دانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260516The Nature and factors affecting the formation of Urban dualism in Iranماهیت و عوامل مؤثر بر شکل‌گیری دوگانگی فضایی در نواحی شهری ایران11710689710.22059/jhgr.2026.398957.1008821FAخاطرهمغانی رحیمیگروه شهرسازی، دانشکده هنر و معماری، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران0000-0002-1791-797Xهاشمداداشپورگروه شهرسازی، دانشکده هنر و معماری، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران0000-0002-2914-3668Journal Article20251210ABSTRACT
No systematic or qualitative review has examined the spatial discontinuity from the perspective of the "uptown-downtown" concept and the factors that shape its formation in Iranian cities, while previous studies identify specific factors that create this gap. This research identifies and analyzes the factors that shape spatial fragmentation in the form of the "uptown-downtown" dichotomy in Iranian cities. By combining narrative review methods and structural analysis, qualitative data from previous studies and the opinions of 18 urban experts have been collected and analyzed. The findings show that spatial fragmentation in Iran is caused by five categories of socio-cultural, economic, physical-infrastructural, managerial, and environmental factors. Among the 14 identified factors, "class differences and the gap between economic deciles", "unequal distribution of urban services and facilities", and "spatial differences in literacy and employment" are the most frequent and important driving factors. Structural analysis also revealed four groups of factors as key influencing factors, including class differences, uptown/downtown subjective identity, and social status gap; influencing factors such as land prices and housing demand; independent factors; and bimodal factors. This study, for the first time in the domestic literature, has systematically identified the driving factors of spatial fragmentation and determined their hierarchy of influence. The results show that reducing spatial fragmentation requires targeted intervention in key influencing factors, especially reducing economic inequalities and reforming urban service distribution patterns.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Iranian cities, especially metropolitan cities, have long witnessed the formation of complex and diverse spatial structures that reflect the big social, economic, and cultural differences among their residents. These structures manifest as the “uptown” and “downtown” phenomena, where the more affluent and developed areas (uptown) contrast with and are spatially separated from the less developed and deprived areas (downtown). This spatial and class separation not only reflects differences in income and living standards, but also indicates social and cultural segregation that has been consolidated and deepened over time. The spatial discontinuity created in these cities has widespread consequences in various areas, including limiting equitable access to urban facilities and services such as education, health, transportation, and green spaces. This inequality in access, in turn, reproduces social and economic inequalities and deprives parts of society of equal opportunities for growth and progress. As a result, this spatial disconnection is not only a physical and urban issue, but also a profound challenge to social cohesion, spatial justice, and sustainable development in Iranian cities. In Iranian cities, the factors driving spatial disconnection have not been accurately and comprehensively identified, which makes effective planning and policymaking difficult. Until a deep, scientific understanding of the factors that influence the formation of this phenomenon is achieved, it is not possible to properly analyze the main reasons for the emergence of spatial gaps and to provide efficient, reality-based solutions to address them. Identifying the factors influencing spatial disconnection is essential for understanding its roots more accurately and for developing policies that can reduce inequalities and enhance spatial justice in Iranian cities. In fact, without this recognition, any intervention or planning will likely remain superficial and unsustainable and will not help to solve the problem fundamentally. Given that identifying the factors that shape this spatial duality helps better understand how urban development and effective policies are designed to reduce spatial gaps, no study has examined this issue to date. For this purpose, this research aims to answer three questions:
-"What studies have examined the issue of spatial discontinuity in the concept of uptown and downtown in Iran so far?"
- "What are the factors that create this concept in previous studies and according to experts?"
- "What are the most key factors affecting the formation of this concept in Iranian cities?"
Methodology
This fundamental research, with an inductive-explanatory approach, has used a combination of qualitative (validity review, content analysis, interviews) and quantitative (structural-interpretive analysis) methods to answer the research question. First, previous studies were identified and screened in several stages using the validity review method; then, these studies were examined, and effective factors were identified using content analysis; and finally, the key factors affecting the spatial gap in Iranian cities were identified using structural analysis.
Results and discussion
The findings of this research show that previous studies and experts in this field consider the phenomenon of spatial discontinuity between uptown and downtown in Iranian cities to be primarily due to social and cultural factors, economic factors, physical and infrastructural factors, managerial factors, and environmental factors. Moreover, the factors of class differences and the gap between economic deciles, unequal distribution of activities, urban services and facilities, unbalanced environmental quality in the city including housing and roads, differences in the quantity and quality of employment, spatial differences in the level of literacy and education, differences in land and housing prices, etc. are respectively the most frequent or, in other words, the most important factors affecting the gap between uptown and downtown in Iran in previous studies and from the experts in this field.
Conclusion
As a result, by controlling the factors identified in this study, especially class differences and the gap between economic deciles, branding and mental identity of the upper and lower city, and the gap in social base and cultural differences, the spatial gap between the upper and lower city in Iran can be significantly reduced. However, cultural, social, environmental, etc. differences between different urban areas of Iran can affect how these factors are planned and prioritized. While this issue was not considered in this study due to information limitations, the authors' limited knowledge of different cities in Iran, and the standard volume of research. Future studies should likely use both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to identify factors across different cities, thereby providing greater depth to analyses of spatial discontinuity. Also, research can help better understand the factors that cause spatial discontinuity by comparing different urban areas in Iran and other countries. In addition, developing conceptual and operational models to predict and control spatial fragmentation across cities can help policymakers design targeted, effective solutions.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.چکیده
گسست فضایی در شهرهای ایران به بازتولید نابرابری‌های دامن زده و شناسایی عوامل مؤثر بر آن، به روشن شدن سیاست‌گذاری‌های مؤثر کمک می‌کند. اما تاکنون هیچ مطالعه مروری چه سیستماتیک و چه روایی به بررسی گسست فضایی از منظر مفهوم «بالا شهر-پایین‌شهر» و عوامل مؤثر بر شکل‌گیری آن در شهرهای ایران نپرداخته است. درحالی‌که هر یک از مطالعات پیشین عوامل خاصی را ایجادکننده این شکاف می‌دانند. به همین منظور این پژوهش به شناسایی و تحلیل عوامل مؤثر بر شکل‌گیری گسست فضایی در قالب دوگانگی «بالا شهر-پایین‌شهر» در شهرهای ایران می‌پردازد. با تلفیق روش‌های مرور روایی و تحلیل ساختاری، داده‌های کیفی جمع‌آوری و تحلیل‌شده است. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد گسست فضایی در ایران ناشی از پنج دسته عامل اجتماعی-فرهنگی، اقتصادی، کالبدی-زیرساختی، مدیریتی و محیطی است. در میان ۱۴ عامل شناسایی‌شده، «اختلافات طبقاتی و فاصله بین دهک‌های اقتصادی»، «توزیع نابرابر خدمات و تسهیلات شهری» و «تفاوت‌های فضایی در سواد و اشتغال» پرتکرارترین و مهم‌ترین عوامل محرک هستند. تحلیل ساختاری نیز چهار گروه عامل را آشکار ساخت: (۱) عوامل تأثیرگذارِ کلیدی شامل اختلافات طبقاتی، هویت ذهنی بالا/پایین‌شهر و شکاف پایگاه اجتماعی؛ (۲) عوامل تأثیرپذیر مانند قیمت زمین و تقاضای مسکن؛ (۳) عوامل مستقل؛ و (۴) عوامل دووجهی. این پژوهش برای نخستین بار در ادبیات داخلی، عوامل محرک گسست فضایی را سیستماتیک شناسایی و سلسله‌مراتب تأثیرگذاری آن‌ها را مشخص کرده است. نتایج نشان می‌دهد که کاهش گسست فضایی مستلزم مداخله هدفمند در عوامل تأثیرگذارِ کلیدی به‌ویژه کاهش نابرابری‌های اقتصادی و اصلاح الگوهای توزیع خدمات شهری است.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106897_b417c7da8199f9ac5e1fc217f39e7bea.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260516The effects of tourism development on the emission of environmental pollutants in top tourist destination countriesپیش‌بینی اثرات توسعه گردشگری بر انتشار آلودگی‌های محیطی در کشورهای برتر مقصد گردشگری193810689910.22059/jhgr.2026.387237.1008773FAعلیمنظم اسماعیل پورگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایراناحمدرومیانیگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایرانفهیمهیوسف زاده سهل ابادیگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایرانJournal Article20251210BSTRACT
A
In recent decades, tourism development has been recognized as one of the most important drivers of economic growth in many countries. However, the expansion of its activities can have consequences such as increased resource consumption, waste generation, and pollutant emissions. The purpose of this research is to predict the effects of tourism development on environmental pollution emissions in the world’s leading tourist destination countries. Data for the study were obtained from the World Bank databases and the Global Footprint Network, covering an eight-year period (2010–2017). For data analysis, penalized regression models, including Linear Regression, Ridge Regression, Lasso Regression, and Elastic Net Regression, were employed. The results revealed that the levels of environmental pollution were highest in China (2.46), Mexico (0.946), and Thailand (0.857), while the average CO₂ emissions in the United States and China were 0.74336 and 0.21523, respectively. Furthermore, analysis of MSE and R² values showed that the Lasso model performed better than its competing models. Specifically, the predicted value for PM₂.₅ was 1.014, and for CO₂, 0.726 in the Lasso model. A slight improvement in the performance of penalized regression models compared to the standard linear regression was also observed. The model comparison indicated that Ridge and Elastic Net regressions selected a greater number of predictive indicators compared to Lasso, while Lasso demonstrated superior predictive accuracy in estimating environmental pollutants (PM₂.₅, CO₂). Overall, the findings confirm that penalized regression models serve as effective and powerful tools that significantly enhance the accuracy and reliability of predictions regarding the impacts of tourism development on environmental pollution in the examined countries.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The tourism industry has been cited as a key strategy in boosting global economic development, increasing foreign exchange, and increasing exports. The importance of this industry in the areas of employment and local income, and promoting cultural and environmental values in developed and underdeveloped countries, is essential. According to statistics published by the World Travel and Tourism Council (2019), the tourism industry contributed US$8.8 trillion to global GDP and created one-tenth of all jobs in the world in 2018.
Methodology
To examine the indicators of tourism development and environmental pollution, data from (2010 to 2017) has been extracted from (https://databank.worldbank.org,) and (https://data.footprintnetwork.org). To examine this issue, we considered two dependent variables (output), namely CO2 and PM2.5 environmental pollution. Also, from 10 tourism development indicators (predictor variables), including the number of international tourist arrivals (A1), international tourism expenditure (total imports) (A2), international tourism expenditure (current US dollars) (A3), passenger transportation costs (current US dollars) (A4); international tourism travel item costs (current US dollars) (A5), number of international tourist departures (A6); International tourism revenue (total exports) (A7), international tourism receipts (current US dollars) (A8), international tourism passenger transport item receipts (current US dollars) (A9), and international tourism travel item receipts (current US dollars) (A10) have been used. Also, MSE (mean square error), RMSE (root mean square error), and R-square (coefficient of determination) values were used to measure performance. With n as the total number of observations, it should be noted that the analyses mentioned were performed in R 4.0 (R Core Team, 2020) using different packages.
Results and discussion
In order to answer the purpose and question raised in this research, penalized regression methods were used. One of the methods is the ordinary linear regression (OLS) model, which is the simplest algorithm that outperforms other fancy and complex models. The OLS method can only determine the factors affecting the dependent variable and has serious analytical deficiencies in predicting related variables and groups, and its results are unstable. Therefore, to overcome some of the weaknesses of this method in improving the performance of variables, penalized regression models (Ridge, Lasso, and ElasticNet) were used. The advantages of penalized models can be stated as follows: first, they manage and select the multicollinearity of the models; second, these models allow testing a large number of predictor variables; third, they introduce biases in the estimation of the models and reduce the mean square error of the responding variable.
In this study, we have shown how ML algorithms can be more reliable in estimating production process parameters than classical statistical models. The use of ML models can help in planning environmental pollution reduction in top tourism destination countries, to reduce both economic costs and biological damage.
In this study, it was shown how a wide range of tourism development indicators, including the number of tourist arrivals, transportation costs, travel item costs, number of departures, total export revenue costs, passenger transport item costs, and receipts costs, affect environmental pollution and there is evidence of their positive effects on the emission of environmental pollutants (PM2.5, CO2). In addition, we showed how tourism development has increased environmental pollution in the top tourism destination countries.
