Inclusive Urban Gateways: Towards Socially Just and Open Urban Systems
Abstract
This article reimagines the concept of urban gateways, highlighting their potential to promote social equity and inform policy decisions in urban development. The research explores how urban gateways can be adapted to meet contemporary needs, focusing on their evolving forms, functions, and conceptualizations. Using grounded theory, a case study of Shiraz’s Qur’an Gate illustrates how the concept of a gateway can be reinterpreted as a cultural entity that remains relevant in urban planning. The analysis identifies five primary categories that define urban gateways: spatial, functional, environmental, social, and perceptual. These categories emphasize the potential for gateways to contribute to balanced urban development strategies that promote social justice. The research advocates for a transition from closed to open spatial systems in gateway design, driven by cultural, economic, and political considerations. This shift can lead to policies that foster social and economic balance, urban decentralization, and a more inclusive urban environment. By examining gateways as thresholds and nodes within urban networks, the research investigates their ability to connect local, regional, and even global scales. The concept of projective and topological spatial performance is introduced, suggesting ways in which gateways can be designed to redefine their roles within the evolving urban landscape. Ultimately, this article emphasizes the importance of reconceptualizing urban gateways as tools for promoting social equity and shaping policies toward more just and open urban systems.
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Çalışkan, O. (2010). Urban gateway: Just a symbol, or more? (Reappraising
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https://doi.org/10.1080/13574800903424226
Drisko, J. W., & Maschi, T. (2016). Content analysis. Oxford University Press.
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26(3–4), 251–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210869308701802
Ferguson, M., Maoh, H., & Kanaroglou, P. (2012). Simulating sustainable urban
gateway development: Illustration from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Transportation
Research Record, 2269(1), 135–144. https://doi.org/10.3141/2269-16
Gallent, N., Andersson, J., & Bianconi, M. (2006). Planning on the edge.
Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203099193
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[Assessing environmental qualities in the city gateway and prioritizing them by means
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interaction: Urban places in the system of chains. Global Networks, 10(1), 75–91.
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Kamanroodi Kojuri, M., Ghalehteimouri, K. J., Janbazi, A., & Azizpour, F.
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https://doi.org/10.22146/ijg.41303
Khalilian, S., Zandieh, M., & Alehashemi, A. (2021). Dar jost-vajvey voroodi
shiraaz, barresi taghiiraat manzar voroodi shahr shiraaz—darvazeh ghoraan—az
pish az ghaajaar ta emrooz [In the search of Shiraz entry: Investigation of changes
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University of Washington Press.
Madanipour, A. (2003). Modernization and everyday life: Urban and rural change
in Iran. In A. Mohammadi (Ed.), Iran encountering globalization: Problems and
prospects (pp. 137–148). Routledge.
Madanipour, A. (2006a). Early modernization and the foundations of urban growth
in Tehran. In S. Nasseri & A. Ahgary (Eds.), Bauten im Laufe der Zeit [Constructions
over time] (pp. 95–114). VINI, TU-Berlin.
Madanipour, A. (2006b). Urban planning and development in Tehran. Cities,
23(6), 433–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2006.08.002
Madanipour, A. (2011). Sustainable development, urban form, and megacity
governance and planning in Tehran. In A. Sorensen & J. Okata (Eds.), Megacities:
Urban form, governance, and sustainability (pp. 67–91). https://doi.org/10.1007/
978-4-431-99267-7_4
Manoukian, S. (2002). The city of knowledge: History and culture in contemporary
Shiraz [Master’s thesis, University of Michigan]. The University of Michigan Library.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/123569
Manoukian, S. (2012). City of knowledge in twentieth century Iran: Shiraz, history
and poetry. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203802496
Melville, A. (2015). The gateway to the south: Enhancing connectivity between
port and town [Master’s thesis, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington].
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Open Access Institutional
Repository. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.17057918.v1
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China Finance and Economic Review, 1, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-5633-1-2
Pilehvar, A. A. (2021). Spatial-geographical analysis of urbanization
in Iran. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8, Article 63.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00741-w
Punter, J. (Ed.). (2009). Urban design and the British urban renaissance.
Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869208
Rahimzadeh, P., & Ahari, Z. (2022). Darvazeh dar shahrhaaye sadeh-haaye
nkhost eslaami iraan ('elmi pajhooheshi) [A study of city gates in early Islamic
cities of Iran]. Journal of Iranian Architecture Studies, 9(17), 77–96. https://doi.org/
10.22052/9.17.77
Rodrigue, J.-P. (2004). Freight, gateways and mega-urban regions: The logistical
integration of the Bostwash corridor. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale
Geografie, 95(2), 147–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0040-747X.2004.t01-1-00297.x
Sabet Sarvestani, M. S., Ibrahim, A. L., & Kanaroglou, P. (2011). Three decades of
urban growth in the city of Shiraz, Iran: A remote sensing and geographic information
systems application. Cities, 28(4), 320–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2011.03.002
Sabharwal, M., Levine, H., & D’Agostino, M. (2018). A conceptual content analysis
of 75 years of diversity research in public administration. Review of Public Personnel
Administration, 38(2), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X16671368
Sadeghi, A. R., Khakzand, M., & Jangjoo, S. (2019). Historical analysis of
the role of bazaar on the formation of Iranian Islamic urban forms; Case study:
Shiraz, Iran. Armanshahr Architecture & Urban Development, 12(26), 89–101.
https://doi.org/10.22034/aaud.2019.89058
Sarmento, J., & Kazemi, Z. (2014). Hammams and the contemporary city: The
case of Isfahan, Iran. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 20(2), 138–156.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.736873
Scholvin, S. (2021). Analysing gateway cities at different scales: From global
interlinking and regional development to urban branding. Geography Compass, 15(7),
Article e12579. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12579
Scholvin, S., Breul, M., & Diez, J. R. (2019). Revisiting gateway cities: Connecting
hubs in global networks to their hinterlands. Urban Geography, 40(9), 1291–1309.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1585137
Shabani, E. A., & Kamyab, J. (2013). Siyasat shahri dar taarikh moaaser iraan
(1299 – 1320 h.esh) ba takid bar fazaahaaye 'omoomi shahr tehraan [Urban politics
in Iran’s contemporary history (1921–1941) with an emphasis on public spaces
of Tehran]. Bagh-e Nazar, 9(23), 83–92. https://www.bagh-sj.com/article_2458.html
Sharifi, A., & Murayama, A. (2013). Changes in the traditional urban form and
the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities. Habitat
International, 38, 126–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007
Shibley, R. G., Brooks, B., Farbstein, J., & Wener, R. (2011). Partnering strategies
for the urban edge: 2011 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. Bruner Foundation.
https://www.rudybruneraward.org/publications/partnering-strategies-urban-edge/
Singer, A., Hardwick, S. W., & Brettell, C. B. (2008, April 30). Twenty-first century
gateways: Immigrants in suburban America. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.
migrationpolicy.org/article/twenty-first-century-gateways-immigrants-suburban-america
van der Woude, A. M., de Vries, J., & Hayami, A. (1990). Urbanization in history:
A process of dynamic interactions. Oxford University Press.
Woudsma, C. (2007). Comparative analysis of urban planning and gateway
development. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/55709119/Comparative_
analysis_of_urban_planning_and_Gateway_development
Zaninović, T. (2022). Streets as heritage—"Historical gateway–pathways” and
their transformation into urban streets. Prostor, 30(1), 134. https://hrcak.srce.hr/279767
Specialusis Ugdymas, 2(43), 1538–1552. http://www.sumc.lt/index.php/se/article/
view/1480
Andersson, E., Tengö, M., McPhearson, T., & Kremer, P. (2015). Cultural
ecosystem services as a gateway for improving urban sustainability. Ecosystem
Services, 12, 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.08.002
Arefian, F. F., & Moeini, S. I. (Eds.). (2016). Urban change in Iran: Stories of rooted
histories and ever-accelerating developments. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/
978-3-319-26115-7
Bagheri, Y., & Mansouri, S.-A. (2018). Voroodi shahr, be-masaabeh 'onsori jahat
eejaad hoviat-mostaghel baraaye manzhrshahri [City entrance, as an element for
creating an independent identity for the city landscape]. Bagh-e Nazar, 15(60), 5–14.
https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2018.62760
Bangia, A. (1994). A city’s edge: Where the land meets water [Master’s
thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University]. VTechWorks.
