Sustainable city

Sustainable city

Explaining the Conceptual Model of Citizenship Rights in the Urban Construction System: A case study of Shiraz city

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammadreza Alizadeh 1
Freshteh Ahmadi 2
Mohammad Ali Jalalinasab 3
1 Department of Urban Planning, Na.C. , Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran.
2 Department of Urban Planning, Na.C. , Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran
3 Department of Urban Planning, Shi.C., Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
10.22034/jsc.2026.584682.1914
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
Rapid physical expansion, the growing complexity of permitting procedures, and the challenges of construction supervision and control have heightened the need to examine urban construction systems through the lens of citizenship rights. The present study aims to develop a conceptual model of citizenship rights within the urban construction system of Shiraz. Methodologically, the research adopts a mixed-methods design (quantitative-qualitative). In the qualitative phase, 147 documents were screened based on predetermined criteria, and 28 documents were selected for directed content analysis. This analysis yielded 112 initial codes, 22 concepts, 6 categories, and ultimately three constructs: governance, managerial, and social. Based on these findings, a researcher-developed questionnaire was designed; following content validity assessment, 35 items were retained for the quantitative phase. In this phase, 30 experts participated in the content evaluation of the instrument, and 384 citizens aged 18 and above constituted the main analytical sample. The relationships among the constructs were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the path coefficients for the governance, managerial, and social components were 0.41, 0.36, and 0.29, respectively, with all three paths being statistically significant at p < 0.05. Composite reliability values for the constructs ranged from 0.84 to 0.89 and from 0.55 to 0.63. Accordingly, the three dimensions of governance (comprising procedural transparency and legal competencies), managerial (comprising the system of construction regulations and codes), and social (comprising activist participation and citizen-centered oversight) exhibit a positive and significant structural relationship with the realization of citizenship rights (comprising physical-environmental security and spatial justice) in Shiraz's urban construction system. The findings suggest that the principal deficiencies of the construction system arise from an incomplete transition from hierarchical governance to network governance and from the absence of citizen-centered oversight mechanisms.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Today, with the expansion of cities and the increasing tendency of people toward urbanization, a new right - known as the right to the city - is emerging. From a theoretical perspective, the concept of “right to the city,” which was first proposed by Lefebvre, emphasizes the right of citizens against social and spatial inequalities, as well as the right to participate in the production, use, and management of urban space. In addition to being an active urban membership with public rights and obligations, the right to the city introduces the city as the most important layer of decision-making and policy-making. Urban construction is one of the most important areas of intervention in urban space that has wide-ranging consequences on the quality of life of citizens, the urban environment, social cohesion in neighborhoods, and even the visual identity of the city. In fact, any construction activity can directly or indirectly affect the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to a healthy environment, the right to urban security and tranquility, the right to access information, and the right to participate in urban decision-making. In many cities throughout Iran, the urban construction system faces numerous challenges and structures. Weak administrative transparency, the multiplicity and sometimes overlapping duties of various decision-making and supervisory institutions, the inefficiency of supervisory mechanisms, and the spread of construction violations and their consequences are among the most important challenges that the right to the city seeks to address. These challenges have in many cases led to the violation of citizen rights, the emergence of neighborhood conflicts, and the reduction of the urban environment quality. Shiraz, as one of the Iran’s metropolitan cities, has also faced an increase in urban construction, the development of peripheral fabrics, the renovation of worn-out fabrics, and an increase in building density in recent years. This trend, in addition to increasing pressure on the urban management system, has led to the complexity of the processes of issuing permits, controlling construction operations, and dealing with construction violations. The continuation of these conditions can lead to an upsurge in neighborhood conflicts, a decrease in public trust in urban management, a rise in the feeling of spatial injustice, and the weakening of citizen rights. Therefore, examining the urban construction system of Shiraz from the perspective of citizen rights is not merely a theoretical issue, but rather a response to a real and visible problem in the urban management of this metropolis, which doubles the necessity of presenting a conceptual model to promote transparency, accountability, citizen participation, and the realization of spatial justice. In this regard, this study attempts to answer the following fundamental questions in order to achieve such a concept:
· What are the most important dimensions and components of citizen rights related to the urban construction system in the city of Shiraz?
· What are the relationships between the components of citizen rights related to such rights in the urban construction system within Shiraz?

