“The Neoliberalization of Quasi-Public Spaces and the Transformation of Citizens’ Spatial Experience: A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Diplomat Center Complex in Borujerd”

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Ayatollah Borujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran.

2 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Ayatollah Borujerdi University, Borujerd, Iran.

10.22099/iuds.2026.56393.1224

Abstract

Today, commercial quasi-public spaces, shaped by the logic of urban marketization and the neoliberalization of space, have generated fundamental transformations in citizens’ lived experiences. This study aimed to phenomenologically explore citizens’ lived experiences of the transformation of spatial experience within the Diplomat Center shopping complex in Borujerd. The study employed a qualitative design based on a descriptive phenomenological approach.



Participants consisted of 15 citizens of Borujerd, selected through criterion-based purposive sampling. The inclusion criteria were visiting the complex at least twice a month and being able to articulate one’s lived experience. Sampling continued until theoretical/meaning saturation was achieved. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis in MAXQDA software.



The analytical process resulted in the extraction of five main themes and ten subthemes. The main themes were: (1) “Space as a showcase of urban renewal” (subthemes: the simulacrum of modernity and contrast with the traditional urban fabric); (2) “Lived class differentiation” (subthemes: status display and symbolic exclusion); (3) “Commercialized consumption-oriented leisure” (subthemes: shopping-oriented strolling and the commodification of pleasure); (4) “Behavioral coding of space” (subthemes: subtle normative surveillance and bodily self-discipline); and (5) “The transition from social interaction to quasi-social interaction.”



Phenomenological analysis indicated that actors’ lived experience in this neoliberalized quasi-public space has been redefined from “unmediated social interaction” toward a “consumer-oriented, self-disciplined presence.” Accordingly, citizens’ sense of belonging and freedom of action, constrained by the space’s quasi-private and surveillance-based norms, has gradually been replaced by experiences of exclusion and normative self-control.

Keywords

Iranian Urban Design Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 18 August 2026

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History

  • Receive Date: 20 June 2026
  • Revise Date: 17 August 2026
  • Accept Date: 18 August 2026
  • First Publish Date: 18 August 2026
  • Publish Date: 18 August 2026

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