Formation of a Dual Society in Iranian Oil Cities with an Emphasis on the City of Mahshahr

The concept of a dual society is taken from that of a dual city referring to urban inequality and injustice created by capitalism in space, welfare and urban facilities. So the dual city has symptoms reflecting the socio-spatial inequality existing in the city. One of the social phenomena in the oil cities of Southern Iran have been the creation of a social-space duality. Social duality in Mahshahr has been under the influence of the petrochemical industry. It has been created in various forms, including duality in urban space, urban economy, education, health facilities and cultural and social duality; the main cause of social duality in oil cities, such as Mahshahr is the lack of social vision in the process of the industrialization of oil regions, especially the role of company-town policy in this respect, is considerable. This policy instead of developing local societies, integrating employees into local society and creating a modern city, separates employees from local society, resulting in the creation of a dual local-corporate society.