Conclusion
The results of the study showed that the average PM2.5 emissions in China, Mexico, and Thailand are 2.46, 0.946, and 0.857, and the average CO2 emissions in the United States and China are 0.74336 and 0.21523. The prediction results of the models were also compared using the root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), and coefficient of determination (R2). The RMSE results and prediction accuracy for PM2.5 and CO2 values obtained from all competing models are very close. However, overall, the MSE and R2 results showed that the Lasso model performed better than the other competing models. In this model, the value of the PM2.5 index is 1.014, and the CO2 index is 0.726. Although this model showed its potential superiority over other models and is better compatible with training data, its use in selecting indices and prediction methods to achieve high accuracy is accompanied by flexibility. In addition, Elastic Net and RR can play an important role in tourism development and pollution emission, which have a large number of parameters. In such cases, these techniques, used to analyze tourism development on pollution emission, are the best choice for modeling and forecasting such research. In this study, we have shown how ML algorithms can be more reliable in estimating production process parameters than classical statistical models. The use of ML models can help in planning environmental pollution reduction in top tourism destination countries, to reduce both economic costs and biological damage.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not for profit sectors.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.در دهه‌های اخیر، توسعه گردشگری به‌عنوان یکی از مهم‌ترین محرک‌های رشد اقتصادی در بسیاری از کشورها شناخته‌شده است. اما گسترش فعالیت‌های آن می‌تواند پیامدهایی از جمله افزایش مصرف منابع، تولید پسماند و انتشار آلاینده‌ها به همراه داشته باشد. هدف از این تحقیق، پیش‌بینی اثرات توسعه گردشگری بر انتشار آلودگی‌های محیطی در کشورهای برتر مقصد گردشگری است. از داده‌های پایگاه‌های بانک جهانی و شبکه جهانی ردپای اکولوژیکی برای این پژوهش استفاده‌شده است. بازه زمانی این تحقیق طی 8 سال گذشته (2010-2017) در نظر گرفته‌شده است. برای تحلیل داده‌ها از مدل‌های رگرسیون جریمه‌شده (رگرسیون خطی، ریچ، لاسو و الاستیک نت) استفاده شد. یافته‌های تحقیق نشان داد که میزان انتشار آلودگی محیطی در کشورهای در کشورهای چین، مکزیک و تایلند برابر با 46/2، 946/0 و 857/0 و میانگین CO2 در کشور ایالات‌متحده آمریکا و چین برابر با 0.74336 و 0.21523 است. نتایج MSE و R2 نشان داد که مدل لاسو از سایر مدل‌های رقیب بهتر عمل کرده است. در این مدل مقدار شاخص PM2.5 برابر 014/1 و در شاخص CO2 برابر با 726/0 است. همچنین بر اساس نتایج، بهبود جزئی در عملکرد مدل‌های جریمه‌شده به رگرسیون خطی مشاهده شد. مقایسه مدل‌ها نشان می‌دهد که در مدل ریج و الاستیک نت شاخص‌های بیشتری نسبت به لاسو انتخاب شدند، اما لاسو عملکرد پیش‌بینی بهتری نسبت به دیگر مدل‌ها در انتشار آلودگی‌های محیطی (PM2.5, CO2) دارد. نتایج نشان داد که مدل‌های جریمه‌شده ابزارهای مفیدی هستند که می‌تواند کارکرد قابل‌توجهی در دقت و پیش‌بینی متغیرهای توسعه گردشگری بر انتشار آلودگی محیطی کشورهای موردمطالعه ارائه دهند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106899_d4602f1681d9faf03277c08feed320ba.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260517Analysis and Explanation of Rural Settlements’ Resilience Before and after their Transformation into Cities: A case study the Villages of Bardarashah and Oraman in Kurdistan Provinceتحلیل و تبیین وضعیت تاب‌آوری سکونتگاه‌های روستایی در دو دوره قبل و بعد از تبدیل‌شدن به شهر مطالعه موردی: روستاهای برده‌رشه و اورامان در استان کردستان395710692510.22059/jhgr.2026.385473.1008842FAسعدیمحمدیگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایران0000-0002-8541-4135فرزادویسیگروه ژئومورفولوژی، دانشکده منابع طبیعی، دانشگاه کردستان، سنندج، ایران0000-0002-0778-0156کیومرثخداپناهگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایران0000-0002-3834-2335افشینسفاهیانگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایرانامیدکهنه پوشیگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده حقوق و علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایران0000-0002-8541-4135Journal Article20251211ABSTRACT
The present research was conducted with the aim of analyzing the impact of this change on the resilience level of the settlements of Uraman and Bardarashah in Kurdistan province. This study is applied in nature and employs a descriptive-analytical approach. Data were collected through library and field studies. The statistical population consisted of 951 households, from which 250 household heads were selected as the sample based on Cochran's formula. Data analysis was performed using Wilcoxon, paired t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Friedman statistical tests.The results of the paired t-test showed that the overall mean resilience increased from 2.94 to 3.25, which is statistically significant. The greatest increase was related to the economic dimension (0.39 units), indicating the positive impact of urbanization on job opportunities and income. The results of ANOVA and Tukey's test indicated a significant difference among the various resilience dimensions, particularly between the economic and social dimensions. The ranking of variables using the Friedman test also revealed that factors such as allocated budget and access to energy experienced the most improvement, whereas access to credit services saw the least enhancement.In general, the policy of converting villages into cities has had a positive and significant impact on increasing the resilience of the studied settlements; however, this improvement has not been uniform across all dimensions, with economic, institutional, and physical-environmental dimensions showing greater progress compared to the social dimension.
Extended Abstract
Introduction In recent decades, the concept of resilience has emerged as one of the central themes in the planning and development of human settlements. The focus of policymakers and planners has gradually shifted from the traditional approach of assessing and measuring vulnerability toward enhancing resilience. Resilience refers to the capacity of a settlement to prevent crises, withstand shocks, and recover effectively after disruption. Thus, resilience is not only regarded as a mechanism to reduce vulnerability but also as a pathway to sustainable development. Rural areas, due to structural weaknesses in their economic systems, financial limitations, dependence on traditional livelihood activities, and insufficient institutional infrastructure, have long been considered among the most vulnerable geographic spaces in developing countries, including Iran. To address these challenges, one of the policy measures pursued in the Iranian planning system over the past two decades has been the transformation of eligible villages into towns or small cities. The underlying assumption is that this transformation enhances administrative status, improves access to financial and infrastructural resources, and ultimately strengthens the resilience of the newly urbanized settlements. Such settlements are also expected to serve as regional development hubs. However, the fundamental question remains:
-Does this transformation actually increase resilience, and if so, in which dimensions is improvement most evident, and in which areas do weaknesses persist?
MethodologyThe research is applied in nature and employs a descriptive–analytical approach. In the theoretical section, documentary methods were used to review literature on resilience, its conceptual foundations, and comparable international experiences. In the empirical section, field-based methods including structured interviews, direct observations, and questionnaire surveys were utilized. The statistical population comprised 951 households across the two settlements. Using Cochran’s formula, a sample size of 250 household heads was determined, and questionnaires were distributed proportionally and randomly across both locations. Data analysis employed a set of inferential statistical tests, including paired-sample t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey’s post-hoc test, and Friedman’s ranking test. These methods allowed for a robust comparison of resilience levels across different dimensions and between the two periods of pre- and post-transformation.
Results and Discussion
The findings indicate that the village-to-city conversion policy has led to a significant positive improvement in the overall resilience of the studied settlements. The mean resilience score increased from 2.94 in the pre-conversion period to 3.25 in the post-conversion period, a change that is statistically highly significant. However, the degree of improvement across the four resilience dimensions was not uniform, revealing a heterogeneous pattern. The economic dimension experienced the most substantial progress, with an increase of 0.39 units. This enhancement is primarily attributed to the creation of new job opportunities (especially in border trade and tourism), diversification of livelihood activities, and increased household income. The institutional and physical-environmental dimensions also showed considerable growth, with increases of 0.38 and 0.32 units, respectively, evident in indicators such as increased local budgets, more accountable urban management, improved road networks, access to energy, and health services. In contrast, the social dimension showed the least improvement (an increase of 0.14 units), and comparative analysis (Tukey test) confirmed its status is significantly lower than the other three dimensions. The ranking of variables using the Friedman test further revealed that infrastructure and budget-related variables (e.g., allocated budget and access to energy) improved the most, while variables related to institutions and social capital (e.g., access to credit services and administrative institutions) improved the least. These findings suggest that the policy has been more successful in strengthening the "hard" aspects of development (infrastructure and economy) than the soft aspects (inclusive institutions, social capital, and participation).
ConclusionThis research demonstrates that the village-to-city conversion policy, as a structural intervention, can enhance settlement resilience by mobilizing resources and elevating administrative status. However, the unbalanced improvement across different dimensions, particularly the notable advancement of economic and physical aspects compared to the social dimension, constitutes a significant weakness that may affect the long-term sustainability of these achievements. Sustainable resilience requires a comprehensive and integrated approach where strengthening efficient local institutions, facilitating community access to financial resources, and consolidating social capital and public participation mechanisms are placed at the core of planning, alongside physical and economic development. Therefore, it is recommended that future policymaking move beyond a sole focus on physical and quantitative indicators. By designing institutional and social empowerment programs, the necessary foundation for achieving comprehensive resilience and enduring stability in the face of crises can be established.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.در ایران، تبدیل برخی نواحی روستایی به شهر به‌عنوان بخشی از سیاست‌های توسعه و ساماندهی سکونتگاه‌ها انجام‌شده است؛ اقدامی که برای تقویت توان سکونتگاه‌ها در مواجهه با بحران‌ها موردتوجه قرار گرفته است. در این راستا پژوهش حاضر با هدف تحلیل تأثیر این تغییر بر سطح تاب‌آوری سکونتگاه‌های اورامان و برده‌رشه در استان کردستان انجام‌شده است. این مطالعه از نوع کاربردی و با رویکرد توصیفی-تحلیلی است. داده‌ها از طریق مطالعات کتابخانه‌ای و میدانی جمع‌آوری شد. جامعه آماری شامل ۹۵۱ خانوار است که بر اساس فرمول کوکران، ۲۵۰ سرپرست خانوار به‌عنوان نمونه انتخاب شدند. تحلیل داده‌ها با استفاده از آزمون‌های آماری ویلکاکسون، تی زوجی، تحلیل واریانس یک‌طرفه و فریدمن انجام گرفت. نتایج آزمون تی زوجی نشان داد که میانگین کلی تاب‌آوری از ۹۴/۲ به ۲۵/۳ افزایش‌یافته که این بهبود از نظر آماری معنادار است. بیشترین افزایش مربوط به بعد اقتصادی (۳۹/۰ واحد) بود که نشان‌دهنده تأثیر مثبت شهر شدن بر فرصت‌های شغلی و درآمدی است. نتایج آزمون تحلیل واریانس و توکی حاکی از تفاوت معنادار بین ابعاد مختلف تاب‌آوری، به‌ویژه بین ابعاد اقتصادی و اجتماعی بود. رتبه‌بندی متغیرها با آزمون فریدمن نیز نشان داد که عواملی مانند بودجه اختصاصی و دسترسی به انرژی بیشترین بهبود را داشته‌اند، درحالی‌که دسترسی به خدمات اعتباری کمترین ارتقا را تجربه کرده است. در مجموع، سیاست تبدیل روستا به شهر تأثیر مثبت و معناداری بر افزایش تاب‌آوری سکونتگاه‌های موردمطالعه داشته است؛ اما این بهبود در تمام ابعاد یکسان نبوده و ابعاد اقتصادی، نهادی و کالبدی-محیطی نسبت به بعد اجتماعی پیشرفت بیشتری داشته‌اند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106925_e6d6509949fbebcd12a2f9414e6b6068.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260517The Reflection of Iran-Afghanistan Hydropolitical Relations in the Helmand Basin on the Water Security of Chahnimeh Reservoirsبازتاب مناسبات هیدروپلیتیک ایران و افغانستان در حوضه آبریز هیرمند بر امنیت آب چاه نیمه‌ها597610692610.22059/jhgr.2026.398879.1008820FAمرادکاویانی رادگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، دانشکده علوم جغرافیایی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران0000-0002-7303-5314جوادغلامیگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، دانشکده علوم جغرافیایی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران0000-0002-5914-6915زکیهآفتابیگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، دانشکده علوم جغرافیایی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران0000-0002-1863-2773Journal Article20251211ABSTRACT
The water resources crisis in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly within shared river basins, represents one of the most significant geopolitical and security challenges at the regional level. The Helmand River Basin, as the primary source of water supply for the Chah-Nimeh reservoirs and the Hamoun Wetlands, constitutes the focal point of water-related tensions between Iran and Afghanistan. The continuation of these tensions may lead to extensive environmental, economic, and social consequences for eastern Iran. The importance of this issue lies in the fact that the reduction of inflows from Afghanistan has not only threatened the livelihoods of local communities but has also challenged environmental sustainability and human security in the region. The purpose of this study is to explain the mechanisms affecting the water security of the Chah-Nimeh reservoirs within the theoretical framework of hydro-hegemony and the interaction spectrum model in Iran–Afghanistan water relations. In terms of objective, the research is applied, and in terms of nature, it is descriptive–analytical and survey-based. Research data were collected using the Delphi method and expert opinions in the fields of water resources and geopolitics, and were analyzed using Micmac and Scenario Wizard software. The results of the scenario analysis indicate that the future of water security in the Chah-Nimeh reservoirs depends on the combination of these key variables and can be anticipated under three general conditions: a conflict scenario accompanied by declining water security, a fragile equilibrium scenario, and a sustainable cooperation scenario leading to enhanced water security. Accordingly, the findings suggest that strengthening multi-level water governance, restoring the Hamoun Wetlands, and increasing institutional transparency in the management of shared resources are the most effective strategies for enhancing the water security of the Chah-Nimeh reservoirs and facilitating a transition from conflict to sustainable cooperation between the two countries.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Water has emerged as one of the most strategic and contested resources of the 21st century, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where transboundary river basins often become focal points of geopolitical and security tensions. The Helmand River Basin, shared by Iran and Afghanistan, is a critical case of hydropolitical relations that directly affects the water security of the Sistan region in eastern Iran. This basin serves as the primary water source for the Chahnimeh reservoirs and the Hamoun Wetlands, which are vital for drinking water, agriculture, and ecological stability in Iran’s Sistan region. Over recent decades, unilateral water infrastructure projects in Afghanistan—most notably the Kamal Khan Dam—combined with climatic changes and inefficient transboundary water governance, have significantly reduced water flows into Iran. This reduction has not only threatened local livelihoods but also challenged environmental sustainability and human security in the region. The growing imbalance in water allocation and the absence of effective cooperative mechanisms have turned the Helmand Basin into a hotspot for potential conflict, with direct implications for Iran’s national and border security.
