A Reflection on The Placiality of Social Formations in Urban Spaces Based on Georg Simmel’s “Sociology of Space”A Case Study of Enqelab Street (between Vali-asr Intersection and Enqelab Square) In Tehran

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Graduated from the master of landscape architecture of tehran university

2 University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Problem statement: many scholars have put forth many theories about Urban Topics. George Simmel observed the city as more of a social structure than a mere physical and material being. By stating the 5 dimensions of space, Simmel defines the city as a mental reality formed in the context of social interactions. The Enghelab street in Tehran, a symbol of historical breakup in the growth shape of the city, bears features such as varied faces of renewal and modernism and acting as the scene of political demands. Moreover, its geographical location and special accessibility for the mass population thanks to its central position exposes this street to the social border and space exclusivity which Simmel discusses.
Research objective: The current paper aims to examine certain aspects of Simmel’s views on the placiality of social formations by scrutinizing these formations in Enghelab street.
Research method: The Enghelab street of Tehran was chosen as a case study because of its high level of interactions and its varied social formations which is a product of historical events, geographical location, etc. The author has tried to examine the social interactions in this street using the opinions of Simmel by accumulating visual and textual documents using a library-documentary and fieldwork method, also, observing related documents on the internet and, afterward, analyzing this information in an exploratory-comparative manner.
Conclusion: Considering the principles Simmel offers for macro social definitions such as uniqueness, boundaries, etc. and his method, which is to excavate the most delicate social interactions in order to discover the strongest social bonds, the acquired documents all point to a social gap in the Enghelab street from a politic point of view. The discovered social gap and interaction are not only explicable through Simmel’s principles, but also, just as he had mentioned they are all placial.

Keywords

References

• Atashinbar, M. (2010). Analysis of meaning and mass in Enghelab (Revolution) Street. Journal of Manzar, 2(11): 38-43.
• Fialkov, Y. (2009). Urban Sociology. Translated by Nikgohar, A. Tehran: Agah Press.
• Frisby, D. (1997). Georg Simmel: First Sociology of Modernity. Journal of Theory, Culture and Society, 2(3): 68-80.
• Frisby, D. (2007). Georg Simmel. Translated by MosammaParast, Sh. Tehran: Qoqnoos Press.
• Kavianirad, M. & Azizi, K. (2011). Placial identity role in exposing political action, a case study of Enqelab street and square in Tehran. Journal of Practical Research of Geographical Science, 17(20): 151-167.
• Lechner, F. J. (1991). Simmel on Social Space. Journal of Theory, Culture and Society. 8(3): 195-201.
• NajafiZade, M. (2017). ShahReza Street, A Narration of kourosh Shishegaran’s Poster*Art+Art. Tehran: Journal of Angah, 4: 66-67.
• Simmel, G. (1994). Bridges and Doors. Journal of Theory, Culture and Society, 11(1): 3-7.
• Simmel, G. (1997). Simmel on culture. SAGE Publications
• Tonkiss, F. (2015). Space, City and Social Theory. Translated by Parsi, H. & Aflatooni, A. Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
• Zieleniec, A. (2017). The Hermeneutics of the Urban Spatial Sociologies of Simmel, Benjamin and Lefebvre. In: Janz B. (eds). Place, Space and Hermeneutics. Vol. 5. Florida: Springer, Cham.
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar
Volume 16, Issue 73
July 2019
Pages 65-76

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics