The Maxim of the Precedence of Urban Interests over Personal Interests

One of the important conflicts in solving the problems of the jurisprudence of urban areas and urbanization is the conflict between the personal interests of individuals and the public interests of the city. There are many examples of this case that it can be mentioned as a jurisprudential maxim. According to this maxim, in the conflict between urban interests and the personal interests of individuals, it is always necessary to give priority to the interests of the city. To prove this, several arguments have been relied on, including some verses of the Holy Qurʼān, the Practice of the Commoners (sīrah al-ʿuqalā’), the maxim of the Sanctity of Disorder in the System (ḥurmat al-ikhtilāl al-niẓām), and the basis of the religious law  (sharīʿah). The result, however, is that one cannot always order to give priority to one over the other, but rather the precedence of each depends on how important it is to the other. Accordingly, each of the urban and the individual interests that were the most important take precedence over the other. However, it is usually urban interests that are the most important rather than individual interests and individual interests are often not on the “important” side.