Methodology
This study employs a mixed-method, descriptive-analytical, and survey-based approach within the applied research framework. The theoretical foundation integrates the concepts of hydro-hegemony and the interaction spectrum model to examine power asymmetries and cooperation–conflict dynamics in Iran–Afghanistan water relations. Data collection was conducted through library research, field studies, and the Delphi method, engaging experts in water resources and geopolitics. Initially, 47 variables influencing the water security of the Chahnimeh reservoirs were identified across six dimensions: geopolitical, security, environmental, economic, social, and cultural. These variables were analyzed using structural analysis with Micmac software to determine influence–dependence relationships and identify key driving variables. Subsequently, Scenario Wizard software was utilized for foresight-based scenario planning. The states of the key variables were defined, ranging from worst-case to ideal conditions, leading to the generation and analysis of over 4,500 possible future scenarios. This two-stage analytical process enabled the identification of core variables and the construction of consistent and plausible future pathways for water security in the region.
Results and discussion
The structural analysis using Micmac identified eight key variables with high influence and controllability as (1) Iran’s dependency on the Helmand headwaters in Afghanistan, (2) the border proximity and security vulnerability of the Chahnimeh reservoirs, (3) the impact of Afghanistan’s water policies on Iran’s water security, (4) the economic potential of the Hamoun wetlands, (5) the role of local communities in water resource management, (6) public awareness of hydropolitical issues, (7) the influence of cross-border ethnic ties on water cooperation, and (8) the effect of ethnic conflicts in Afghanistan on its water policies. These variables form the core determinants of water security in the Sistan region.
Scenario analysis revealed three general future conditions: a conflict scenario with declining water security, a fragile equilibrium scenario, and a sustainable cooperation scenario leading to enhanced water security. The most probable and internally consistent scenario was identified as a critical crisis scenario. This scenario arises from the convergence of negative trends: continued unilateral dam construction and water diversion by Afghanistan, severe depletion of the Hamoun wetlands, reduced and unreliable water inflows into the Chahnimeh reservoirs, high vulnerability of water infrastructure due to border proximity, political and ethnic fragmentation in Afghanistan hindering transboundary cooperation, low public awareness in Iran, and weak institutional resilience. Under this crisis scenario, the Chahnimeh reservoirs face operational failure, local agricultural and economic systems collapse, environmental migration intensifies, and geopolitical tensions escalate. The feedback loops between hydrological scarcity, ecological degradation, and socio-political instability create a comprehensive threat to human and national security in eastern Iran.
Conclusion
The analysis underscores that the Helmand basin’s water conflict is not merely about resource scarcity, but a deeper governance and geopolitical challenge. To avoid the crisis scenario and transition toward resilience, three policy tracks are recommended:
Active Transboundary Water Diplomacy
Enforcing the 1973 Helmand Treaty with international oversight;
Engaging institutions like UNESCO, the World Bank, or the ILC for mediation;
Creating new bilateral frameworks based on mutual water benefits.
Infrastructure and Institutional Resilience
Rehabilitating water transfer systems and storage in Chahnimeh;
Investing in water recycling and desalination technologies;
Revitalizing Hamoun wetlands as an ecological-economic driver.
Social and Community Empowerment
Raising public awareness of water geopolitics;
Involving local communities in participatory water governance;
Leveraging cultural-ethnic linkages for regional cooperation.
This research concludes that water security in Sistan is inseparable from cross-border political stability, ecological sustainability, and participatory governance. Without holistic and forward-looking interventions, the region faces not only a water crisis but a multi-dimensional collapse in security, development, and social cohesion.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this pبحران منابع آب در مناطق خشک و نیمه‌خشک، به‌ویژه در حوضه‌های آبریز مشترک، از مهم‌ترین چالش‌های ژئوپلیتیکی و امنیتی منطقه‌ای به شمار می‌رود. حوضة آبریز هیرمند، به‌عنوان اصلی‌ترین منبع تغذیة چاه نیمه‌ها و تالاب هامون، کانون تنش‌های آبی میان ایران و افغانستان است که استمرار آن می‌تواند پیامدهای زیست‌محیطی، اقتصادی و اجتماعی گسترده‌ای برای شرق ایران به همراه داشته باشد. اهمیت این موضوع ازآن‌جهت است که کاهش جریان‌های ورودی از افغانستان، نه‌تنها معیشت جوامع محلی را تهدید کرده، بلکه پایداری زیست‌محیطی و امنیت انسانی منطقه را نیز با چالش مواجه ساخته است. هدف این پژوهش تبیین سازوکارهای مؤثر بر امنیت آب چاه نیمه‌ها در چارچوب نظریة هیدروهژمونی و مدل طیف تعامل در روابط آبی ایران و افغانستان است. پژوهش حاضر از نظر هدف، کاربردی و از نظر ماهیت، توصیفی - تحلیلی و پیمایشی است. داده‌های تحقیق با بهره‌گیری از روش دلفی و نظر خبرگان منتخب در حوزة منابع آب و ژئوپلیتیک گردآوری و با استفاده از نرم‌افزارهای Micmac و Scenario Wizard مورد تجزیه‌وتحلیل قرار گرفت. نتایج تحلیل سناریویی نشان داد که آیندة امنیت آب چاه نیمه‌ها تابعی از ترکیب این متغیرهای کلیدی است و در سه وضعیت کلی شامل سناریوی تعارض و کاهش امنیت آبی، سناریوی تعادل شکننده و سناریوی همکاری پایدار و تقویت امنیت آبی قابل پیش‌بینی است. بر این اساس، یافته‌ها بیانگر آن است که تقویت حکمرانی چند سطحی آب، بازسازی تالاب هامون، و افزایش شفافیت نهادی در مدیریت منابع مشترک، مؤثرترین راهبردها برای ارتقای امنیت آب چاه نیمه‌ها و گذار از وضعیت تعارض به همکاری پایدار میان دو کشور محسوب می‌شوند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106926_8b69161c23785eb9612c0773f3cd214b.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260518Feasibility Study of Ecological Corridor Design in Tabriz Metropolitan:
A case study of Dokamal Street Routeامکان‌سنجی طراحی کریدور اکولوژیک در کلان‌شهر تبریز مطالعه موردی: مسیر خیابان دوکمال779610697110.22059/jhgr.2026.387137.1008772FAحسنمحمودزادهگروه برنامه‌ریزی شهری و منطقه‌ای، دانشکده برنامه‌ریزی و علوم محیطی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران0000-0001-5465-1114فیروزجعفریگروه برنامه‌ریزی شهری و منطقه‌ای، دانشکده برنامه‌ریزی و علوم محیطی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران0000-0002-0294-6313النازاسدیانگروه برنامه‌ریزی شهری و منطقه‌ای، دانشکده برنامه‌ریزی و علوم محیطی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران0009-0009-4781-3985Journal Article20251212ABSTRACTToday, the development of cities without considering ecological processes has led to the destruction of communities and ecological processes and the reduction of environmental quality, which ecological design provides the possibility of restoring and improving the ecological functions of the urban landscape. Focusing on identifying and strengthening ecological paths can lead to the growth and promotion of diverse ecosystem services. Therefore, the aim of this research is to design an ecological corridor along Dokamal Street in Tabriz metropolitan. In this study, GIS and Envi, Fragstats and TerrSet software were used to analyze the data. In this study, the landscape of Tabriz city was first evaluated over the past three decades and land use maps were prepared for the years (2003 and 2023) to compare them and examine the trend of changes. This trend was also examined in more detail by quantifying landscape metrics using the Fragstats software. The results showed that based on the Attrition index, 30.55 hectares of land, 89.75 hectares in the Creation index, and 15.74 hectares in the Dissection index, have experienced changes that indicate landscape fragmentation. The results also showed that, based on the Cohesion Index, built-up areas have the highest cohesion among the land cover within the Dokamal Street area. Considering the availability of wasteland around Dokamal Street, a feasibility study was conducted using TerrSet's Corridor Planning software to design a 3.6 km long, circular ecological path with an area of 8 hectares, which, if implemented, could partially compensate for this disruption.Extended AbstractIntroduction Today, the development of cities without considering ecological processes has led to the destruction of ecological processes and a decrease in the quality of life in the urban environment. Ecological design provides the possibility of restoring and improving the ecological functions of the urban landscape. Urban green corridors are essential both as a chain that connects urban green areas and as arteries to strengthen and maintain urban ecosystem services. Focusing on identifying and strengthening these routes can lead to the growth and promotion of diverse ecosystem services. Reducing urban heat islands, cleaning the air and absorbing and sequestering carbon, reducing the risk of urban flooding, and reducing noise pollution are the major benefits of strengthening these green corridors. Ecological corridors are designed to increase human exchanges between habitats, promote genetic exchanges, and reduce population circulation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to design an ecological corridor along Dokamal Street in Tabriz metropolitan Methodology The present research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method and has a developmental-applied nature. The required information was collected using library, documentary, electronic resources, surveys and field observations. During the different stages of the research, various software such as Fragstats, TerrSeet, ArcGIS, Envi, Google Earth were used. In this research, Fragstats 4.2 software was used to measure landscape metrics and analyze urban landscape continuity, Google Earth Professional software was used to correct existing land use boundaries, collection obstacles, and update existing changes and maps, and to display obstacles in real time on the landscape, ENVI 5.3 software was used to combine bands, process and classify satellite images, and ArcGIS 10.5 was used to prepare maps and analyze data from other software.Also, in this research, supervised classification and maximum likelihood algorithm were used to classify the lands, and connectivity indices were also used to evaluate the continuity of the landscape, and finally, the Corridor Planning model was used to determine the optimal corridors. In general, the following steps were taken in this research:1-Collecting resources, library and field studies2-Obtaining satellite images for the target area during two time periods (2003-2023)3-Performing pre-processing operations, classifying the images, and finally preparing land use maps4-Performing post-processing operations and assessing the accuracy of the classification and analyzing the changes that occurred5- Selecting landscape metrics to quantify and calculate the desired metrics6-Detecting and analyzing changes using the calculated metrics7-Analyzing and evaluating the continuity of the landscape of Dokamal Street in the current state8-Drawing optimal minimum cost round-trip routes to improve the continuity of Dokamal Street based on the concepts of graph and minimum cost Results and discussionThe findings showed that in the CA and PLAND (land use area and percentage) indices, built-up patches have increased during these two decades, from 45 hectares in 2003 to 88 hectares in 2023, while the rest of the land uses have also decreased. In the NP (number of patches) index, the built-up land classes, green space, and river have experienced an increase in the number of patches between 2003 and 2023, indicating that the existing patches have become fragmented over time and have lost their coherence and integrity. In the ED (patches edge density) index, built-up land uses, green space, and rivers have significantly lost their continuity and become more granular in the case of Do Kamal Street in Tabriz. The increase in urbanization and the growth of more than 94% of the area of built-up areas over the past 20 years have caused the destruction of ecological spaces and, as a result, the fragmentation of green lands and are considered the main factor in the fragmentation of the urban landscape of Dokamal Street in Tabriz. In this measure, built-up land, agriculture, gardens, and green spaces have changed the most and have become more discrete and fine-grained than in previous periods. In the LSI (edge density) measure, the shape of the landscape has had an increasing trend, and overall, this increase indicates that the shape of the landscape of Dokamal Street, Tabriz, has moved towards becoming more complex and geometrically irregular in terms of green lands. In the LPI index, the use of barren lands and green spaces has decreased, but the use of built-up lands and rivers has increased due to the construction of continuous and integrated lands. Qualitative analysis of changes during the period 2003-2023 showed that changes of Attrition, Creation and Dissection occurred. Mainly barren land uses and green spaces have undergone Attrition (i.e. the number and area of patches have decreased). Built-up land uses have mainly undergone Creation (i.e. the number and area of patches have increased). Green space land uses have mainly undergone Dissection (i.e. the number of patches has increased while their area has decreased). ConclusionThe results showed that the use of built-up land had the largest area changes during this period and has expanded by 43 hectares, equivalent to 94%, which indicates the intensity of construction. Green spaces have decreased by about 14 hectares, equivalent to 43%, and barren lands, equivalent to 31 hectares, equivalent to 50% of the area's barren lands, have been destroyed and converted to other uses over the past 20 years. The waterways of the Mehran River have also been completely concreted along the route and have been removed from their natural shape by human manipulation. The changes made are mainly of the construction type, and the destroyed lands, especially in the area of Dokamal Street, have been converted into buildings and urban roads. Qualitative analysis of changes also showed that in the Attrition index, 30.55 hectares of land, in the Creation index, 89.75 hectares, and in the Dissection index, 15.74 hectares have experienced these changes, which indicates the fragmentation of the landscape. The results showed that in the Cohesion index, built-up lands have the highest cohesion among the land cover within the area of Dokamal Street. Considering the availability of wasteland around Dokamal Street, a feasibility study was conducted using TerrSet Corridor Planning software to design a 3.6 km long, circular, and connected ecological path with an area of 8 hectares, which, if implemented, could partially compensate for this disruption. These lands are the only potential opportunities for creating a green network on Dokamal Street in Tabriz; therefore, their protection should be prioritized. Because this ecological corridor can be connected to its main core, Baghmisheh Park. FundingThere is no funding support. Authors’ ContributionAuthors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. Conflict of InterestAuthors declared no conflict of interest. AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.