A set of crucial political and economic transformations has had in the last five decades a direct... more A set of crucial political and economic transformations has had in the last five decades a direct and significant impact on the material and non-material dimensions of Iranian urbanization. Shifts in the country’s national urban agenda have come hand and in hand with changes in the behaviour of individuals, enterprises and the civil society contributing to the shaping of a new field of tensions that urban scholars are just starting to grasp and address. This special issue of iQuaderni di U3 aims at showcasing debates and case studies touching upon many of these emerging tensions. From the reality of New Towns to the rise of participative practices in cities, from the ever changing nexus between formality and informality in the city economies and sociabilities to the role of public spaces in contemporary protest movements, from the role of gender in emerging urban spatialities to the new forms of politicization of the urban space the issue offers a wealth of critical entry points into the contemporary urban condition in Iran.
Formal-informal nexus in academic debates. A literature review (Il nesso formale-informale nel dibattito accademico. Una rassegna della letteratura), 2018
The debate around informal urbanism has been evolving in planning literature since 1960s. Started... more The debate around informal urbanism has been evolving in planning literature since 1960s. Started by Hart's notion of informal economy (1973), the term soon found its way into mainstream planning literature. Since then, there has been different approaches regarding both 'understanding' and 'mediation' in informal city. What have been less discussed in the literature are the place based studies by global South scholars that establish their analysis on the 'lived experiences' of residents (Holston, 2009). Even though some research has attempted to present such views, there is little research done on discrepancies between current formal urban planning systems and inhabitants urgencies. In conclusion, attention towards addressing the role of urban planning deficits in emergence of informal settlements seems to be disproportionately low across the literature, calling for another deficit to be addressed.
Increased attention has been directed towards Iran in its various political, economic and social ... more Increased attention has been directed towards Iran in its various political, economic and social aspects in recent years. This is partially because of the new, although contested and unstable, reconcilement of the country’s relationship with EU and US that has brought about a new wave of flows of people, capitals, information and attention towards the country. However, this is only the last episode of a longer chain of crucial political changes in the past four decades that have had direct and significant impact on the material and un-material structures of Iranian cities and on the national urban agenda.
In this paper, I argue that despite its centrality to how we think of cities, the informal-formal... more In this paper, I argue that despite its centrality to how we think of cities, the informal-formal relation itself remains remarkably enduring and under-investigated and deciphering this relationship helps developing some further policy implications. My paper is an attempt to elucidate this complex relationship within the context of cities of the Global South; it argues that informality is a byproduct of formal processes of liberalization at international level and rigid planning systems at national levels. I will choose poor quality informal settlements of the global city of the south, as a proxy for complex notion of urban informality. Through this I will discuss how the policies at two different levels of international and national, have been contributing to the formation and proliferation of these settlements to some extent. Hence, any program aiming at improving the conditions of poor quality informal settlements requires taking into consideration their driving factors. A paradigm shift seems necessary, both in urban planning lexicon and in international development agenda. This may lead into policy formulations that detect this causal relationship and use producing factors of the settlements in order to tackle their deterioration. I suggest the meta-theory of Nomocracy as a framework within which the paradigm shift may accommodate. This suggests a different role of urban governance in dealing with the issue of poor quality informal settlements in the global south.
a book review on Barrie Needham`s influential book: Planning law and economics. This book review ... more a book review on Barrie Needham`s influential book: Planning law and economics. This book review was written for a book entirely dedicated to "urban development and property rights".
a book review on planning by law and property rights reconsidered edited by Thomas Hartmann & Bar... more a book review on planning by law and property rights reconsidered edited by Thomas Hartmann & Barrie Needham.
