Davood Eyvazlu; Mohammad Taghi Razavian; Mozaffar Sarrafi; Morteza Ghourchi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In this paper, through studying the air pollution and environmental destruction of Tehran metropolis, as a political, social, and economic issue, we discuss the competitive discourse between the nation-state (the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017) and the local ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
In this paper, through studying the air pollution and environmental destruction of Tehran metropolis, as a political, social, and economic issue, we discuss the competitive discourse between the nation-state (the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017) and the local government (municipality of Tehran 2013-2017) in terms of the creation of meaning, hegemony, and the production of space. Generally, the purpose of analyzing the above-mentioned discourses in this study is to identify the aspects that a particular discourse highlights or attempts to make some aspects absent. In Iran the local government (municipality) and the nation-state are affecting the city space through policies and management system. This paper focuses on the discourse of nation-state and local government in Tehran city.
2. Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this article is based on discourse analysis theory and representation and otherness concepts.
Representation:
Representation is a cultural process. It is also a political process, where individuals/groups seek to persuade or coerce others into accepting their representation as the “correct” one. Representations or “ideological fictions” are necessary for the discourse –logical consistency of planning practice. They structure our transcendent ideas and ideals of what is and what should be “out there”.
Absent/ Otherness:
Law believes that debates about social and environmental justice shift between presence and absence. Some presence/absences are deferred of relations not present now, but relations yet to come. There are oscillatory distributions between the present/now and the absent/future or the absent/now and the present/future. Thus, planning is a sort of creative agonistic between presence and absence, manifest and latent.
Discourse Analysis:
Discourse is a bunch of words which belong to the same formation. Analytical activity is the description of the united shape of the bunch of words which has no place for concepts of meaning, intention, and the moment of creation. The aim of the analysis is to deal with a set of functions at lingual (verbal) level as well as dealing with the positive shape of their definition.
3. Methodology
Discourse Analysis theory of Laclau and Mouffe is considered both as a theory and as a research method. In this regard, capitalizing on the method of discourse analysis, we examine two main discourses (discourse of nation-state, i.e., the eleventh government in Iran, 2013-2017; and local government, i.e., municipality’s discourse, 2013-2017) in terms of the air pollution in Tehran.
4. Discussion
Results show that the nodal point of the local government (municipality) discourse is public transportation and the floating signifiers of the local government’s discourse are the development of metro and green spaces. On the other hand, the nodal point of the national government’s discourse is "quality and control". The interviews by government officials indicate that the nation-state’s nodal point is based on the automobile quality supervision and fuel quality. As discourses are attempting to highlight or other some aspects of the reality, the development of metro (the achievement of the local government) is absent in the nation-state’s discourse; or it is trying to undermine the discourse of municipality by challenging the urban management. On the other hand, the local government (municipality) is Othering the impact of the urban management role (such as traffic or towers) on the increase of air pollution in Tehran City. Generally, findings indicate that both the local government and nation-state’s discourses seek to represent what they would like to be present out there.
5. Conclusion and Suggestions
Discourse analysis showed that both the national government and local governments are seeking to make hegemony by highlighting some aspect of the facts, in order to pretend to the society that their representation is true and their management has been successful. The local government (public transportation discourse) is highlighting the developments in Tehran’s Metro section, and the nation-state (technology-oriented discourse) is highlighting the control and quality. On the other hand, the share of the government's aid to the urban public transportation has been marginalized in the discourse of the national government and the impact of the urban management and urban traffic caused by an inappropriate land-use planning on Tehran’s air pollution is suppressed and othered in the municipality’s discourse.
Based on the discourse analysis, we can say that the next discourse should be based on an integrated development; i.e., good governance through strengthening the role of civil society. Also, according to the principles of good governance, enhancing the transparency and accountability in both local and national levels could be the first step to begin the process of reducing environmental problems and air pollution in Tehran metropolitan.
Mohammad Hassan Razavi; Mozaffar Sarrafi; Jamile Tavakoli-nia; Mohammad Taghi Razavian
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION
Globalization as a meta-process or a set of processes is largely accepted as free movement of capitals, goods, people, technologies, ideas, etc., all over the world. This “time-space compression” and formation of “space of flow” is changing our understanding ...