Methodology
This applied research adopted a descriptive-analytical approach in both nature and method. Given the need to simultaneously explain the conceptual and empirical dimensions of citizenship rights in the urban construction system, this study employed a mixed-methods approach (quantitative-qualitative). To extract theoretical indicators of citizenship rights within the urban construction system, the study employed a qualitative approach using directional content analysis. This method is based on a predetermined theoretical framework (the right to the city of Lefort and related concepts). The coding process was carried out in four stages based on the directional content analysis approach. The numerical values related to each stage are summarized as follows: Stage one (extraction of initial codes): 112 initial codes were extracted from the text of documents and interviews. Stage two (integration and refinement): By eliminating repetitive and synonymous codes, the number of codes was reduced to 22 concepts. Third stage (concept categorization): 22 concepts were organized into 6 main categories. Fourth stage (main dimensions formation): 6 categories were integrated into the three main dimensions of "governance", "management" and "social" which were entered as the constructs of the conceptual model of the research in the quantitative section. The Cohen's Kappa agreement coefficient index was used in order to assess the reliability of the coding process. The main data collection tool in the quantitative section was a researcher-made questionnaire that was designed based on the indicators extracted from the qualitative section. The questionnaire consists of 35 items in 4 main sections. Confirmatory factor analysis was used in SmartPLS software to examine the validity of the construct. The statistical population in the quantitative section comprised two groups. The first group (experts) is all managers and experts of Shiraz Municipality, faculty members related to the subject in Shiraz universities, and engineers who are members of the Fars Province Building Engineering System Organization. The sample size for this group was determined as a targeted census and was 30 people. The second group (citizens) is all citizens aged 18 and over living in the eleven districts of Shiraz Municipality, with an estimated sample size of 384 people.

Results and Discussion
The mean and standard deviation indices were utilized to examine the status of the main research variables. The results of this section help to initially explain the status of respondents' perceptions of the main components of the model. Based on the results, the average of the governance (3.21), management (3.05), and social (2.98) components is close to the average (midpoint of the scale = 3). Among them, the governance components have the highest average, which indicates a relatively better perception of respondents of the status of transparency and institutional oversight compared to the other two dimensions. However, the average of the dependent variable, namely "realization of citizenship rights" (2.87), is less than the midpoint of the scale. This finding illustrates that from the perspective of citizens, the status of realization of citizenship rights in the urban construction system of Shiraz is not at a desirable level and still requires strengthening of institutional, management, and social mechanisms. The standard deviations of the governance (0.74), management (0.69), and social (0.71) components are also relatively high, indicating significant disagreement among citizens regarding the status of these components. The lowest standard deviation is for the management component (0.69), indicating that opinions about executive processes and licensing are somewhat more homogeneous than the other two dimensions.

Conclusion
The research findings indicate that the realization of citizenship rights in the urban construction system is a multi-layered phenomenon and is affected by the interaction of three main dimensions: governance, management, and social. In response to the first research question, “What are the components that affect the realization of citizenship rights in the urban construction system?”, the research findings revealed that these components can be classified into three main dimensions: governance, management, and social. In the governance dimension, components such as transparency, accountability, rule of law, and institutional coordination; in the management dimension, components such as efficiency, supervision, information management, and service quality; and in the social dimension, factors such as citizen participation, public awareness, and social trust were identified as the most important elements of the realization of citizenship rights in the urban construction system.
· Governance components are the most important predictors of the realization of citizenship rights in the urban context of Shiraz.
· Management components play a facilitating and reinforcing role and act as a link between citizenship rights and organizational performance;
· Social participation and awareness, as cultural drivers, also provide the basis for public oversight, increased transparency, and strengthened citizen demand.
The prominent position of the governance dimension shows that reforming regulations, promoting transparency, institutional coherence, and reducing institutional conflicts are the first and most fundamental steps to improve the quality of urban governance and protecting citizens' rights. In response to the second research question, "What is the priority and extent of the impact of each of these dimensions on the realization of citizen rights in the urban construction system?", the results of the structural equation model exhibited that all three dimensions have a positive and significant effect on the realization of citizen rights; however, governance components have the greatest impact, followed by management and social dimensions. This finding indicates that reforming governance structures, promoting transparency, strengthening accountability, and institutional coordination are prerequisites for increasing managerial efficiency and developing social participation in the urban construction system.

