The regeneration of historical and deteriorated areas of cities has been observed in the recent urban planning literature worldwide. Inefficiency is one of the main issues in deteriorated urban areas where the possibility of updating and spontaneous change has all but disappeared. Similar to many other countries, the current process of extension of the deteriorated urban area in Iran indicates that problems will be complicated, if we do not apply any precautionary measures, suitable policies, planning and action plans. In this regard, one solution has been the implementation of flagship developments. One of the main objectives of flagship developments is to achieve urban regeneration goals; an approach that is used as a comprehensive strategy for applying some positive changes in a place showing signs of decay. It takes into account the idea of quality improvement, with integrated goals of economic, social and physical topics. This study aims at investigating the necessity of regenerating the old and historical texture of Tabriz. This is a descriptive–analytical study where GIS software was used. Results indicate that Tabriz is the second city in Iran with a worn-out texture; more specifically, about 25% of its texture is worn out and approximately 500,000 inhabitants live there. There are also several important historical monuments found in such texture. Given that the texture is located near the northern fault line of Tabriz, any earthquake may cause serious economic and human loss. The final result of the SWOT analysis shows that the best strategy for Tabriz city is an aggressive one that would exploit the strengths and opportunities. Therefore, in order to reduce human and economic losses, the best approach would not be to build near the fault line, but to regenerate the old and worn-out texture of Tabriz city
