A Critical Approach to the Impact of Rentier Capitalism on Urban Spaces(Case Study: Megamalls of Tehran)

Capitalism, in its modern sense, has been associated with the Industrial Revolution and is a system in which the means of production, distribution, and exchange are at one’s disposal. A system that has three basic characteristics; Complete competition includes freedom of choice and consumption. Capital circulation and accumulation of capital are some of the most important and main features of the capitalist system (CS) and capital due to its inherent nature (profitability). These features lead to the production and creation of new spaces in cities and metropolises. What in most developed countries are seen and are becoming apparent in all urban areas, including public spaces (PSS) and megamalls. Similarly, there is a CS in the cities of Iran, and the capital accumulation flow has failed to create a productive infrastructure in the cities, and capitalism, trade, monopoly, and rent have been formed. Controls and packages are created. Therefore, in Iran, as in developing countries, a CS has become common, but with different nature, in which many factors play a role in shaping this system and have produced spaces.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the rentier capitalist system (RCS) on the urban spaces of Tehran in the form of megamalls.

This research is by objectively basic-applied type, and the documentary-library method was used to collect theoretical sources and logical analysis.

The results indicate that in recent decades, the spaces of Tehran in the form of megamalls have replaced the uses of public spaces such as parks and public spaces (PSS) and since the 1980s, these spaces have been monitored and controlled. Urban spaces (USS) have become a rent-seeking, competitive, consumer, and unproductive space that has driven the majority of urban dwellers to the outskirts of cities, making them a merely accessible place for the affluent and the capitalist class to make more profit.