Funding
There is no funding support.

Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.

Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.


Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.

Highlights

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Keywords
Citizenship Rights
Urban Governance
Urban Construction
Right to the City
Shiraz Metropolis.
  1. Afshari, M., & Pourmahabadian, E. (2020). Legal analysis of urban laws with emphasis on the concept of right to the city and its relationship with citizenship rights. Judicial Law, 10(26), 29–48. [In Persian]
  2. Ansell, C., & Torfing, J. (2021). Public governance as co-creation: A strategy for revitalizing the public sector and rejuvenating democracy. Cambridge University Press.
  3. Barazmand, S., & Taghdisi-Nejad, A. (2022). The impact of citizenship rights on improving urban life and public participation. Citizenship Studies, 1(1), 139–165. [In Persian]
  4. Emam Jomeh, F., & Ashtari, K. (2013). Sociological explanation of citizenship rights status in executive organizations of Arak urban society. Social Research Quarterly, 5(19), 13–43. [In Persian]
  5. Eslami, A., Jahangir, Z., & Kaveh Pishgadam, M. (2021). A comparative study of the concept of freedom in the Citizenship Rights Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Legal Research, 20(45), 123–145. [In Persian]
  6. Hassanzadeh, N., Barnaei, H., & Hamedi, M. (2021). A look at the causes of building violations in Shiraz and strategies for its reduction. National Conference on Architecture, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning and Horizons of Islamic Art in the Statement of the Second Step of the Revolution, Tabriz. [In Persian]
  7. Jafari, M., Najafi, V., Share'pour, M., & Foroutan, Y. (2021). Thematic analysis of right to the city demands of residents of Pardis new city. Urban Structure and Function Studies, 12(1), 33–61. [In Persian]
  8. Kamiarrad, S., Hedavand, M., & Kamiarrad, S. (2021). The right to the city. Public Law Research, 22(70), 250–282. [In Persian]
  9. Lefebvre, H. (1996). The right to the city. In Writings on cities (pp. 63–184). Blackwell.
  10. Mitchell, D. (2003). The right to the city: Social justice and the fight for public space. Guilford Press.
  11. Najafi, V., Nejadhossein, S. M., Arenk, S., & Abdollahi, S. (2019). Pathology and consequences of unauthorized construction in cities (Case study: District 14 of Tehran). National Congress of New Findings in Humanities, Tehran. [In Persian]
  12. OECD. (2020). The OECD principles on urban policy. OECD Publishing.
  13. Pezeshki, B. (2019). The position of citizenship rights in contemporary urban planning; Contexts, requirements and consequences. First International Conference on Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Regeneration, Tehran. [In Persian]
  14. Purcell, M. (2013). The down-deep roots of urban democracy. University of Minnesota Press.
  15. Purcell, M. (2014). Possible worlds: Henri Lefebvre and the right to the city (M. Ebrahim Pour, Trans.). Anthropology, 12(2), 45–68. [In Persian]
  16. Soja, E. W. (2010). Seeking spatial justice. University of Minnesota Press.
  17. UN-Habitat. (2011). [Title of the specific report or publication]. United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
  18. UN-Habitat. (2022). World cities report 2022: Envisaging the future of cities. United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
  19. UNESCO. (1996). International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy.
  20. World Bank. (2023). Governing cities for sustainable and inclusive development. World Bank.
  21. Zare Shah Abadi, A., & Gholami, M. (2019). The relationship between the sense of right to the city and legalism (Case study: Citizens aged 18 and over in Yazd). Urban Sociological Studies, 32, 33–56. [In Persian]
Sustainable city
Volume 9, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 79-97