Public Law Studies Quarterly

A Perspective on the Right to the City Based on the Works of Henry Lefebvre and David Harvey

Document Type : Article

Authors

Ghodratollah Noroozi 1
Mahdi Barati Ahmadabadi 2

1 Associate Professor, Department of Law, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

2 Master's student in Public Law, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22059/jplsq.2024.367121.3421
Abstract
The right to the city is one of the fundamental human rights recognized in both domestic and international instruments. However, urbanists have predominantly addressed this concept. This right has the potential to be considered a significant aspect of citizens’ rights, as urban life is currently facing crises and humans have lost their connection to the political nature of the city. This paper, while explaining the urban crisis, examines why people are excluded from participating in urban life, how urban spaces are often designed for commercial and administrative purposes, and how such designs deprive citizens of a sense of belonging by disconnecting them from the city’s symbols, meanings, and narratives. The right to the city serves as an invitation to overcome this condition. The prerequisites for this transformation involve a return to the city’s foundations, which provide citizens with a unified identity. Recent research highlights the importance of symbols and narratives in creating a sense of attachment among city inhabitants. By participating in the city’s narrative and redefining the conditions of such participation, humans can move beyond a state of alienation from the city. An essential element in redefining this principle is the urban landscape. In this study, the relationship between the aforementioned urban crisis, the loss of urban space, and the necessity of addressing its importance for the revival of participatory urban life is examined from a legal perspective.

Keywords

right to the city
urban landscape
Henri Lefebvre
David Harvey
participation
Subjects

  1. English

    1. A) Books
    2. Lefebvre, H. (1999). The production of space. (D. N. Smith, translation Blackwell.
    3. Mathivet, C. (2010). The Right to the City: Keys to Understanding the Proposal for Another City is Possible. Cities for all, proposals and Expriences Towards the right to the city. santiago: Habitat International Coalition.
    4. Prucell, M. (2002). Excavating Lefebvre: The right to the city and its urban politics of the inhabitant. GeoJournal.
    5. Surgranyes, A. (2010) Cities for all: articulating the social-urban capacities. Cities for all, Proposals and Expriences Towards the Right to the city. Santiago: Habitat International Coalition.

     

    1. B) Articles
    2. scannel, l., & gifford, r.(2010) Defining place attachment: A tripartite organizing framework. Journal of environmental psychology,30, p1-10.

     

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Public Law Studies Quarterly
Volume 55, Issue 4 - Serial Number 44
Winter 2026
Winter 2026
Pages 2563-2586

  • Receive Date 30 November 2023
  • Revise Date 27 March 2024
  • Accept Date 15 September 2024

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