امروزه توسعه شهرها بدون در نظر گرفتن فرآیندهای اکولوژیکی منجر به نابودی جوامع و فرآیندهای اکولوژیکی و کاهش کیفیت محیط‌زیست شده است که طراحی اکولوژیکی، امکان بازسازی و بهبود عملکردهای اکولوژیکی منظر شهری را فراهم می‌کند. تمرکز بر شناسایی و تقویت مسیرهای اکولوژیکی می‌تواند به رشد و ارتقای خدمات اکوسیستمی متنوع منجر شود. ازاین‌رو هدف این پژوهش طراحی کریدور اکولوژیکی مسیر خیابان دوکمال کلان‌شهر تبریز می‌باشد. در این پژوهش برای تجزیه‌وتحلیل داده‌ها از GIS و نرم‌افزارهای Envi، Fragstats و TerrSet استفاده‌شده است. در این پژوهش ابتدا سیمای سرزمین شهر تبریز در طول سه دهه گذشته مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفت و نقشه‌های کاربری اراضی برای سال‌های (2003 و 2023) تهیه گردید تا با مقایسه آن‌ها روند تغییر و تحولات بررسی گردد. همچنین با کمی سازی متریک‌های سیمای سرزمین توسط نرم‌افزار Fragstats این روند به‌صورت جزئی‌تر مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. نتایج نشان داد بر اساس شاخص Attrition، 55/30 هکتار از اراضی، در شاخص Creation، 75/89 هکتار و در شاخص Dissection، 74/15 هکتار تغییراتی را تجربه کرده‌اند که نشان ازهم‌گسیختگی سیمای سرزمین دارد. همچنین نتایج نشان داد بر اساس شاخص Cohesion، اراضی ساخته‌شده بیشترین پیوستگی را در بین پوشش اراضی در محدوده خیابان دوکمال دارند. با توجه به در دسترس بودن اراضی بایر اطراف خیابان دوکمال با استفاده از Corridor Planning نرم‌افزار TerrSet، امکان‌سنجی طراحی مسیر اکولوژیک به طول 6/3 کیلومتر به‌صورت حلقوی و به مساحت 8 هکتار انجام شد که در صورت اجرا می‌تواند این گسیختگی را تا حدودی جبران کند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106971_eb4667ff39379a3f2adc6143008b914c.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260518The Position of Geopolitical Actors and Conflicting Interests in Syriaجایگاه بازیگران ژئوپلیتیکی و منافع متعارض در سوریه9711410697210.22059/jhgr.2026.386073.1008763FAامیدریگیگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، واحد علوم و تحقیقات، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایران0009-0004-4475-6288عز ت اللهعزتیگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، واحد علوم و تحقیقات، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایراناعظمیوسفیگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، واحد ساوه، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، ساوه، ایرانمحمدرضاحافظنیاگروه جغرافیای سیاسی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایرانJournal Article20251212ABSTRACTOver many years, changes in one global region have had a direct and vital impact on other regions of the world, particularly neighbouring areas. One of the most prominent examples of such effects emerged following the Arab Uprisings in West Asia and North Africa, which subsequently spilled over into Syria. The developments in Syria have not only altered the country's political situation but have also had significant influences on the geopolitical and geostrategic domains of the West Asian region, drawing considerable attention among regional and extra-regional actors. Consequently, the Syrian conflict has come to be recognised as one of the most complex geopolitical issues in West Asia, leading to the exacerbation of numerous problems, including the multiple interventions of regional and extra-regional actors in Syria's domestic politics. Thus, efforts to change the political system in Syria have had a profound impact on the trajectory of the internal crisis and the emergence of armed groups such as ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Therefore, this study seeks to examine the geopolitical interests of actors involved in the Syrian crisis using descriptive and analytical methods, and to analyse how the effects of this crisis and the conflicting interests of the actors have led to the intensification of the conflict. Accordingly, the present research suggests that the crisis, originating from its internal roots in 2011, has transformed into a multifaceted conflict through the intervention of domestic and international actors, with each actor playing a role based on its specific geopolitical interests, thereby exacerbating the crisis.Extended AbstractIntroductionWith the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the country has transformed from a political unit into a multi-level competition arena, and “domestic, regional and trans-regional” actors have become interventionist. The characteristics of the crisis include the multi-layered nature of the conflict levels, such as “ethnic, sectarian, ideological and political” conflicts within the country, and secondly, the increasing intervention of foreign powers, each of which, by supporting proxy actors, seeks to secure its own geopolitical interests. The Syrian crisis has become a paradoxical situation; on the one hand, the country has become a fragile unit in the regional order, whose sovereignty and territorial integrity have been under constant threat since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, and on the other hand, it has become a global geopolitical focal point as an arena for competition between multiple actors. The interests of the actors in Syria cannot be separated; rather, they are interconnected in a complex matrix. These conflicting interests are defined based on the perceived threats by each actor and the opportunities available in the Syrian geopolitical space. MethodologyThe present study is of the "descriptive and analytical" type, and its main goal is to analyze the position of geopolitical actors in Syria and explain their conflicting interests. Therefore, the present study is based on the explanation and analytical understanding of complex power relations in the post-Assad space. Data collection is based on the library method and utilizes secondary sources. The research data were primarily extracted through the study of documents, books, scientific articles, and other relevant sources. In data analysis, an attempt has been made to extract the behavioral patterns of actors and the internal logic of their geopolitical policies in Syria through the theoretical frameworks available in geopolitical and international relations studies, such as the theory of "realism, critical geopolitics, and narrative analysis." Results and discussionThe fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime can be interpreted as a turning point in the transfer of power and a change in the geopolitical balance between regional and trans-regional actors. Despite its efforts to maintain its influence in Syria through institutional and security ties with the remnants of the government and militias, the Islamic Republic of Iran is gradually facing strategic constraints resulting from US pressure, the Turkish military presence, and continuous Israeli attacks.The distinction of the present study is based on examining the post-crisis phase and the fall of the Assad regime, which analyzes the transformation in the power structure, the emergence of new actors, and the redefinition of power relations within the framework of the government of “Ahmad al-Sharaa.” While previous studies have mainly focused on analyzing the war period and the role of actors in the continuation of the crisis, this study shows that after the fall of Assad, the type of competition has changed from military to “political, economic, and symbolic” and Syria has become an area of complex geopolitical interactions at the regional level. The innovation of the present study lies in simultaneously explaining the intersecting links of interests and geopolitical conflicts during the reconstruction phase of Syria, a phase in which no actor can control the power structure alone and is still forced into competitive coexistence. ConclusionWith the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the coming to power of a new government in Syria, a new page in Syria’s geopolitical equations has been opened. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which was a prominent player in the “political and military” arena during the Assad era, is now facing serious obstacles due to continuous Israeli attacks and the blocking of land and air routes by the United States, and its influence has decreased significantly. In contrast, Russia, which has maintained its military bases in Syria, is trying to consolidate its positions with the new government. The Turkish government, which was one of the supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s opponents, is trying to maintain its position in the northern regions of Syria and prevent the formation of a Kurdish-dominated region near its borders. Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries, which played an active role in supporting the opposition, are realistically seeking to rebuild diplomatic relations with the new Damascus so as not to fall behind in the geopolitical competition with “Iran and Turkey” in Syria. The United States, which exercises some of its influence through its support for Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, has been monitoring developments in the new government, and its policy is likely to be aimed at containing Iranian influence and gradually rebuilding the Syrian political environment. During the Assad era, the European Union emphasized diplomatic isolation of Damascus and economic sanctions, and is working to rebuild and review its policy towards the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa within the framework of humanitarian interests. FundingThere is no funding support. Authors’ ContributionAuthors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. Conflict of InterestAuthors declared no conflict of interest. AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.در طول سالیان متمادی، تغییرات در یک ناحیه جهانی بر روی سایر نواحی جهان به‌ویژه نواحی مجاور آن، تأثیر مستقیم و حیاتی داشته است. یکی از نمونه‌های بارز این تأثیرات، پس از بیداری اسلامی در غرب آسیا و شمال آفریقا به کشور سوریه سرازیر شده است. تحولات در سوریه، نه‌تنها اوضاع سیاسی این کشور را دستخوش تغییراتی نموده است، بلکه؛ تأثیرات قابل‌توجهی بر حوزه‌های ژئوپلیتیک و ژئواستراتژیک منطقه غرب آسیا داشته و در میان بازیگران منطقه‌ای و فرا منطقه‌ای، توجه ویژه‌ای را به خود معطوف ساخته است. لذا؛ تحولات سوریه به‌عنوان یکی از پیچیده‌ترین مسائل ژئوپلیتیک در منطقه غرب آسیا شناخته‌شده و منجر به تشدید مسائل متعددی از قبیل؛ مداخله‌گرائی متعدد بازیگران منطقه‌ای و فرا منطقه‌ای در سیاست‌های داخلی سوریه گردیده است. بنابراین؛ تلاش برای تغییر نظام سیاسی در سوریه، تأثیرات بسیار چشمگیری بر جریان بحران داخلی و ظهور گروه‌های مسلح «داعش و تحریرالشام» داشته است. ازاین‌رو؛ این پژوهش در تلاش است تا با استفاده از روش‌های «توصیفی و تحلیلی»، به بررسی علایق ژئوپلیتیکی بازیگران در بحران سوریه پرداخته و تحلیل نماید که چگونه تأثیرات این بحران و منافع متضاد بازیگران به تشدید منازعه منجر شده است. بنابراین، پژوهش فعلی حاکی از آن است که این بحران از منشأ درونی خود در سال ۲۰۱۱ شروع‌شده و با مداخله‌گری بازیگران داخلی و بین‌المللی به یک منازعه چندجانبه تبدیل گشته است و هر یک از این بازیگران بر اساس علایق ژئوپلیتیکی خاص خود نقش‌آفرینی نموده که سبب تشدید بحران شده استhttps://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106972_e8493eb7b5ef1095328dc3186bb20c4e.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260519Geopolitical Reading of Iran-Iraq War in the Context of Islamic Revolution Discourse in Iranخوانش ژئوپلیتیکی جنگ ایران و عراق در چارچوب گفتمان انقلاب اسلامی در ایران11513010697310.22059/jhgr.2026.374408.1008681FAاحسانلشگری تفرشیگروه جغرافیا، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه یزد، یزد، ایران0000-0003-2810-8390Journal Article20251213ABSTRACT
With the arrival of 1979, coinciding with the rise of Arab nationalism under the ruling Ba'ath Party in Iraq and the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, military tension on the Iran-Iraq border intensified and escalated into a full-scale war (1980-1988). This research examines how the discourse components of the Islamic Revolution are interpreted within a geopolitical reading of Iraq's invasion of Iran, framed by the views of Laclau and Mouffe. Within this framework, geopolitical actions at a particular historical moment, shaped by the dominant discourse, are conceptualized and understood from an identity perspective, distinct from other discourses. In the Iranian political context, following the 1979 invasion of Iraq, the geopolitical interpretation of this crisis evolved into a conflict between three discourses: liberal nationalist, Marxist left, and Islamic revolutionary. Following the removal of Bani Sadr from the presidency in 1981 and the subsequent dominance of the Islamic Revolution discourse until 1986, the geopolitical conceptualization of the war was prioritized based on religious genealogy. Within this discourse, the borders of the Islamic world were defined based on the unity of Muslims against non-believers. This discourse did not recognize any inherent distinction between the Islamic Ummah and nation-states, viewing all Muslims as a single political and religious unit. Additionally, given the anti-Western bias within the discourse of political Islam, the geopolitical interpretation of the war was doubly reinforced by the conflict between Islamic and polytheistic territories. So, the Ba'ath government in Iraq was considered as a Western government puppet in order to weaken the Islamic revolution ideals and true Islam.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
War, a complex social reality, is often framed as an objective conflict over material issues such as territory. However, each political-historical force uses language to construct a specific narrative of the war's geopolitical causes. This narrative is not a preexisting reality but rather a tool to justify its own actions. A discourse analysis of geopolitical crises investigates the interrelationships among geopolitical elements and the role of discourse in shaping public perceptions of war, often privileging certain interpretations over others. In this regard, the Iran-Iraq War of 1979 was fundamentally a clash of ideologies and discourses, rather than a mere territorial dispute. In other words, discourse played a crucial role in shaping the complex and multifaceted conflict between the two countries, which went beyond mere territorial disputes. In this regard, concurrently with the rise of Arab nationalism in Iraq and the victory of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, political-military tensions on the Iran-Iraq border escalated dramatically. On the other hand, following the 1980 Iraqi invasion of Iran, three dominant discourses emerged within Iran: Islamic revolutionary, liberal intellectual, and Marxist-influenced left. By defining a set of legitimizing factors, each of these competing discourses sought to establish its hegemony in the interpretation of war. This research aims to conduct a geopolitical reading of the Islamic Revolution discourse in Iran, which held a hegemonic position during the early years of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). Within the framework of Laclau and Mouffe's discourse theory, we will examine the differences between this discourse and its competitors and investigate how the geopolitical components of the Islamic Revolution discourse contribute to the semantic construction of Iraq's invasion of Iran.
