Fragmentation, Monorail and Urban life in Kermanshah

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Razi, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

This article seeks to study the social and cultural consequences of Monorail on the urban life of Kermanshah. The theoretical approach is based on Michel De Certeau's theory on strategies and tactics in everyday life. Urban planners have abstract and top-down approach to policy decisions. On the other hand, people make the city habitable for themselves through their everyday actions and spatial narratives. The research method of this article is ethnography and the deep observation and interviewing techniques have been used for gathering data. The findings show that Kermanshah is a fragmented, multicultural city that needs a public space for social solidarity. The place of Monorail construction is the main corridor of the city that as an important public space plays a prominent role in the multicultural society of Kermanshah. Monorail as a wall, has caused more segregation in the city and also it has transformed the main public space of Kermanshah to a non-place. Monorail concrete structure is tedious, alienating and uniform and it has destroyed the history and memories of some districts; as being located next to Khosrow-parviz Hunting Ground and Taq-e Bostan, it has postponed their registration in the World Heritage. As a tactic, people of Kermanshah have chosen some other places as the main public spaces of their city; they have transformed some highways into linear parks and also they have created the market of Dolatabad spontaneously in one of informal settlements of Kermanshah.

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