http://hdl.handle.net/10919/53365
Burghardt, A. F. (1971). A hypothesis about gateway cities. Annals of the
Association of American Geographers, 61(2), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/
j.1467-8306.1971.tb00782.x
Çalışkan, O. (2010). Urban gateway: Just a symbol, or more? (Reappraising
an old idea in the case of Ankara). Journal of Urban Design, 15(1), 91–122.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13574800903424226
Drisko, J. W., & Maschi, T. (2016). Content analysis. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190215491.001.0001
Ehlers, E., & Floor, W. (1993). Urban change in Iran, 1920–1941. Iranian studies,
26(3–4), 251–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210869308701802
Ferguson, M., Maoh, H., & Kanaroglou, P. (2012). Simulating sustainable urban
gateway development: Illustration from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Transportation
Research Record, 2269(1), 135–144. https://doi.org/10.3141/2269-16
Gallent, N., Andersson, J., & Bianconi, M. (2006). Planning on the edge.
Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203099193
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2006). Theoretical sampling. In N. Denzin (Ed.),
Sociological methods: A sourcebook (pp. 105–114). Routledge.
Gu, C. (2019). Urbanization: Processes and driving forces. Science China Earth
Sciences, 62(9), 1351–1360. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-018-9359-y
Habibi, K., Shieh, E., & Saidi, M. (2019). Sanjesh keifiathaaye mohiti dar darvazeh
shahr va avalveytabnadi aanhaa ba estefaadeh az farayand tahlil shabakehaye
[Assessing environmental qualities in the city gateway and prioritizing them by means
of the analysis network process]. Journal of Iranian Architecture & Urbanism, 10(1),
5–23. https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2019.131418.
Hesse, M. (2010). Cities, material flows and the geography of spatial
interaction: Urban places in the system of chains. Global Networks, 10(1), 75–91.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0374.2010.00275.x
Kamanroodi Kojuri, M., Ghalehteimouri, K. J., Janbazi, A., & Azizpour, F.
(2020). Urban sprawl functional-structural changes in neighborhood settlements:
Case of study Shiraz. The Indonesian Journal of Geography, 52(2), 260–268.
https://doi.org/10.22146/ijg.41303
Khalilian, S., Zandieh, M., & Alehashemi, A. (2021). Dar jost-vajvey voroodi
shiraaz, barresi taghiiraat manzar voroodi shahr shiraaz—darvazeh ghoraan—az
pish az ghaajaar ta emrooz [In the search of Shiraz entry: Investigation of changes
happened in Shiraz entry—Qur’an Gate—Landscape from pre-Qajar period to date].
Manzar: The Iranian Scientific Journal of Landscape, 13(57), 78–89. https://doi.
org/10.22034/manzar.2021.248100.2088
Kheirabadi, M. (2000). Iranian cities: Formation and development. Syracuse
University Press.
Kooros, J. (1963). Pahlavi University, Shiraz, Iran [Master’s thesis, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology]. DSpace@MIT. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75620
Kyngäs, H. (2020). Inductive content analysis. In H. Kyngäs, K. Mikkonen, &
M. Kääriäinen (Eds.), The application of content analysis in nursing science research
(pp. 13–21). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30199-6_2
Limbert, J. (2004). Shiraz in the age of Hafez: The glory of a medieval Persian city.
University of Washington Press.
Madanipour, A. (2003). Modernization and everyday life: Urban and rural change
in Iran. In A. Mohammadi (Ed.), Iran encountering globalization: Problems and
prospects (pp. 137–148). Routledge.
Madanipour, A. (2006a). Early modernization and the foundations of urban growth
in Tehran. In S. Nasseri & A. Ahgary (Eds.), Bauten im Laufe der Zeit [Constructions
over time] (pp. 95–114). VINI, TU-Berlin.
Madanipour, A. (2006b). Urban planning and development in Tehran. Cities,
23(6), 433–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2006.08.002
Madanipour, A. (2011). Sustainable development, urban form, and megacity
governance and planning in Tehran. In A. Sorensen & J. Okata (Eds.), Megacities:
Urban form, governance, and sustainability (pp. 67–91). https://doi.org/10.1007/
978-4-431-99267-7_4
Manoukian, S. (2002). The city of knowledge: History and culture in contemporary
Shiraz [Master’s thesis, University of Michigan]. The University of Michigan Library.
https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/123569
Manoukian, S. (2012). City of knowledge in twentieth century Iran: Shiraz, history
and poetry. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203802496
Melville, A. (2015). The gateway to the south: Enhancing connectivity between
port and town [Master’s thesis, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington].