نقد و بررسی کتاب بازبینی برنامه ریزی با حقوق و حقوق مالکیت گردآوری شده توسط توماس هارتمن و بری نیدهام
Viewing cities in theoretical frameworks has been one of the main concerns of planning scholars ... more Viewing cities in theoretical frameworks has been one of the main concerns of planning scholars in the course of history. Like any other complex phenomenon, in order to study and analyze cities, its salient to develop a solid framework to underlie the study and define its components. That will be concomitant with identifying some tools that help us to dismantle this complex phenomenon and profound our knowledge through its various components. Today in urban studies, there is a prominent new paradigm, conceived by scholars such as David Harvey. It emphasizes on the importance of analyzing capitalism, class conflict, and unequal distribution of resources in assessing urban life, space structure and change. The origin of this paradigm according to Harvey is the Marxian theory which he finds , the most powerful of all the explanatory schemas available in which we can study the city (Harvey, 1985). He explicitly indicates this theory has as potentiality capable of getting at matters as diverse as built environment formation and architectural designs, street culture and micro politics, urban economics and politics as well as the role of urbanization in the rich and complex historical geography of capitalism. This research is broadly based on Harvey`s literature. Therefor the applied methodology would be carried out through a comprehensive desktop review of his books and articles, as well as interviews and lectures given by him on different occasions. The first chapter is an introduction which familiarizes the reader with this scholar and his works, and provides a brief explanation on his importance and relevance to the field of planning, followed by a glimpse of his thoughts and some brief criticism. The second chapter of the research connotes a rather descriptive approach. I try to reconstruct the city in Harvey`s literature, and draw a picture based on how he describes urbanism and its eternal embodiment, the city. Third chapter will be an evaluative one, focusing on an analysis of urbanism and city according to their definition in the precedent chapter. I try to understand whether David Harvey`s concept of city and urbanism, first; is applicable to today’s world realities, second; whether, the mentioned concepts are functional in relation to the Marxian ideology and set of ethics. to accomplish such a task, I used the concept of “accumulation by dispossession” as a proxy to examine the problem of segregation and emergence of racialized societies in urbanized contexts driven by the trends mentioned in previous chapters. The fourth chapter is a brief conclusion that helps, to summarize the ideology and positions of David Harvey regarding urbanism; in this part I outlined, first; the recurrent idea of spatial inequality, its generators and implications in his works. And second; a study on how market led development in current trends of urbanism is shaping the social space.
A set of crucial political and economic transformations has had in the last five decades a direct... more A set of crucial political and economic transformations has had in the last five decades a direct and significant impact on the material and non-material dimensions of Iranian urbanization. Shifts in the country’s national urban agenda have come hand and in hand with changes in the behaviour of individuals, enterprises and the civil society contributing to the shaping of a new field of tensions that urban scholars are just starting to grasp and address. This special issue of iQuaderni di U3 aims at showcasing debates and case studies touching upon many of these emerging tensions. From the reality of New Towns to the rise of participative practices in cities, from the ever changing nexus between formality and informality in the city economies and sociabilities to the role of public spaces in contemporary protest movements, from the role of gender in emerging urban spatialities to the new forms of politicization of the urban space the issue offers a wealth of critical entry points into the contemporary urban condition in Iran.
Formal-informal nexus in academic debates. A literature review (Il nesso formale-informale nel dibattito accademico. Una rassegna della letteratura), 2018
The debate around informal urbanism has been evolving in planning literature since 1960s. Started... more The debate around informal urbanism has been evolving in planning literature since 1960s. Started by Hart's notion of informal economy (1973), the term soon found its way into mainstream planning literature. Since then, there has been different approaches regarding both 'understanding' and 'mediation' in informal city. What have been less discussed in the literature are the place based studies by global South scholars that establish their analysis on the 'lived experiences' of residents (Holston, 2009). Even though some research has attempted to present such views, there is little research done on discrepancies between current formal urban planning systems and inhabitants urgencies. In conclusion, attention towards addressing the role of urban planning deficits in emergence of informal settlements seems to be disproportionately low across the literature, calling for another deficit to be addressed.
Increased attention has been directed towards Iran in its various political, economic and social ... more Increased attention has been directed towards Iran in its various political, economic and social aspects in recent years. This is partially because of the new, although contested and unstable, reconcilement of the country’s relationship with EU and US that has brought about a new wave of flows of people, capitals, information and attention towards the country. However, this is only the last episode of a longer chain of crucial political changes in the past four decades that have had direct and significant impact on the material and un-material structures of Iranian cities and on the national urban agenda.