Methodology
This research, as a "temporal" research type, investigates, based on the discourse model of Laclau and Mouffe, the equivalence of Islamic Revolution discourse components in the semantic construction of Iraq's invasion of Iran as a geopolitical factor. In this regard, by analyzing and interpreting the texts and works of discourse commentators, the study examines how the Ba'ath Party constructs the semantics of components such as border disputes and territorial expansion. Additionally, it investigates how this war was interpreted to foster social solidarity among the Iranian people and to reject competing internal discourses.
Results and discussion
Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, there was a conflict between the Islamic Revolution discourse and other discourses, including leftist discourse inclined towards Marxism and liberal nationalist discourse. With the Islamic Revolution discourse becoming dominant, the conceptualization of war was framed through a religious genealogy and reflected as a conflict between heresy (the ruling Ba'ath Party in Iraq) and true Islam (Iran). Therefore, the defense of Iran's geographical borders against Iraq was presented as a defense of the divine nature of humanity. Unlike nationalist discourse, this defense was not solely interpreted as a means to prevent the occupation of Iran's territory. By emphasizing historical metaphors from Shi'a Islam, this discourse sought to reinforce the metaphysical dimensions of the war, aligning with Shi'a mythological concepts to counter rival discourses. According to Laclau and Mouffe, invoking the past positively has been a longstanding strategy of political power to legitimize its actions, foster solidarity and harmony, and differentiate itself from competing discourses. In particular, the mythmaking surrounding the war patterns of the Prophet of Islam and Shi'a leaders, as propagated by interpreters and rulers of the Islamic Revolution discourse, played a significant role in shaping the perceived sanctity of Iran's territory against the Iraqi invasion. On the other hand, the Islamic Revolution discourse employed a strategy of general mobilization, activating and guiding social values. This strategy, which relied on geopolitical components, was legitimized under the banner of defending the borders of the Islamic nation. In this discourse, the extraction of spiritual themes such as jihad, martyrdom, and sacrifice for the Islamic Ummah led to this war being interpreted as a preservation of the Islamic Ummah's territorial integrity against the infidels. Therefore, within the political geography of the Islamic Ummah, Islamic values should extend beyond its borders, providing the foundation for the emergence of numerous centers advocating the Islamic Revolution discourse. Furthermore, by demonstrating the failure of Iraq's aggression, a geopolitical analysis of this discourse highlighted Iran's political and military efficiency.
Conclusion
Between 1980 and 1985, under the dominance of the political Islam discourse, a national-scale war concept was constructed to alienate liberal and Marxist discourses. This concept aimed to build social cohesion by sanctifying the territory. On a transnational scale, alienation and rejection of regional secular governments and Arab nationalism ruling in Iraq were represented in the form of conflict between Islam and disbelief. By transforming geopolitical components such as territory, borders, and the state into the 'religious', this discourse was able to frame their defense as a social responsibility. By comparing the Iran-Iraq war with the battles of the Prophet and Shi'a imams, this discourse positioned Iran's territory as the sacred geographical origin of Islam. Therefore, according to Laclau and Mouffe, by constructing a network of meanings, the Islamic Revolution discourse leveraged the Iran-Iraq war to marginalize competing discourses on both national and transnational scales.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.با فرارسیدن سال 1359 هم‌زمان با اوج‌گیری ناسیونالیسم عربی حزب حاکم بعث در عراق و همچنین با پیروزی انقلاب اسلامی در ایران تنش نظامی در مرز ایران و عراق به‌طور چشمگیری تشدید گردید و به یک جنگ تمام‌عیار (1359- 1367) تبدیل گردید. این پژوهش ناظر بر تفسیر چگونگی مفصل‌بندی مؤلفه‌های گفتمان انقلاب اسلامی در خوانش ژئوپلیتیکی تهاجم عراق به ایران در چارچوب دیدگاه لاکلائو و موفه می‌باشد. در این چارچوب؛ کنش‌های ژئوپلیتیک در مقطعی از تاریخ به‌وسیله گفتمان حاکم مفهوم‌پردازی و از منظر هویتی در تمایز با دیگر گفتمان‌ها معنا می‌یابد. در بافتار سیاسی ایران با تهاجم عراق در سال 1359 چگونگی خوانش ژئوپلیتیکی این بحران به یک منازعه میان سه گفتمان ملی‌گرای لیبرال، چپ مارکسیستی و انقلاب اسلامی تبدیل گردید. پس از عزل بنی‌صدر از ریاست جمهوری در سال 1360 و با تفوق گفتمان انقلاب اسلامی تا 1365 مفهوم‌سازی ژئوپلیتیکی جنگ بر اساس تبارشناسی دینی و شبیه‌سازی آن با جنگ‌های پیامبر اسلام و امامان شیعه در صدر اسلام در اولویت قرار گرفت و خوانش ژئوپلیتیکی گفتمان‌های رقیب در داخل کشور کنار نهاده شد. در مقیاس فراملی نیز مرزهای جهان اسلام در چارچوب این گفتمان بر اساس اتحاد مسلمانان در برابر کفار تقسیم و مشخصاً تمایز امت اسلامی به دولت- ملت‌ها؛ اصالت نیافت. ضمن اینکه با سوگیری ضد غربی گفتمان انقلاب اسلامی خوانش ژئوپلیتیک جنگ در چارچوب معارضه دارالاسلام با دارالکفر پژواک مضاعفی یافت و دولت بعث عراق دست‌نشانده دولت‌های غربی در جهت تضعیف آرمان‌های انقلاب اسلامی و اسلام راستین قلمداد گردید.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106973_30a3ffc43a9f60ee696e8acf1274625d.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260519Climate Change and Farmers' Transition to Industrial Society: Perceptions of Isfahan Province’s Farmers Regarding the Consequences of Climate Change and Industrializationتغییر اقلیم و شیوه گذار کشاورزان به جامعه صنعتی ادراک کشاوزان استان اصفهان از پیامدهای تغییر اقلیم و صنعتی شدن13114610755710.22059/jhgr.2026.405221.1008855FAحامدسیارخلجگروه جامعه‌شناسی، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران0000-0002-9086-3170سیدعلیهاشمیان فرگروه جامعه‌شناسی، دانشکده ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه اصفهان، اصفهان، ایران0000-0001-9064-0068صادقصالحیگروه جامعه‌شناسی، دانشکده علوم انسانی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران0000-0003-2108-2132عظیمه الساداتعبداللهیگروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکده علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه پیام نور، تهران، ایران0000-0002-4137-4186Journal Article20251213ABSTRACT
Climate change and industrialization represent two of the most significant environmental challenges of our time, having profound impacts on agricultural systems, particularly in semi-arid regions. This study employs a qualitative methodology and a grounded theory approach to explore the perceptions of farmers in Isfahan Province regarding the transition to an industrial society and its consequences for agriculture. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 29 farmers from diverse regions within the province and analyzed using Strauss and Corbin’s three-stage coding process. The findings exhibited that farmers perceive "agricultural ecosystem degradation" as the main phenomenon, which has been shaped by factors such as high-carbon technological structures and industrial lifestyles. This degradation has been exacerbated by contextual factors such as population growth, pressure on natural resources, and ineffective government interventions in water resource management and crop pattern policies. Farmers' adaptation strategies to climate change have largely been profit-driven agriculture and overexploitation of land and natural resources. These strategies have contributed to negative outcomes, including increased pest infestations, droughts, climate irregularities, and declining yields. The study emphasizes the urgent need to reevaluate industrial, agricultural, and environmental policies, advocating for the adoption of participatory, climate-sensitive approaches focused on environmental justice to ensure agricultural sustainability. It also highlights that, in the context of climate change, government policies must be more closely aligned with local conditions and address the educational and empowerment needs of farmers. Furthermore, the research underscores the importance of adopting multifaceted approaches in policymaking and resource management to improve agricultural conditions in vulnerable regions.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Climate change and industrialization are among the most significant environmental challenges of our time, with profound consequences for agricultural systems, particularly in semi-arid regions. Scientific evidence has firmly established that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels and industrial expansion, are the primary drivers of global warming and climate change. Despite major international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement, the Climate Change Performance Index indicates that countries continue to underperform in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to renewable energy, and implementing effective climate policies. In Isfahan Province, where agriculture plays a vital role in local livelihoods, the transition toward an industrial society has coincided with the spread of carbon-intensive technological structures and industrial lifestyles. Iran, as a developing country, is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including declining groundwater levels, drying lakes, persistent droughts, and extreme flooding. Temperature trends indicate increasing average minimum and maximum temperatures, while precipitation has decreased. Industrial activities in Isfahan have led to soil contamination with heavy metals that negatively affect crop quality. Annual precipitation in this province is less than one hundred millimeters, and droughts are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. While industrialization has facilitated economic growth, it has also intensified pressure on natural resources and disrupted ecological balance, contributing to the degradation of the agricultural ecosystem. These changes have reduced agricultural productivity and increased vulnerability to environmental risks. The present study aims to examine farmers’ perceptions of this transition and its agricultural implications, providing insight into the mechanisms that connect industrial expansion, environmental degradation, and local adaptive behavior. Unlike previous studies that have focused primarily on climatic and management factors, this research specifically addresses the structural role of industrialization as a driver of climate change from the perspective of farmers, filling a significant gap in the literature. Understanding farmers’ perspectives offers valuable guidance for designing more sustainable agricultural and environmental policies that reflect the realities of rural communities.