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Extended Abstract
1- INTRODUCTION
Globalization as a meta-process or a set of processes is largely accepted as free movement of capitals, goods, people, technologies, ideas, etc., all over the world. This “time-space compression” and formation of “space of flow” is changing our understanding of contemporary world, or in a better word, it compels us to think seriously about new ontology of space. At the same time, it is a fact that we are living in an urban era. Nowadays we can speak about “planetary urbanization”, and we can ask if there is any space which is not urban. No matter what we name them; concept, phenomenon, historical event or [meta]process, cities become the place of globaliztion. This leads to creat a body of studies in the urban domain. It is proclaimed that Iran, as a so-called developing oil-exporting country, with adherence to ideological government, is not part of this global space of flows or “Actually Existing Neoliberalism”. But it is possible to say that a process which compels us with a new ontology to space does not affect Iranian cities. We say NO. Hence, in this paper, the relationship between the globalization and Iranian cities raises a question. Then, the main question of this paper is as follows:
Q: How does globalization affect Iranian cities?
2-METHODOLOGY
This paper is a theoretical one. We used discourse analysis in order to answer the research question. On the other hand, we used the spatial distribution of urban mega-project in Mashhad as the second most populated city of Iran to show the theoretical framework in an actual existing policy in an Iranian city. For the spatial analysis, we used Spatial Autocorrelation in software such as ArcGIS and GeoDa.
3- RESULTS & DISCUSSION
It’s a belief that Iran is not part of the global space of flows. The minimum share of global capital circulation (Foreign Direct Investment is only 2 percent of Gross Fixed Capital formation in Iran) and the fact that Iran was ranked among the lowest countries in globalization indexes indicates its present position. Hence, Iranian cities are not considered as an actor in the global scale; none of the Iranian cities are in the world city network. Rennie Short named Tehran as a ‘Black Hole’; it is among eleven cities which met three criteria: they had a population of over 3 million, were not identified by GAWC as a world city and did not share their national territory with a world city.
There is a body of studies related to the globalization and cities in Iran. Most of them are dedicated to the dominant literature. They study the position of the Iranian cities in different rankings. They, generally, persist in the necessity of improving the position of Iranian cities in the global ladder of global cities. As a result, we can see ‘urban reconstruction for globalization’ as the key agenda for urban planners and city authorities in Iran. Some others conclude the fact that Iranian cities are not part of space of flows is rooted in the Constitution, because it represents specific geo-political code which limits the capacity of cities to play an active role in space of flow and it is why Short put Tehran amongst “Resisting Cities”.
This conception of globalization, which itself is discursive, based on some statements. It is necessary to reconstruct the city for globalization and it is one of the most important statements in today’s urban planning in Iran. We can claim that this statement is the “planning habitus” amongst Iranian planners and city authorities in Iran.
4- CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS
The dominant discourse of globalization, which is called as globalization of neoliberalism discourse, presents a linear-scalar interpretation. This discourse of globalization is shaping planning habitus amongst Iranian city authorities and planners. Iranian cities reconstructing based on globalization flow is a key statement for this discourse. Based on this common sense or habitus, cities compete to attract different form of capitals. On the mentioned statement, it is reasonable to accept that building “high-tech global trade zones” and “investing urban mega-projects” could help the process. This process will result in raising the position of Iranian cities among global cities. In this atmosphere, Islamic ideology and oil revenue are important issues in urban network of Iranian cities, for instance latter one play a major role in financing urban mega-projects.
All we have discussed here was about globalization and global scale. But local scale is also important. It is clearl that local communities continue to obtain political potential in the age of globalized power. Hence, the distinction between the “local” and the “global” as separate scalar fields remains problematic, as matters of the shifting boundary between a territorial inside and a territorial outside or as “in here” and “out there”.
Globalization and new communicational networks offer the potential of “action at a distance” and therefore we can suggest new type of community titled “distanciated community” in the “open source neighborhoods”. We could, thus, see localities as the sites of intersection and juxtaposition of new spatio-temporalities with older ones. Then we can speak about globalization in Iran Cities in different way (beyond studying Iranian cities in hierarchy of globalized city or studying APS spatial distribution).
