Urban Economics and Planning

Urban Economics and Planning

Architecture, urban planning, and structural violence: mechanisms of producing anti-life space for the subaltern in contemporary cities

Document Type : Theoretical and fundamental

Authors
1 M.A. in Islamic Architecture, Department of Islamic Art and Architecture, Faculty of Islamic Art and Architecture, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran
2 Associated professor, Department of Urbanism, Ma.C., Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
3 Department of social sciences, Ma.C., Islamic azad University, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
This research critically investigates the pivotal role of architecture and urban planning in the perpetual reproduction of “structural violence” embedded within the physical fabric of contemporary metropolitan environments. The central research problem addresses precisely how spatial processes, urban policies, and decision-making frameworks systematically and covertly precipitate social exclusion, ultimately generating “anti-life space” for subaltern populations. Grounded in a rigorous qualitative methodology, specifically employing “thematic analysis,” this study conducts a profound examination of the mechanisms that generate spatial inequality. The requisite empirical data were meticulously aggregated from two primary sources: comprehensive library documentation across architecture, urbanism, and sociopolitical sciences; and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a distinct panel of 100 experts, comprising an equal representation of 25 university professors in architecture, 25 in urban planning, and 25 in sociology, alongside 25 experienced senior researchers. The core objectives include diagnosing the latent mechanisms within spatial policy-making that necessitate the marginalization of lower classes; analyzing the severe biological and infrastructural ramifications of these dynamics; and elucidating the interpretative power of theoretical frameworks, such as Galtung’s structural violence, Lefebvre’s production of space, and Harvey’s spatial justice. Furthermore, the study aims to formulate pragmatic strategies for mitigating spatial disparities. Conclusively, the findings demonstrate that the aggressive commodification of land, discriminatory zoning regulations, and displacement-inducing urban renewal projects function as the fundamental instruments of structural violence, which systematically erode the essential livability and socio-spatial rights of vulnerable communities within the modern urban landscape.
Keywords
Subjects

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Volume 7, Issue 6
September 2026
Pages 26-62

  • Receive Date 23 December 2025
  • Revise Date 04 January 2026
  • Accept Date 04 January 2026