Methodology
This study employs a grounded theory qualitative research design, allowing theoretical insights to emerge from empirical data. The grounded theory approach was selected because it enables researchers to build theoretical frameworks directly from participants’ lived experiences, making it particularly suitable for exploring complex social and environmental phenomena where existing theory is insufficient. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 farmers across diverse regions of Isfahan Province to ensure variation in agroecological conditions and exposure to industrial activities. The study areas included north, south, east, west, and central regions of the province. Participants were selected using purposive and maximum variation sampling to capture diverse perspectives based on geographic location, crop type, farm size, and degree of exposure to industrial pollution and climate impacts. Interviews lasted between forty-five and eighty minutes, were digitally recorded, and were transcribed verbatim. All participants provided informed consent, and confidentiality was guaranteed. The interviews focused on farmers' perceptions of industrialization, climate change, and the changing dynamics of agricultural practices. Data were analyzed utilizing Strauss and Corbin's three-stage coding process—open, axial, and selective coding—to identify the causal and contextual factors shaping the degradation of the agricultural ecosystem. Sixty-nine initial concepts were identified in the open coding phase. These were organized into 12 axial categories during axial coding and, finally, integrated around a central phenomenon during selective coding. This process enabled the classification of patterns related to environmental pressures, institutional responses, and adaptive strategies. To ensure trustworthiness and credibility, three validation methods were employed: triangulation, member checking, and analytical comparison. The analytical framework highlighted how carbon-intensive technological structures and industrial lifestyles intersect with policy deficiencies and climate variability, producing cumulative impacts on local agriculture.
Results and discussion
The findings reveal that, from the farmers’ perspective, the central phenomenon is the degradation of the agricultural ecosystem, manifested in declining soil fertility, reduced water availability, loss of biodiversity, and increased pest outbreaks. This phenomenon emerged from the integration of all twelve axial categories around a core category that farmers consistently identified as the primary challenge facing their livelihoods. Farmers identified the widespread adoption of carbon-intensive technological structures—such as mechanized irrigation, deep wells, heavy machinery, and chemical fertilizers—as major contributors to this degradation. Farmers explicitly described how industrial pollution from nearby factories has destroyed orchards and reduced crop quality. They criticized the inappropriate placement of industries near agricultural lands and residential areas, noting that industrial facilities consume large amounts of water while releasing pollutants that damage soil, water, and air quality. While these technologies initially improved productivity, they have led to energy dependency, environmental depletion, and disruption of traditional agricultural systems. The emergence of industrial lifestyles, characterized by high energy consumption, urbanization, and changing consumption patterns, further amplifies these challenges by increasing demand for natural resources and altering social values toward short-term profit and convenience. Farmers explicitly linked modern construction materials such as asphalt and concrete, increased vehicle use, and household heating appliances to rising local temperatures. They observed that in the past, soil surfaces absorbed less heat, while modern paved surfaces radiate significantly more heat into the environment. The increased number of vehicles and continuous operation of heating devices during winter were also identified as contributing factors to temperature rise and air pollution.
Farmers, in addition to technological and lifestyle factors, pointed to contextual pressures such as population growth and competition over land and water. Farmers reported that population growth has led to greater demand for water and land resources, while the number of deep wells remains insufficient to meet agricultural needs. They noted that in past decades, when the population was smaller, land was abundant, but now land has become scarce relative to the population, making agriculture economically unviable for many families. The overexploitation of groundwater and the conversion of agricultural land to industrial or urban use have exacerbated environmental stress. Participants also emphasized the ineffectiveness of government interventions, particularly in water resource management and crop pattern policies. Farmers reported that government policies often prohibit water-intensive crops while providing insufficient alternatives. However, many farmers continue planting these crops unofficially because the proposed substitute crops do not provide adequate income. The integration of agricultural lands, intended to improve water efficiency, has created new problems, such as a lack of access roads and conflicts among farmers. Farmers also reported injustice in the distribution of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and seeds, as well as ineffective water management. They expressed strong dissatisfaction with the diversion of water from the Zayandeh River to other provinces, which they believe has directly caused drought conditions and the drying of the Gavkhuni wetland. Although these programs seek to conserve resources and guide sustainable practices, they are often implemented in a top-down manner and fail to consider local realities, resource limitations, or farmers’ traditional knowledge. Farmers also reported that laws and regulations change frequently and unpredictably, creating legal uncertainty. Wells that were legal for decades are suddenly declared illegal, and farmers face the threat of having their wells sealed or their orchards destroyed. This constant legal instability undermines farmers’ ability to plan for the long term and invest in sustainable practices. This divergence between policy design and local practice undermines trust and diminishes the effectiveness of state-led initiatives.
Confronted with inadequate institutional support, many farmers have turned to profit-driven agricultural practices—such as monoculture, intensive irrigation, and the unsustainable exploitation of land and water resources—as survival strategies. Farmers reported using excessive chemical fertilizers because consumers prefer visually appealing produce, and organic or naturally grown produce is smaller and less commercially attractive. They also described continuous land use without fallow periods, noting that in the past farmers rotated crops and allowed land to rest. However, now economic pressure forces them to cultivate without interruption. Some farmers reported cultivating previously untouched lands without awareness of the environmental consequences, simply because older lands have become exhausted and unproductive. While these methods provide short-term financial relief, they intensify environmental degradation and reduce long-term sustainability. The interplay of industrialization, policy inefficiency, and climate change has created a feedback loop in which environmental decline reinforces economic pressure, compelling farmers to adopt increasingly unsustainable practices. Farmers reported that pest outbreaks have become as severe as drought, requiring continuous pesticide applications. They described how rising temperatures have led to new pest infestations that were previously unknown in their regions. Some farmers noted that they now have to apply multiple types of pesticides to the same crop, including fungicides, insecticides, and strengthening fertilizers, to achieve minimal yields.
Farmers also associate climate change with more frequent droughts, irregular rainfall, temperature extremes, and shifting growing seasons, all of which directly threaten yields. Farmers described how unexpected warm periods in winter cause premature flowering, followed by sudden frosts that destroy all blossoms. They reported that spring frosts and summer heat waves have become unpredictable, making planting decisions extremely difficult. Some farmers noted that soil quality has degraded to the point that land absorbs all available water without supporting plant growth, and that once-perennial springs and snow-covered mountain areas have now completely dried up. These environmental and economic stresses have driven rural migration, weakened intergenerational interest in farming, and deepened inequalities between industrial and agricultural sectors.
Conclusion
The study concludes that the agricultural challenges in Isfahan Province stem from the combined effects of industrialization, carbon-intensive technological systems, industrial lifestyles, and climate variability, all compounded by ineffective government interventions. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from environmental sociology, this research demonstrates that incomplete modernity—characterized by the spread of carbon-based systems and the separation of nature from society—has produced a situation where farmers are caught between environmental degradation and inadequate institutional support. The agricultural ecosystem degradation documented in this study serves as a concrete manifestation of what theorists call the crisis of unfinished modernity and the Anthropocene. The result is the persistent degradation of the agricultural ecosystem, manifested in soil depletion, water scarcity, and declining productivity. Farmers' adaptive responses, while understandable within their economic constraints, tend to exacerbate environmental degradation and increase long-term vulnerability. The feedback loop identified in this study—where environmental decline reinforces economic pressure, which in turn drives further unsustainable practices—represents a critical challenge for policymakers. Addressing these issues requires a comprehensive reevaluation of industrial, agricultural, and environmental policies. Policymakers are advised to adopt participatory, climate-sensitive approaches that prioritize environmental justice, integrate local knowledge, and empower farmers through education and access to sustainable technologies. Reform in water resource management and crop pattern policies should be context-specific and informed by farmers' lived experiences. Moreover, incentive systems should promote low-carbon, water-efficient farming methods that balance environmental sustainability with economic resilience.
This study, by centering on farmers' perceptions within a grounded theory framework, provides a nuanced understanding of how industrial and climatic transformations interact at the local level. It highlights the urgency of rethinking industrialization trajectories in rural Iran. It underscores the need for multi-layered policy solutions that ensure the long-term sustainability of agriculture in semi-arid regions.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
The first author was responsible for conceptualizing the research, developing the conceptual framework, conducting data collection, conducting interviews, coding and analyzing data using a grounded theory approach, and drafting the introduction and findings sections. The second author contributed to the literature review, the design of the research process based on grounded theory, data collection, and writing the methodology section. The third author participated in the coding process, data analysis, category development, and writing the findings and discussion sections. The fourth author contributed to data interpretation, scientific editing, content review, writing the conclusion, and final revision of the manuscript. All authors participated in reviewing and approving the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the authorship or publication of this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to all participants for their cooperation.تغییر اقلیم و صنعتی‌شدن از مهم‌ترین چالش‌های محیط‌زیستی عصر حاضر هستند که اثرهای عمده‌ای بر نظام کشاورزی، به‌ویژه در مناطق نیمه‌خشک دارند. این پژوهش با هدف بررسی ادراک کشاورزان استان اصفهان از گذار به جامعه‌ی صنعتی و پیامدهای آن بر کشاورزی، با استفاده از روش کیفی و رویکرد نظریه زمینه‌ای انجام شد. داده‌ها از طریق مصاحبه‌های نیمه‌ساختاریافته با ۲۹ کشاورز از مناطق مختلف استان گردآوری و با استفاده از روش کدگذاری سه‌مرحله‌ای اشتراوس و کوربین تحلیل شد. یافته‌ها نشان داد که کشاورزان «تخریب زیست‌بوم کشاورزی» را به‌عنوان پدیده‌ی اصلی می‌بینند، پدیده‌ای که تحت تأثیر عواملی مانند ساختارهای فناورانه پرکربن و سبک زندگی صنعتی شکل گرفته است. این پدیده به واسطه‌ی شرایط زمینه‌ای نظیر رشد جمعیت و فشار به منابع طبیعی، و همچنین مداخله‌های ناکارآمد دولت در زمینه مدیریت منابع آب و تغییر الگوی کشت، تشدید شده است. راهبردهای سازگاری کشاورزان با تغییر اقلیم، عمدتاً به‌صورت کشاورزی سودمحور و بهره‌برداری بی‌رویه از زمین و منابع طبیعی بوده است. این رویکردها منجر به پیامدهایی چون افزایش آفت‌ها، خشکسالی، بی‌نظمی اقلیم و کاهش تولید شده است. نتایج این پژوهش بر ضرورت بازنگری در سیاست‌های صنعتی، کشاورزی و محیط‌زیستی و همچنین تقویت رویکردهای مشارکتی و اقلیم‌محور و عدالت محیطی برای حفظ پایداری کشاورزی تأکید دارد. این پژوهش نشان می‌دهد که در مواجهه با تغییر اقلیم، سیاست‌های دولتی باید بیشتر با شرایط محلی هماهنگ شده و نیازهای کشاورزان در زمینه آموزش و توانمندسازی مدنظر قرار گیرد. همچنین، پژوهش بر اهمیت استفاده از رویکردهای چندوجهی در سیاست‌گذاری و مدیریت منابع برای بهبود وضعیت کشاورزی در مناطق آسیب‌پذیر تأکید می‌کند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_107557_cd2a2c736223d4299b93ea303bd54b13.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260520The Right to the City in Transition: A Bibliometric–Content Analysis of Conceptual and Policy Transformations (1967–2020)حق به شهر در گذار: مطالعه‌ای علم‌سنجی–محتوایی از تحول مفهومی تا سیاستی (۱۹۶۷–۲۰۲۰)14716110689510.22059/jhgr.2026.384631.1008752FAسعیدغلامیگروه شهرسازی، واحد تهران مرکزی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایران0000-0002-8371-0280آتوسامدیریگروه شهرسازی، واحد تهران مرکزی، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تهران، ایران0000-0003-0491-9252علیطیبیگروه شهرسازی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران، ایران0000-0002-2611-8846Journal Article20251214ABSTRACT
The “right to the city”, first introduced by Henri Lefebvre in 1968, is recognized as a foundational concept in human geography and urban planning. Emphasizing social justice, civic participation, and the equitable distribution of urban space and resources, this theoretical framework redefines the relationship among people, space, and power. However, the literature reveals a significant gap between its theoretical foundations and practical implementation, as urban policies face considerable institutional and structural challenges. The methodology adopts a mixed content-analysis approach, consisting of: (1) descriptive–quantitative analysis of word and category frequencies based on the classical framework of Lazarsfeld and Barton, and (2) inductive qualitative content analysis following Schreier’s methodological guidelines to extract themes, classify concepts, and interpret intertextual patterns. This mixed methods approach enables a deeper understanding of how the dimensions of the “RTTC” are represented across scientific and policy texts and supports a data-driven reconstruction of its conceptual structure. The findings indicate that RTTC embodies a network-based and non-hierarchical structure. Its social (participation and urban identity), planning (spatial justice and service distribution), political (governance and decision-making), and human (housing rights, lived experience, and social security) dimensions interact continuously. The final conceptual model highlights the overlap and mutual reinforcement among these dimensions. The interconnection of spatial justice, civic participation, transparent governance, and human experience forms the core of contemporary discourse. Achieving the full realization of this theory requires multi-level policymaking, institutional cooperation, genuine citizen participation, and the integration of social, spatial, environmental, and human justice into urban decision-making processes.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The Right to the City (RTTC), first articulated by Henri Lefebvre in 1968, has become one of the most enduring and transformative theoretical constructs in contemporary urban studies and human geography. Lefebvre challenged conventional understandings of the city as a neutral physical entity by conceptualizing it as a socially produced space shaped by dynamic relations of power, capital accumulation, political authority, and everyday life. In this formulation, urban space is neither merely a container of social processes nor a passive outcome of economic growth; rather, it is actively constructed through social struggles, institutional arrangements, ideological formations, and material practices that define urban existence. RTTC therefore represents a collective claim to reshape the production of urban space in accordance with principles of justice, democracy, participation, and human dignity. This theoretical orientation has profoundly influenced subsequent debates on urban citizenship and spatial justice across geography, sociology, political science, and urban planning.
