/IJHMA-06-2019-0066 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8270.htm