چكيده به لاتين
Problem statement: As one of the most important urban subsystems, the space-places are a source of plurality and heterogeneity and the objective-concrete manifestation of various conflicts and controversies, and due to the role played by various interest groups, they are facing increasing pressure to respond to various expectations. Most of these conflicts originate from the fact that the expectations of more powerful stakeholders than urban space-places are generally at the cost of losing and neglecting the space-places demands of other stakeholders and lead to the emergence of conflict and unequal confrontations between this two parties and what remains is a conflict that is potentially present in the nature of urban space-places and can be actualized at any time and by any means. This duality has its own actors that each of them, through their agency, demand their desired values from the city and somehow influence the production process of urban space-place. The important point is that if the values of a powerful group prevail, and the values of others are rejected and suppressed, the urban balance will undergo significant and destructive impulses. In order to play their part in establishing balance, the space-places must act as a mediator as usual in any other conflict, and henceforth manage conflicts and contradictions in a way. In this sense, space-place is a mediating layer that must respond comprehensively and fairly to the multiple and diverse and of course heterogeneous expectations of different actors and agents, and in a way, mediate between them in an egalitarian way.
Research Significance and Objective: In many contemporary cities, including Tehran, we are faced with the absence or presence of the dysfunction of this intermediate layer, in such a way that the values and norms of the powerful subjects dominate the values and expectations of other sections of the urban society, and as such, citizens' quota from the city in regard to their daily life has decreased increasingly and is facing a severe and continuous quality decline, and as a result, the space-place quality is facing serious risks. In these cities, the space-places are unable to mediate between conflicting values and interests that arise from diversities and, of course, supremacy and dogmatism. It seems that assigning such a role to urban space-places in such a way that they can resist against violent and inequality creating forces and have the ability to mediate properly for the realization of the collective rights of citizens requires an ontological and epistemological redefinition; i.e. it can explain the procedures governing space-places and its dynamics, regardless of the static and content view, because the content of space-places, whatever it is, will never be separated from the procedures leading to this content. Considering it, the final purpose of this article is explaining and describing the coordinates of this interface layer, which are the same spaces-places.
Research Metodology: For this purpose, the present research goes through a three-stage process, and during it, while redefining the ontology of space-places (description of their ontology) both in the sphere of theoretical thought and in the context of Tehran city, provides an epistemological analysis of how inherent and potential conflicts and disputes are actualized in urban space-places, both in the field of opinion and in the field of action (Tehran), at the same time, it present epistemological prescriptions to solve or adjust the aforementioned conflicts, either theoretically or in the form of contextual actions to the audiences. For this purpose, the methodology of this treatise has gone through a multi-stage process. The supporting philosophy of the present research is expressed in three parts of the paradigm governing the research and, accordingly, the description of the ontology and epistemology of the research process. Considering the foundations and theoretical model of this research, which implies to the space-place phenomenon as a heterogeneous and dialectical general (quasi object-quasi subject) and assumes the inseparability of the subject and the object in the context of this phenomenon, the paradigm of post positivism is the governing paradigm of the current research. According to this paradigm, deep realism has been chosen as the ontological view of the research, which, while adhering to the general principle of realism, i.e. the independence of objective phenomena from subjects or observers, also believes and emphasizes on reality as a social construct which is a cognitive product arising from social subjects. Having said that, and considering this relativistic and relational ontological position, among different epistemological positions, the approach of this research is based on social constructivism, which is based on a kind of communication activity between subjects and objects and the role of intersubjectivity in communicating with objects and creating meaning in everyday life by emancipating itself from the objective-subjective duality. The approach of the research is a combined retroductive-abductive approach, and among the different types of research, the current type of research is exploratory-developmental, which, on the one hand, and by contributing of the ontological approach, seeks to discover the nature and essence of space-places in the modern city and redefining it, and on the other hand, and through an epistemological approach, looking for the cause or actualizing factors of potential conflicts in the inside of space-places, as well as developing a mediating layer (the urban-relational) for mitigating of these conflicts. According to the paradigm governing the ontology and epistemology of this research, the method of this research is qualitative. Considering that this research aims to lead to a procedural theory about redefining the existence-cognitive knowledge of space-place as the urban-relational, therefore uses the contextual data of samples in the city of Tehran, and also the strategy of the contextual theory (grounded theory), and techniques such as content analysis and coding.
