An examination of social, economic, and contextual factors influencing the physical heterogeneity of urban facades: A case study of Amir Kabir Corridor in Kashan, Iran

Abbasi, Zahra; Asgari, Ali

doi:10.22034/uep.2026.597643.1991

An examination of social, economic, and contextual factors influencing the physical heterogeneity of urban facades: A case study of Amir Kabir Corridor in Kashan, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Zahra Abbasi ¹

Ali Asgari ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Qo.C., Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/uep.2026.597643.1991

Abstract

Urban façade heterogeneity cannot be attributed to differences in architectural style or aesthetic preference, as façades take form within social, economic, and cultural relations and with the surrounding context. This study provides an interpretive analysis of the social, economic, and cultural factors associated with differences and heterogeneity in urban façades along the Amir Kabir Corridor in Kashan, Iran. The research adopts a qualitative approach and a case study strategy. Data were collected by documenting 10 façades and conducting 20 semi-structured interviews with experts in architecture, urban design, urban planning, landscape, and management. Cases were selected through purposive maximum-variation sampling according to differences in style, scale, materials, ornamentation, and relationship to the surrounding context. Interview data were examined using deductive–inductive directed content analysis. Findings indicate that differences among façades are not limited to formal choices but also reflect owners’ and designers’ preferences, economic conditions, urban regulations, and contextual factors in the selected study area. Analysis revealed four patterns: “representational differentiation,” “differentiation accompanied by scale dominance,” “context-responsive differentiation,” and “contemporary expression.” Architectural differentiation does not necessarily produce heterogeneity; rather, when differences in form, materials, color, height, ornamentation, or skyline are accompanied by weak relationships with the surrounding street wall, visual fragmentation and reduced coherence increase. Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, taste, and distinction, together with Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, were employed to interpret these relationships. Since owners, developers, and designers were not interviewed directly, this interpretive linkage does not establish a direct relationship between actors’ capital and façade characteristics.

Keywords

Urban faç

ade, physical heterogeneity, economic capital, cultural capital, aesthetic taste, Amir Kabir Corridor, Kashan, Iran

Subjects

Urban Studies

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