Gender Segregation in Urban Space: A study of Behesht Madaran Park, Tehran

This article is based on the presumption that space and power are intertwined. So, we attempt to study the power relations in unisex parks, especially in Behesht Madaran Park. Generally, one can find two main approaches to these projects: elimination of the gender inequality and, on the contrary, the reproduction of the gendered domination. Drawing on the range of theoretical approaches, including the approaches of Michel Foucault, Judith Butler and Henry Lefebvre, we try to end this duality. This helps us to better understand and describe the complexities of the case of study. Furthermore, in this research, we have 35 semi-structured interviews with officials and people who use this park as well. All the interview's project focus on the socio-political consequences of space. Based on their perceptions, interviewees are divided into 4 types and each type is divided into two different groups. Then, taking the theoretical concepts into consideration, we explain how different groups confront and understand the space of the park. The findings demonstrate that the above mentioned duality is incapable of analyzing this phenomenon. In conclusion, we maintain that the issue of domination over women or protecting them or any other discussion about identity is inadequate to grasp the power relations in such spaces. Instead, one must trace the meaning of such power relations somewhere else. In other words, the control, and normalization of bodies are accomplished by segregating people based on their predetermined characteristics.