Research Structure: The structure of this research is based on five chapters, which respectively include the research overview, the literature of the subject and the theoretical foundations of the research, the research methodology, the analysis of the research data, and finally the research findings and conclusions. The first chapter covers discussions such as the research problem, its distinction from other researches, the importance and necessity of this research in the city of Tehran, research goals and questions, a summary of the research methodology and finally, explaining the limitations of the author's procedures and content in conducting research. In the second chapter and corresponding to the goals and questions of the research, the theoretical foundations are presented in three descriptive, analytical and prescriptive parts, which is respectively dedicated to the theoretical literature in the field of space-place production and social integrity (the first part), criticism of the political economy of space-place (the second part) and finally, the theory of assemblage (the third part) and in conclusion, by summarizing the discussions has been presented the combined theoretical framework of the research. By detailed explaining of the philosophy supporting the research method in three parts of the paradigm governing the subject of research and, accordingly, the ontology and epistemology related to it and by using a combined retroductive-abductive approach, and finally by relying to qualitative method, the third chapter has continued to explaining exploratory-developmental research and therefore the strategy of contextual theory, and methods and techniques such as content analysis and coding have paved the way of collecting data and their analysis. The heart of the matter in the fourth chapter and according to the strategy of contextual theory, is a three-stage coding of the research data which includes open coding, axial coding, and finally core coding. The final chapter of this research sought to answer the three sub-questions of this research and also its main question which goes through two channels of philosophical-theoretical answer and contextual answer in the context of Tehran. Finally, the three-dimensional theoretical model of the research has been obtained.
Research Analysis, Findings and Conclusion: In response to the first question of the research, at first the descriptive core propositions of the research have been determined by relying on cumulative descriptive core codes based on five sensitive concepts: "power in its various divisions”, “public good”, “communications and interactions”, “daily life", and "meanings and symbols" and by using the DPSIR coding family, the descriptive core propositions and their relationship with this family were identified in order to prepare the answers to the first question of the research about the nature of space-place in Tehran. In response to the first question, at first it has been presented a theoretical description and then a contextual description in the context of the Tehran city. In the theoretical explanation, space-place is inherently political and in the form of quasi-object and quasi-subjects, the urban-relational, heterogeneous and dialectical, which mediates the communications and relationships between an objectivity and its concrete subjectivities, and in other words, is intermediary between the structure (political power) and agency (daily life). In the contextual explanation, the space-place is in the city of Tehran as a political macro-concept that is planted as a seed in scenic design farm of structure-activity and therefore, it struggling to passivize and suppress the agency aspect constantly by contributing of the communications and interactions of different personas inside it which have been heavily affected by the pest of power in its structural aspect. As a result of the increasing structural pressures and the constructed situation resulting from these pressures, the space-place has turned into pure objects in Tehran that carries a limited and poorly maintained facet of the urban-relational and have advanced and different divisions of political power with increasing eliminating the difference from it, has continued process of homogenization and unification and by therefore it has been denied possibility of any dialectical action that can create a mediating synthesis among the communications and relationships between the space-place objectivity and the its concrete subjectivities. The relationship between the two-dimensional scenic design of structure-agency and space-place as an the urban-relational in Tehran can be interpreted as the dual axes of coordinates that one of the axes fluctuates between the power structure (macro layer of social integrity) and the agency of everyday life (the micro layer of social integrity), and the other axis implies the fluctuations of the urban-relationship of space-places, and due to the pressures, actions and communications that exist between the different aspects of these coordinates, finally has been emerged a situation that is conflicting and controversial, and at the same time, it has dimmed the possibility of space-place mediation in Tehran as the urban-relational.