Lefebvre’s original formulation emphasized two interrelated components: the right to participation and the right to appropriation. Participation refers to inhabitants’ active involvement in decision-making processes shaping urban development, while appropriation concerns the right to access and inhabit urban space meaningfully. Together, these principles articulate a reimagining of urban citizenship grounded not solely in legal status but in lived presence and social contribution. RTTC thus challenges liberal-democratic notions of citizenship by foregrounding inhabitance as the normative basis of rights claims. Moreover, this dual framework has provided a powerful analytical lens for critiquing exclusionary urban policies and advocating for more inclusive forms of city-making.
Since its introduction, RTTC has undergone significant reinterpretation and expansion. Scholars such as David Harvey reframed the concept as a collective right to reshape urbanization itself, linking it to critiques of neoliberal restructuring and uneven capital accumulation. Others extended the framework to urban governance, democratic accountability, spatial justice, environmental sustainability, and grassroots mobilization. In Latin America, the concept influenced municipal charters and constitutional reforms, while in Europe it contributed to debates on participatory democracy and inclusive planning. In North America, RTTC has been mobilized by community organizations fighting gentrification and displacement, demonstrating its practical relevance beyond academic discourse.
However, this diffusion has produced both enrichment and fragmentation. RTTC has been interpreted as a moral demand, political slogan, legal entitlement, human rights principle, and planning instrument. While this multiplicity broadened applicability, it also generated ambiguity regarding operational meaning. In practice, many urban administrations adopt participatory rhetoric while maintaining centralized authority, speculative land markets, and market-driven development. Consequently, a persistent gap remains between normative aspirations and institutional realization. This gap constitutes the central problem motivating the present study, as it hinders the translation of RTTC's emancipatory potential into tangible urban reforms.
Contemporary urban transformations further complicate this landscape. Globalization, housing financialization, privatization of public space, environmental degradation, climate vulnerability, migration pressures, and digital governance have intensified socio-spatial inequalities. Platform urbanism and data-driven management introduce new modalities of power, surveillance, and exclusion beyond traditional spatial injustices. Smart city technologies and algorithmic decision-making increasingly shape resource allocation, mobility, and access to services. These developments underscore the need to reassess RTTC’s conceptual architecture in light of twenty-first-century urban challenges. Without such reassessment, RTTC risks losing its critical edge in addressing emerging forms of urban inequality.
This study analyzes the global trajectory of RTTC discourse between 1967 and 2020 through mixed bibliometric and qualitative content analysis. It addresses three core research questions: How has RTTC been thematically represented in academic literature? What structural imbalances exist among its principal dimensions? How can these dimensions be integrated into a coherent framework capable of informing transformative urban policy? By reconstructing RTTC as a multidimensional paradigm, this research seeks to clarify its conceptual structure and enhance its relevance within contemporary governance debates. Ultimately, this study aims to analyze the global position of RTTC and examine its social, planning, political, and human dimensions to provide a coherent and applicable understanding of urban justice dynamics.
Methodology
This research employs a mixed-methods approach integrating quantitative bibliometric analysis with qualitative inductive content analysis. This dual approach enables both macro-level mapping of scholarly production and micro-level interpretation of conceptual development across different geographical and disciplinary contexts over an extended period.
A dataset of 1,186 academic documents published between 1967 and 2020 was compiled from Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and ProQuest. Search strategies combined terms such as “Right to the City,” “Spatial Justice,” “Urban Citizenship,” and “Urban Democracy.” The corpus included peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, book chapters, research reports, and doctoral dissertations. Inclusion criteria required substantive theoretical engagement with RTTC or closely related justice-oriented frameworks. Documents with only peripheral references were excluded to ensure analytical rigor. The extensive temporal coverage allows for a longitudinal analysis of conceptual shifts and thematic reconfigurations.
Descriptive bibliometric techniques were applied to identify publication trends, citation trajectories, and thematic clustering across decades. The analysis revealed modest academic engagement prior to 1990, gradual growth during the 1990s, and significant expansion after 2008. This post-crisis acceleration corresponds with renewed scholarly concern regarding austerity policies, housing crises, and widening urban inequalities. Keyword co-occurrence mapping identified dominant clusters around participation, governance, housing rights, spatial justice, and urban citizenship. After 2015, new clusters emerged around digital governance, smart cities, and data justice, indicating conceptual adaptation to technological transformations. These bibliometric patterns provide empirical evidence for the ongoing evolution of RTTC as a living theoretical framework.
Inductive qualitative content analysis followed structured coding procedures. A total of 2,983 meaning units were extracted and subjected to open coding. Recurring concepts were grouped into thematic categories and refined through iterative comparison. Four principal analytical dimensions were identified: social, planning, political, and human. Across these dimensions, twenty interrelated subcategories were delineated. This systematic approach allowed for the identification of both dominant and marginalized themes within the global RTTC literature. The qualitative dimension adds interpretive depth that bibliometric analysis alone cannot provide.
Intercoder reliability was assessed using Cohen’s Kappa coefficient, yielding a value of 0.82, which indicates strong agreement. Triangulation between bibliometric findings and qualitative thematic analysis strengthened validity and ensured analytical consistency. Multiple rounds of coding and cross-validation were conducted to minimize subjective bias and enhance reproducibility.
Results and Discussion
The findings demonstrate that RTTC functions as a networked conceptual system rather than a linear theoretical model. Its four dimensions overlap and interact dynamically, forming a multidirectional framework of justice-oriented discourse. This networked structure suggests that RTTC should not be understood as a fixed doctrine but as an evolving analytical paradigm capable of adapting to shifting socio-economic and technological contexts. The interconnections among dimensions reveal that conceptual development has occurred through cumulative layering rather than replacement, with new concerns expanding rather than displacing earlier justice-oriented claims. This networked configuration has significant implications for how scholars and practitioners operationalize RTTC in research and policy design.
The social dimension emerges as the most prominent thematic cluster. It emphasizes citizen participation, social inclusion, collective agency, grassroots mobilization, and urban identity formation. Participation is framed as the normative cornerstone of RTTC, reflecting the belief that democratic engagement is indispensable for equitable urban development. In numerous cases, this dimension is linked to the revitalization of local democracy and community-based governance initiatives. However, participation is frequently conceptualized procedurally rather than structurally. Mechanisms such as public consultation and participatory budgeting are widely discussed, yet deeper institutional power asymmetries often remain unaddressed. Intersectional analyses highlight how class, gender, ethnicity, and migration status mediate access to participation, revealing structural barriers embedded within governance systems. Addressing these barriers requires moving beyond tokenistic consultation toward genuine co-decision-making power for marginalized communities.
The planning dimension translates RTTC into spatial and policy-oriented instruments. Core themes include housing affordability, equitable service distribution, land-use regulation, inclusive zoning, and resistance to displacement and gentrification. This dimension operationalizes justice within regulatory and infrastructural frameworks and often intersects with debates on environmental sustainability and urban resilience. Nevertheless, planning reforms frequently operate within neoliberal economic paradigms that prioritize competitiveness and capital attraction. Public–private partnerships and speculative redevelopment projects may undermine redistributive objectives despite rights-based discourse. Consequently, spatial reform alone is insufficient to realize RTTC’s transformative ambitions without parallel political restructuring. Planners must therefore engage with political economy constraints rather than assuming that technical solutions can overcome structural inequalities.
The political dimension addresses governance structures, decentralization, accountability, and redistribution of decision-making authority. It foregrounds urban citizenship as an active and participatory practice rather than a passive legal designation. This dimension maintains that urban justice is inseparable from democratic control over economic and spatial processes. Despite its theoretical importance, empirical evidence suggests that political empowerment remains limited. Centralized authority and technocratic governance persist in many contexts, constraining meaningful redistribution of power. Without institutional redesign that embeds democratic oversight within planning and economic systems, participatory initiatives may remain merely symbolic rather than transformative. Political reform therefore emerges as a prerequisite rather than an optional complement to spatial and social interventions.
The human dimension represents a more recent evolution of RTTC discourse. It encompasses lived experience, cultural recognition, urban well-being, social protection, and digital inclusion. The expansion of smart city infrastructure has introduced concerns related to surveillance, privacy, algorithmic bias, and unequal technological access. Data justice emerges as a critical extension of spatial justice, emphasizing equitable governance of digital infrastructure and algorithmic transparency. This dimension emphasizes that urban justice must include recognition, dignity, and subjective well-being alongside material redistribution. It also highlights the growing importance of protecting inhabitants’ rights within technologically mediated urban environments. As cities become increasingly digitized, the human dimension of RTTC will likely grow in both scholarly attention and policy relevance.
Integrative nodes such as spatial democracy, participatory justice, cultural governance, and data equity illustrate the interdependence of dimensions. Transformative potential depends on coordinated progress across all four domains. Three structural imbalances persist: overemphasis on social participation without political restructuring; planning reforms constrained by market-oriented logics; and digital justice themes lacking comprehensive theoretical integration. These imbalances perpetuate the gap between normative discourse and policy implementation and underscore the necessity of adopting a holistic, structurally grounded approach to urban transformation. Overcoming these imbalances requires deliberate efforts to connect debates that currently proceed in relative isolation from one another.
Conclusion
The Right to the City continues to constitute a powerful normative and analytical framework for interrogating and addressing contemporary urban inequalities. Yet, its transformative capacity is contingent upon overcoming conceptual fragmentation and embedding its principles within durable institutional structures. This study advances a four-dimensional integrated model in which social participation, spatial equity, political empowerment, and human dignity function as mutually reinforcing components of a dynamic and interdependent system. Rather than treating these dimensions as discrete domains, the model conceptualizes them as structurally intertwined processes that must evolve simultaneously to generate substantive urban justice.
The findings demonstrate that isolated reforms (whether participatory mechanisms, spatial redistribution policies, or technological interventions) are insufficient in the absence of deeper political restructuring and institutional accountability. putting RTTC into practice thus necessitates multi-scalar governance reform, meaningful decentralization of authority, equitable redistribution of urban resources, and transparent decision-making frameworks. Furthermore, the protection of cultural recognition and digital rights must be incorporated into contemporary urban governance, particularly in light of expanding algorithmic management and data-driven infrastructures. Policymakers and urban practitioners should therefore adopt integrated strategies that address multiple dimensions of justice concurrently rather than sequentially.
