Modernization has currently become a global phenomenon that many countries cannot deny its influence
from different angles on their societies. Among Middle East countries, Iran is known as one of the first
countries to accept modernization to a considerable extent. The internal and external changes of Tehran,
capital city of Iran, during last decades is something undeniable.
It has been six decades since Daniel Lerner?s article on the condition of the Persian elite in Tehran,
“Toward a Communication Theory of Modernization; A Set of Considerations” influenced by the
modernization of that era. Daniel Lerner was an American scholar who is known for his researches about
modernization theory. In fact he provided a mere picture of the situation in 1950s, when the young and
graduated people were not able to find an occupation relevant to their field of study or profession and
therefore with the consequence of frustration and failure, most of them invested in film industry and mass
media, high class careers of those days. According to Daniel Lerner, it was as a result of inadequate or
uncertain tempo of Iranian modernization. This is a review article, inspired by Daniel Lerner?s article,
and aims to provide a comparative view and express how the current modernization is different from that
of 1950s and finally to consider its vast consequences on various layers of the society- particularly
Tehran. Data used in this analysis is based on every 10 year national census and also surveys conducted in
Iran.