Politics of the State and Urbanization Rescaling in Contemporary Iran (from 1789 to 2023)

Abstract

This article, following the theory of new state spaces and its terminology, explains the politics of the state and urbanization rescaling in Iran over three historical-political periods of 1789–1925, 1925–1979, and 1979–2023. The spatial-political projects promoted during 1789–1925 focused on scalar centralization and territorial customization of the state and urbanization. These projects shifted into scalar centralization and territorial uniformity during 1925–1979 and 1979–2023. These periods exhibit significant variation in their spatial-economic strategies and outcomes. The strategies of territorial equalization and scalar singularity at the regional scale were fostered to facilitate capital accumulation between 1789 and 1925. The second period shifted toward the strategies of territorial polarization and scalar singularity at the national level, and the third period followed the territorial equalization and scalar singularity on a national level.