In this paper, I argue that despite its centrality to how we think of cities, the informal-formal... more In this paper, I argue that despite its centrality to how we think of cities, the informal-formal relation itself remains remarkably enduring and under-investigated and deciphering this relationship helps developing some further policy implications. My paper is an attempt to elucidate this complex relationship within the context of cities of the Global South; it argues that informality is a byproduct of formal processes of liberalization at international level and rigid planning systems at national levels. I will choose poor quality informal settlements of the global city of the south, as a proxy for complex notion of urban informality. Through this I will discuss how the policies at two different levels of international and national, have been contributing to the formation and proliferation of these settlements to some extent. Hence, any program aiming at improving the conditions of poor quality informal settlements requires taking into consideration their driving factors. A paradigm shift seems necessary, both in urban planning lexicon and in international development agenda. This may lead into policy formulations that detect this causal relationship and use producing factors of the settlements in order to tackle their deterioration. I suggest the meta-theory of Nomocracy as a framework within which the paradigm shift may accommodate. This suggests a different role of urban governance in dealing with the issue of poor quality informal settlements in the global south.
a book review on Barrie Needham`s influential book: Planning law and economics. This book review ... more a book review on Barrie Needham`s influential book: Planning law and economics. This book review was written for a book entirely dedicated to "urban development and property rights".
a book review on planning by law and property rights reconsidered edited by Thomas Hartmann & Bar... more a book review on planning by law and property rights reconsidered edited by Thomas Hartmann & Barrie Needham.
نقد و بررسی کتاب بازبینی برنامه ریزی با حقوق و حقوق مالکیت گردآوری شده توسط توماس هارتمن و بری نیدهام
Viewing cities in theoretical frameworks has been one of the main concerns of planning scholars ... more Viewing cities in theoretical frameworks has been one of the main concerns of planning scholars in the course of history. Like any other complex phenomenon, in order to study and analyze cities, its salient to develop a solid framework to underlie the study and define its components. That will be concomitant with identifying some tools that help us to dismantle this complex phenomenon and profound our knowledge through its various components. Today in urban studies, there is a prominent new paradigm, conceived by scholars such as David Harvey. It emphasizes on the importance of analyzing capitalism, class conflict, and unequal distribution of resources in assessing urban life, space structure and change. The origin of this paradigm according to Harvey is the Marxian theory which he finds , the most powerful of all the explanatory schemas available in which we can study the city (Harvey, 1985). He explicitly indicates this theory has as potentiality capable of getting at matters as diverse as built environment formation and architectural designs, street culture and micro politics, urban economics and politics as well as the role of urbanization in the rich and complex historical geography of capitalism. This research is broadly based on Harvey`s literature. Therefor the applied methodology would be carried out through a comprehensive desktop review of his books and articles, as well as interviews and lectures given by him on different occasions. The first chapter is an introduction which familiarizes the reader with this scholar and his works, and provides a brief explanation on his importance and relevance to the field of planning, followed by a glimpse of his thoughts and some brief criticism. The second chapter of the research connotes a rather descriptive approach. I try to reconstruct the city in Harvey`s literature, and draw a picture based on how he describes urbanism and its eternal embodiment, the city. Third chapter will be an evaluative one, focusing on an analysis of urbanism and city according to their definition in the precedent chapter. I try to understand whether David Harvey`s concept of city and urbanism, first; is applicable to today’s world realities, second; whether, the mentioned concepts are functional in relation to the Marxian ideology and set of ethics. to accomplish such a task, I used the concept of “accumulation by dispossession” as a proxy to examine the problem of segregation and emergence of racialized societies in urbanized contexts driven by the trends mentioned in previous chapters. The fourth chapter is a brief conclusion that helps, to summarize the ideology and positions of David Harvey regarding urbanism; in this part I outlined, first; the recurrent idea of spatial inequality, its generators and implications in his works. And second; a study on how market led development in current trends of urbanism is shaping the social space.
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This may lead into policy formulations that detect this causal relationship and use producing factors of the settlements in order to tackle their deterioration. I suggest the meta-theory of Nomocracy as a framework within which the paradigm shift may accommodate. This suggests a different role of urban governance in dealing with the issue of poor quality informal settlements in the global south.
Book Reviews
نقد و بررسی کتاب بازبینی برنامه ریزی با حقوق و حقوق مالکیت گردآوری شده توسط توماس هارتمن و بری نیدهام
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This may lead into policy formulations that detect this causal relationship and use producing factors of the settlements in order to tackle their deterioration. I suggest the meta-theory of Nomocracy as a framework within which the paradigm shift may accommodate. This suggests a different role of urban governance in dealing with the issue of poor quality informal settlements in the global south.
نقد و بررسی کتاب بازبینی برنامه ریزی با حقوق و حقوق مالکیت گردآوری شده توسط توماس هارتمن و بری نیدهام