ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an insight into the meaning of informal urbanization in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s system of government that emanates from a dual legal mechanism – constitutional and Sharia law. The Islamic Republic represents a relatively new type of political system in countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. This research seeks a new meaning for informal urbanization in this unique socio-economic and political context and provides insights into how marginalized residents use the duality of legal mechanisms to claim their rights to the city, and, in particular, how it influences the process of democratization in Iran. This chapter also investigates the role of Astan-e-Qods Razavi (AQR), a religious organisation, and its interactions with the Road and Urban Development Organisation Khorasan Razavi (RUDKR), which represents formal planning in informal settlements. Critical theories, including the political economy of space, are deployed to investigate the informal settlements around the holy city of Mashhad.