Public Law Studies Quarterly

The Interaction of Law and the Street

Document Type : Article

Authors

Samaneh Rahmatifar 1
Marzieh Pilehvar 2

1 Associate Prof, Department of Law, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

2 Assistant Prof. Department of Law, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2024.357688.3300
Abstract
The widespread digitization has, intertwined with the very fabric of human life, reduced cities to mere spaces of work and residence, and streets to mere passageways. The aim of the present study is to examine the legal nature of the street and to clarify the interaction between law and streets. The research employs a descriptive-analytical method, wherein the components of a “good street,” as conceptualized in urban studies, serve as the theoretical framework and are compared with the legal requirements of streets, derived from principles of human rights and democracy. A good street has four key characteristics: permeability, safety, legibility, and physical and functional diversity. On one hand, assuming these characteristics exist at an adequate level, a street can become a space for the creation, enforcement, and oversight of legal norms, thereby fulfilling its role as part of the public sphere and allowing the street to influence law. On the other hand, law, by enforcing the three core principles of the international human rights system—freedom, equality, and solidarity—prescribes the design and development of streets, thus shaping them in return. The result of this interaction between law and the street is the revitalization of the street/city’s political function and the restoration of public participation from the virtual space back to the visible sphere of human life.

Keywords

democracy
human rights
security
freedom
equality
diversity
Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) Book
    2. Arendt, H. (1998). Human condition. 2nd Ed, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. Appleyard, B., & Riggs, W. (2021). Human rights to the street. Journal of Transport and Land Use Stable, 14 (1).
    3. Oomen, B., & Baumgärtel, M. (2018). Frontier Cities: The Rise of Local Authorities as an Opportunity for International Human Rights Law. The European Journal of International Law, 29 (2).

     

    1. C) Documents
    2. Human Rights Committee, (2020). General comment No. 37 on the right of peaceful assembly, CCPR/C/GC/37.
    3. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, (2019). Protest and Human Rights Standards on the rights involved in social protest and the obligations to guide the response of the State, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.
    4. Montréal city counci, (2005). Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, 05-056.
    5. United Cities and Local Governments Committee on Social Inclusion (2011). Participatory Democracy and Human Rights, Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City.
    6. UNOHCHR (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) (2018). Guidelines for States on the effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs.

     

    References In Persian:

    1. A) Book
    2. Pakzad, J. (2015). Urban Planning and Architecture Vice-Directorate. 1st pub, Tehran: Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (In Persian).
    3. Kamyar, G. (2013). City and Civil Rights. 2nd, Tehran: Majd Publication (In Persian).

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. Ostad Ghafari, S. (2016). Legibility- based urban regeneration, an approach toward both physical and contentual revival of the main structure. Motaleate Shahri, 5 (17), 29-40 (In Persian).
    3. Ashrafi, Y., Pourahmad, A., Rahnemaie, M. T., & Rafieian, M. (2014). Conceptualization and typology of contemporary urban public space. Geographical Urban Planning Research (GUPR), 2(4), 435-464. 10.22059/jurbangeo.2014.53590 (In Persian).
    4. Javidi kalateh jafarabadi, T., & Abdoli, A. (2018). Aesthetics and Art from Maxine Greene's View and its Educational Implications, New Educational Approaches, 12 (2), 21-45. 10.22108/nea.2018.95681.0 (In Persian).
    5. Charkhchian, M, (2017). Daily Life in Street. MANZAR, the Scientific Journal of landscape, 9 (39), 60-71 (In Persian).
    6. Hatami, Y., & Zakerhaqiqi, K. (2018). Investigating the Factors Affecting the Selection of Public Space by Citizens (Case Study: Bu-ali Sina and Ekbatan Walkways), Haft Hesar J Environ Stud, 6 (23), 81-94 (In Persian).
    7. Habibi, M., & Amiri, M. (2015). Right to the City From Current to Ideal City. Iranian Journal of Anthropological Research, 5 (2), 9-30. 10.22059/ijar.2015.59014 (In Persian).
    8. Khodabin, M., Shieh, E., Pour Jafar, M., & Khatibi, M. (2021). Investigation of causal components in integrating the body of the city (Case Study: District One of Karaj Municipality). Journal of the Geographical Studies of Mountainous Areas, 2 (3), 2021: 32-38 (In Persian).
    9. Rahmatifar, S. (2021). Legalization of Public and Private Sphere Theory, with Emphasis on Hannah Arendt’s View. Research in Theoretical Politics, 15 (28), 221-243 (In Persian).
    10. Zare Andarian G., Zabihi, H., & kardar, S. (2023). Explaining the Relationship between. jgs. 23(69), 155-178, 10.61186/jgs.23.69.155 (In Persian).
    11. Sinafar, A., Partovi, P., & Shokouhi, M. (2015), Investigating the Role of Permeability in Promotion of Quality of Environment of Neighborhood Unit (Case study: Tehran-Narmak). Hoviatshahr, 9(21), 91-100 (In Persian).
    12. Ghalambor Dezfuly, M., & Naghizadeh, M, Urban Design in the Context of Social Interaction Enhancement (Case Study: Street between Neighborhoods), Hoviatshahr, 8 (17), 2014: 15-24 (In Persian).
    13. Kazemian, G., & Masoumifar, A. H. (2019). Content and procedural analysis of the right to the city in the laws of the city and citizenship of Iran. Soffeh, 29(3), 83-100. doi: 10.29252/soffeh.29.3.83 (In Persian).
    14. kamyarrad, S., Hadavand, M., & kamyarrad, S., (2021), Right to the City, Public Law Researsh, 22(70), 250-282. https://doi.org/10.22054/qjpl.2020.43300.2175 (In Persian).
    15. Kpkabi, L., Izadi khorameh, H., Abdollahi, R., & Soleymani, R, (2013),Collective life in the green public space, an attitude on the cultural and social diversity of space use; A case study of Bagh Boland linear park in Shiraz. Research and Urban Planning, 3 (11), 97-114 (In Persian).
    16. Golchin, M. & Mafakheri, S. (2017). Environmental legibility and presence of citizens in public spaces of Tehran. Urban Sociological Studies, 7 (22), 23-46 (In Persian).

     

    1. C) Document
    2. Civilization Office of Tehran Municipality (2020). Eblaqieh Shoraie Fanie Shahrdarie Tehran dar Khosuse Monasebsazie Maabere Shahre Tehran (Pyadehro va Pyaderahha), 70/646634 (In Persian).
Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 55, Issue 4 - Serial Number 44
Winter 2026
Winter 2026
Pages 2909-2926

  • Receive Date 15 April 2023
  • Revise Date 08 June 2024
  • Accept Date 11 November 2024

Home

Journal Process Ethics

Peer Review Process

Submission

Indexing and Abstracting

Contact Us