{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T17:45:17Z","timestamp":1754156717365,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":72,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]],"date-time":"2019-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1573430400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ARCH"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,11,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to explain how abstract space of the State \u2013 universally and specifically within the context of Middle Eastern cities \u2013 aims to homogenise the city and eliminate any anomaly that threatens its power structure.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Through a historical and discourse analysis of these policies and processes in the two case studies, this paper presents a contextualised reading of Lefebvre\u2019s concept of abstract space and process of abstraction in relation to the alienation of political public spaces.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The paper proposes that regardless of these homogenising strategies being applied universally, they fail to respond to contextual particularities and therefore they \u2013 in a contradictory manner \u2013 may themselves produce a space of resistance and difference.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This paper focusses on Iran, the case of Tehran and Turkey, the case of Taksim Square and Gezi Park in Istanbul. Recent policies and strategies have been proposed and implemented to reduce, alienate and possibly neutralise the impacts of urban and political protests in these cities and socio-political contexts.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/arch-03-2019-0054","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,21]],"date-time":"2019-10-21T10:54:41Z","timestamp":1571655281000},"page":"483-497","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["The abstract space and the alienation of political public space in the Middle East"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Farzad","family":"Zamani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7381-6663","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Asma","family":"Mehan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"7-8","key":"key2019120913361636000_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276414549264","article-title":"Post January Revolution Cairo: urban wars and the reshaping of public space","volume":"31","year":"2014","journal-title":"Theory, Culture and Society"},{"key":"key2019120913361636000_ref002","unstructured":"Abrahamian, E. 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