In response to the second question of the research, at first the core analytical propositions of the research have been determined by relying on the cumulative core analytical codes and based on eleven sensitive concepts: "urban rent/added value of rent", "exchange value/use value", "capital accumulation", "capital accumulation", “inequality” ,"right to the city/the communal ", "deprivation of ownership", "governance", "production/reproduction", "consumption of space", "redistribution" and "academy and urban disciplines", and then by using the DPSIR coding family were identified analytical core propositions and their relationship with this family in order to prepare the answers to the second question of the research about the main causes of the actualization of disputes and conflicts in the existence of urban space-places in Tehran. In response to the second question, also at first a theoretical analysis and then a contextual analysis in the context of Tehran have been presented. In the aforementioned theoretical analysis, it has been pointed out to the existence of different values and interests in the upper and lower levels of "social integrity" (structural aspect and agency aspect) and multiple and sometimes skew subjective meanings that different subjects have towards a single space-place which all create contradictions and internal conflicts in the existence of every space-place and give it an inherently dialectical nature. In the contextual analysis in the context of Tehran ,then, it has been determined the main causes of the actualization of disputes and conflicts in the existence of space-places in the imbalance of the scenic design of the structure-agency that the dominance of political power in its structural aspect and struggling to weaken, passivize and suppress the agency aspect has been caused situations and effects arising from the actions and reactions of the driving forces and the pressures on the space-place procedures. This active forces put increasing pressures on the procedures of the formation of urban space-places in Tehran in its structural aspect by mediating of diverse and numerous personalities active, and consequently, they cause various conflicting and controversial space-place situations and effects. The extreme weakening of the urban-relationship axis in the mediating coordinates of space-places in the city of Tehran has led to an unmediated conflict between the upper and lower layers of social integrity in Tehran, or in other words, between the structure of political power and the agency of everyday life, and inevitably, have been revealed more than before the contradictions and conflicts that according to the definition are inherent and permanent in the urban space-places. In this unmediated conflict, therefore, that party has certainly been the superior side (albeit apparently) that has more powerful elements and tools (money, force, knowledge, politick, media, ideology, etc.) and has complete control over the space-places, both in terms of form and function and also of their behavior (influenced by the behavior of those in charge of their production). With such an analysis, the space-places in the city of Tehran have been pushed and pushing to an almost enormous aspect of the urban-relational, which is no longer the main driving force of constructive urban transformations in the capital, nor the bearer of the role of subjectivity or agency, but rather is a carrier for oppression and suppressing the agency of everyday life and then with the ever-increasing and of course inevitable inclination towards the macro level (political power structure), it follows the eliminating of any difference, the destroying of any diversity, leave no room for discussion of any heterogeneity and moving towards absolute uniformity in the urban space-places of Tehran and therefore moves in the direction of the possibility of space-place representations and imposing structural assumptions on citizens; and this means the pure objectivity of space-places and the lack of any agency-subjectivity on their part. With such a mise-en-scène or scenic design of controversial space-place in Tehran, whose conflicts revealing more than before, it is clear that the urban-relational is moving more and more towards complete sterility, and in the end, the collapse of social integrity in Tehran will be likely.
In response to the third question of the research, at first, the prescriptive core propositions of the research have been determined by relying on the cumulative prescriptive core codes based on four sensitive concepts: "material and social agency/collective power/generative criticism", "inclusiveness and inclusion", "multiscale interactions and confrontations", and " the communal" and by using the DPSIR coding family were identified prescriptive nuclear propositions and their relationship with this family in order to prepare the answers to the third question of the research about how to mitigate the disputes and conflicts in the urban-relational existence of space-places in Tehran by the intermediary layer. In response to the third question, at first, it has been presented a theoretical prescription and then a contextual prescription in the context of Tehran city. In the aforementioned theoretical prescription, resolving or mitigating the disputes and conflicts that exist in the inherent and potential form in the existence of space-place, it should go through the theory of "assemblage theory" and the capacities and capabilities that can be assumed for spaces-places in this way. Therefore, the space-place, according to the definition of assemblage, is a collection of multiple and heterogeneous parts, including the intersubjective communications of various human and non-human subjects, and the space-place effects, which will be create through it multiple, diverse and dialectical communications. In the contextual prescription in the context of Tehran city, the actualizing of conflicts and disputes in the existence of space-places in Tehran has been stated as the product of juxtaposition and territorialization of various concrete space-place elements inside of the farm-like scenic design of the structure-agency by mediating the performance of different personas. Since this territorialization is affected and bound by driving forces and increasing pressures of structural power in the capital, to emancipating from it (deterritorialization from assemblage of actualized spatial-place) and embodying an alternative spatial-place possibility (reterritorialization of an potential alternative the urban-relationship assemblage) that guarantees the relative mitigating of conflicts in Tehran, should be pursued the change and rearrangement of the aforementioned three aspects. For this purpose, it should be transformed scenic design of governing on the urban space-places, in both structural and agency aspects that is the image of the ruling thought on the existing spatial-place procedures in Tehran city.