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Open Access Institutional
Repository. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.17057918.v1
Ni, P. (2013). The goal, path, and policy responses of China’s new urbanization.
China Finance and Economic Review, 1, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-5633-1-2
Pilehvar, A. A. (2021). Spatial-geographical analysis of urbanization
in Iran. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8, Article 63.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00741-w
Punter, J. (Ed.). (2009). Urban design and the British urban renaissance.
Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203869208
Rahimzadeh, P., & Ahari, Z. (2022). Darvazeh dar shahrhaaye sadeh-haaye
nkhost eslaami iraan ('elmi pajhooheshi) [A study of city gates in early Islamic
cities of Iran]. Journal of Iranian Architecture Studies, 9(17), 77–96. https://doi.org/
10.22052/9.17.77
Rodrigue, J.-P. (2004). Freight, gateways and mega-urban regions: The logistical
integration of the Bostwash corridor. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale
Geografie, 95(2), 147–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0040-747X.2004.t01-1-00297.x
Sabet Sarvestani, M. S., Ibrahim, A. L., & Kanaroglou, P. (2011). Three decades of
urban growth in the city of Shiraz, Iran: A remote sensing and geographic information
systems application. Cities, 28(4), 320–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2011.03.002
Sabharwal, M., Levine, H., & D’Agostino, M. (2018). A conceptual content analysis
of 75 years of diversity research in public administration. Review of Public Personnel
Administration, 38(2), 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X16671368
Sadeghi, A. R., Khakzand, M., & Jangjoo, S. (2019). Historical analysis of
the role of bazaar on the formation of Iranian Islamic urban forms; Case study:
Shiraz, Iran. Armanshahr Architecture & Urban Development, 12(26), 89–101.
https://doi.org/10.22034/aaud.2019.89058
Sarmento, J., & Kazemi, Z. (2014). Hammams and the contemporary city: The
case of Isfahan, Iran. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 20(2), 138–156.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2012.736873
Scholvin, S. (2021). Analysing gateway cities at different scales: From global
interlinking and regional development to urban branding. Geography Compass, 15(7),
Article e12579. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12579
Scholvin, S., Breul, M., & Diez, J. R. (2019). Revisiting gateway cities: Connecting
hubs in global networks to their hinterlands. Urban Geography, 40(9), 1291–1309.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1585137
Shabani, E. A., & Kamyab, J. (2013). Siyasat shahri dar taarikh moaaser iraan
(1299 – 1320 h.esh) ba takid bar fazaahaaye 'omoomi shahr tehraan [Urban politics
in Iran’s contemporary history (1921–1941) with an emphasis on public spaces
of Tehran]. Bagh-e Nazar, 9(23), 83–92. https://www.bagh-sj.com/article_2458.html
Sharifi, A., & Murayama, A. (2013). Changes in the traditional urban form and
the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities. Habitat
International, 38, 126–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007
Shibley, R. G., Brooks, B., Farbstein, J., & Wener, R. (2011). Partnering strategies
for the urban edge: 2011 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence. Bruner Foundation.
https://www.rudybruneraward.org/publications/partnering-strategies-urban-edge/
Singer, A., Hardwick, S. W., & Brettell, C. B. (2008, April 30). Twenty-first century
gateways: Immigrants in suburban America. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.
migrationpolicy.org/article/twenty-first-century-gateways-immigrants-suburban-america
van der Woude, A. M., de Vries, J., & Hayami, A. (1990). Urbanization in history:
A process of dynamic interactions. Oxford University Press.
Woudsma, C. (2007). Comparative analysis of urban planning and gateway
development. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/55709119/Comparative_
analysis_of_urban_planning_and_Gateway_development
Zaninović, T. (2022). Streets as heritage—"Historical gateway–pathways” and
their transformation into urban streets. Prostor, 30(1), 134. https://hrcak.srce.hr/279767
Published
2025-04-30
How to Cite
Valibeigi, M., Sharifi, A., Maroufi, S., & Danay, S.
(2025).
Inclusive Urban Gateways: Towards Socially Just and Open Urban Systems.
Changing Societies & Personalities, 9(1), 193–217.
doi:10.15826/csp.2025.9.1.324
Section
Articles