In an era marked by climate uncertainty, socio-economic polarization, and rapid technological transformation, RTTC serves not only as a critical interpretive lens but also as a normative compass for inclusive and democratic urban future. This research, by clarifying its multidimensional architecture and identifying persistent structural imbalances, contributes to bridging the divide between theoretical discourse and policy practice, offering a coherent foundation for advancing more equitable, participatory, and human-centered urban development trajectories. Forthcoming research should build on these findings by examining how the proposed four-dimensional model can be operationalized in specific urban contexts and governance regimes.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
This article is derived from the first author's doctoral dissertation, conducted under the supervision of the second author and the advisory guidance of the third author. The first author collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. The second author supervised the research and revised the theoretical framework. The third author provided methodological guidance and critically reviewed the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.نظریه «حق به شهر» نخستین بار توسط هانری لوفور در سال ۱۹۶۸ مطرح شد. این نظریه با تأکید بر عدالت اجتماعی، مشارکت شهروندان و توزیع عادلانه فضا و منابع، رابطه میان انسان، فضا و قدرت را بازتعریف می‌کند. با این حال، مرور ادبیات نشان می‌دهد میان بنیان نظری و تحقق عملی آن در سیاست‌های شهری شکاف معناداری وجود دارد و اجرای آن با موانع نهادی و ساختاری روبه‌روست. پژوهش حاضر به دنبال تحلیل جایگاه جهانی این نظریه و واکاوی ابعاد آن است تا تصویری منسجم و کاربردی از پویایی عدالت شهری ارائه دهد. روش پژوهش ترکیبی و مبتنی بر (۱) تحلیل توصیفی–کمی فرکانس واژگان و مقولات بر پایه الگوی لازارسفلد- بارتون برای سنجش بسامدها و (۲) تحلیل محتوای کیفی استقرایی بر اساس روش‌های اشریر برای استخراج مضامین، طبقه‌بندی مفاهیم و تفسیر میان متنی است. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد نظریه «حق به شهر» ساختاری شبکه‌ای و غیر سلسله مراتبی دارد؛ ابعاد اجتماعی (مشارکت و هویت)، برنامه‌ریزی (عدالت فضایی و توزیع امکانات)، سیاسی (حکمرانی و تصمیم‌گیری) و انسانی (حق مسکن، تجربه زیسته و امنیت اجتماعی) در تعامل مستمر قرار دارند. مدل مفهومی نهایی بر هم‌پوشانی و تکمیل متقابل این ابعاد تأکید دارد. پیوند عدالت فضایی، مشارکت مدنی، حکمرانی شفاف و تجربه انسانی مبنای گفتمان معاصر است. برای تحقق کامل نظریه لازم است سیاست‌گذاری چند سطحی، همکاری نهادی، مشارکت واقعی شهروندان و ادغام عدالت اجتماعی، فضایی، زیست‌محیطی و انسانی در فرآیندهای تصمیم‌گیری شهری به کار گرفته شود و این مستلزم تعهد سیاست‌گذاران، تقویت ظرفیت‌های محلی و پایش مستمر سیاست‌هاست. ارزیابی سازوکارهای نهادی و شاخص‌های تأثیرگذاری نیز علاوه بر این اقدامات، ضروری‌اند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_106895_d766f24f372baba2c5864dd8856d1f78.pdfدانشگاه تهرانپژوهشهای جغرافیای انسانی2008-629658220260520Towards a Socially Constructed Smart City in Iran: Developing a Grounded Theory-Informed Conceptual Frameworkتحقق‌پذیری شهر هوشمند به‌مثابه برساختی اجتماعی در ایران: تدوین مدل مفهومی با رویکرد نظریه داده‌بنیاد16317910755410.22059/jhgr.2026.396514.1008815FAلالهتوانائی مرویگروه شهرسازی، دانشکده معماری و شهرسازی، دانشگاه علم و صنعت ایران، تهران، ایران0000-0002-0793-9286نیلوفرضخیمیگروه برنامه‌ریزی اجتماعی، دانشکده علوم اجتماعی، دانشگاه تهران، ایران0009-0009-6787-5833Journal Article20251214ABSTRACTThis study conceptualizes the smart city as a socially constructed phenomenon within the Iranian context and develops a localized, grounded conceptual model for its realization. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 stakeholders, including academics, municipal managers, technology specialists, and civil-society actors, and were complemented by 24 narrative interviews with residents from five under-resourced districts of Tehran. Data analysis followed open, axial, and selective coding with constant comparison and validation through triangulation, peer debriefing, and member checking. Findings revealed five interconnected dimensions shaping the realization of a socially smart city. Casually, citizen participation must evolve from token consultation to co-design with enforceable veto points, ensuring real influence in decision-making. Contextually, the rise of neighborhood-mediating capital, trusted intermediaries such as schools, women’s NGOs, and health houses, serves as the soft social infrastructure for technological acceptance. Intervening barriers include surveillance anxiety, platform illiteracy, and hidden access costs that reproduce digital inequalities. Strategically, the study proposes replacing general public training with critical digital literacy, implementing neighborhood-based pilot projects, and establishing a neighborhood data covenant to guarantee privacy, ownership, and grievance mechanisms. Consequently, success should be evaluated through justice-oriented indicators, reducing access gaps, enhancing agency, and fostering meaningful consent. Overall, the model reframes smart urbanism in Iran as a participatory, justice-centered, and culturally grounded process, offering policymakers and civic actors a practical roadmap for inclusive and socially responsive smart-city development.Extended AbstractIntroductionThe rapid advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has profoundly transformed the organization and functioning of cities. The smart city has emerged as a prevailing paradigm in contemporary urban planning, promising technological remedies to complex urban challenges such as congestion, pollution, inequality, and governance inefficiencies. Yet, global experiences demonstrate that a purely technocratic orientation is insufficient for sustainable smart city development. Smart cities are not merely technological systems; they are socio-technical constructs shaped by cultural values, power relations, and collective practices of participation and governance. With urbanization projected to encompass over 68% of the world’s population by 2025, the demand for inclusive, equitable, and contextually sensitive models of urban innovation has intensified. This study conceptualizes the smart city as a socially constructed process and examines the socio-cultural, institutional, and participatory mechanisms underpinning its realization in Iran. By employing a grounded theory approach, the research develops a localized conceptual model derived from empirical engagement with urban stakeholders. The central questions guiding the study are:-What causal, contextual, and intervening factors influence the formation of a socially inclusive smart city?-What strategies facilitate its realization?-What social outcomes emerge from this process?In addressing these questions, the research seeks to bridge theoretical gaps and inform policy frameworks attuned to local realities. MethodologyThis research adopts a qualitative design rooted in constructivist grounded theory, which is particularly suited to exploring complex, context-dependent phenomena from the standpoint of social actors. Data were gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 participants, including academics, municipal managers, technology experts, and civil-society representatives actively engaged in Iran’s smart city initiatives. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling to achieve theoretical saturation and ensure representation of diverse perspectives.The analytical process followed the coding procedures outlined by Strauss and Corbin open, axial, and selective coding facilitated through iterative comparison and memo writing. To ensure trustworthiness, triangulation, peer debriefing, and participant validation were employed. The study’s epistemological foundation rests on social constructivism, which views knowledge and reality as co-produced through interaction and shared meaning-making. By focusing on lived experiences and interpretive practices, the study constructs a grounded, empirically rich model of how technological, institutional, and cultural dimensions intersect in shaping smart urban transformations. Results and discussionThe analysis of qualitative data led to the formulation of a conceptual model composed of five interrelated dimensions: causal factors, contextual conditions, intervening barriers, strategic actions, and outcomes, which together explain the realization of a socially constructed smart city.Causal factors revealed that the foundation of a socially meaningful smart city lies in co-creation-based participation, where citizens actively engage in decision-making rather than serving as passive users of technology. Complementary drivers such as transparency, neighborhood-oriented governance, integrated management structures, and social inclusivity were identified as crucial for transforming smart city initiatives into participatory and human-centered processes.Contextual conditions underscored the importance of institutional coordination and policy coherence across governmental and non-governmental actors. Additionally, capacity-building programs and innovation-friendly investments emerged as enablers that can strengthen the institutional and social environment necessary for inclusive digital transformation.At the same time, several intervening barriers were identified as hindering progress. These include centralized and hierarchical decision-making systems, rigid bureaucratic frameworks, financial constraints, and ambiguous legal regulations. Moreover, the dominance of technocratic discourses—which frame smartness as purely technological—tends to obscure the complex social realities of urban life, further alienating citizens from governance processes.In response, the study identifies a set of strategic actions essential to socially grounded urban innovation as empowering marginalized communities, advancing critical digital literacy, fostering local innovation ecosystems, and building horizontal networks of collaboration among civil society, government, and the private sector.Finally, the outcomes of this socially constructed model extend far beyond technological optimization. They encompass enhanced civic participation, equitable access to urban services, improved quality of life, and the promotion of social justice and trust as core indicators of success.Overall, the findings demonstrate that the smart city should be conceived not as a top-down technological project, but as a socio-political process that demands inclusive governance, contextual sensitivity, and citizen empowerment. The proposed model thus offers a localized and practical framework for Iranian urban policymakers, one that navigates the intertwined dimensions of technology, society, and governance to achieve a more just, participatory, and sustainable smart urban future. ConclusionThis study reconceptualized the smart city as a socially constructed phenomenon and developed a grounded, context-specific model for its realization within the Iranian urban landscape. Moving beyond the dominant techno-centric and efficiency-driven narratives, the research emphasized that smart urbanism must be understood through the intertwined dimensions of social interaction, power relations, institutional structures, and cultural meaning-making.The findings reveal that the success of smart city initiatives depends not merely on the deployment of advanced technologies but on the quality of governance, the depth of citizen participation, and the extent of public trust. The neighborhood scale emerged as a vital arena where inclusivity, co-creation, and social learning can anchor technological innovation in everyday life. Thus, the smart city is best envisioned as a living ecosystem—where policy coherence, educational capacity-building, and cross-sectoral collaboration create enabling conditions for digital transformation.The proposed model demonstrates that the realization of a socially smart city results from the dynamic interplay among enabling factors (such as integrated management and investment in human capital), constraining forces (such as institutional rigidity and financial limitations), and strategic interventions (including empowerment, transparency, and participatory design). The outcomes—enhanced civic engagement, equitable access, urban resilience, and sustainability—underscore the need for a human-centered, justice-oriented paradigm of urban innovation.Theoretically, this research bridges grounded theory and social constructivism to advance the discourse on smart cities as socio-political constructs rather than mere technological frameworks. In practice, it provides a contextually grounded roadmap for policymakers, urban planners, and civic actors to steer smart urban development toward collective well-being. Ultimately, smart cities must be reimagined as inclusive, participatory, and ethically grounded spaces where technology serves people—not the other way around. FundingThere is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest. AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.شهر هوشمند به‌عنوان یک پدیده اجتماعی-فناورانه در بستر تعاملات اجتماعی پیچیده، قدرت، فرهنگ و گفتمان‌های حاکم میان کنشگران مختلف شهری شکل می‌گیرد. هدف این پژوهش، تبیین فرآیند تحقق شهر هوشمند به‌عنوان برساختی اجتماعی و ارائه مدلی مفهومی مبتنی بر روش‌شناسی نظریه داده‌بنیاد است. رویکرد این پژوهش کیفی و از نوع نظریه زمینه‌ای بوده و داده‌های آن از طریق مصاحبه‌های عمیق نیمه‌ساختاریافته با ۳۱ کنشگر کلیدی گردآوری شده و با ۲۴ مصاحبه روایی از ساکنان شهر تهران تکمیل شده است. یافته‌های پژوهش نشان می‌دهد تحقق شهر هوشمند از منظر اجتماعی مستلزم عواملی همچون مدل مشارکت مبتنی بر هم‌آفرینی، شفافیت و ارتقاء آگاهی، محله‌محوری، مدیریت یکپارچه، اعتماد عمومی، تنوع اجتماعی و همه‌شمولی است. همچنین، انسجام برنامه‌ای، بهبود ارتباطات میان نقش‌آفرینان و توسعه ظرفیت‌های آموزشی و سرمایه‌گذاری از زمینه‌های ضروری تحقق این رویکرد، شناسایی شدند. در مقابل، ساختارهای متمرکز، مقاومت سازمانی، محدودیت‌های مالی و قانونی و تصاویر ذهنی اشتباه از فناوری، موانع اصلی در این مسیر محسوب می‌شوند. پیامد و مزایای تحقق شهر هوشمند اجتماعی نیز شامل افزایش مشارکت شهروندان، افزایش پاسخگویی و شفافیت ، بهبود کیفیت زندگی و ارتقاء عدالت اجتماعی و پایداری شهری است. مدل مفهومی ارائه‌شده در این پژوهش، چارچوبی کاربردی و بومی برای سیاست‌گذاری، برنامه‌ریزی و اجرای پروژه‌های هوشمندسازی شهری در بستر اجتماعی ایران فراهم می‌کند.https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_107554_04f5dee246b1fab580947b49e3bd902f.pdf