Genealogy of the gray spaces discourse in contemporary urban planning

Ayda Kianfar and Mojtaba Rafieian

International Planning Studies, 2025, vol. 30, issue 4, 449-486

Abstract: The concept of gray spaces-often referred to as urban informal spaces-has remained ambiguous in urban planning discourse due to its complex socio-political, economic, and ethical dimensions. This paper employs a genealogical approach, drawing on Foucault's discourse analysis, to trace how gray spaces have been theorized across six distinct discourses: aestheticization of poverty, urban competition, participation, inclusion, democracy, and the global south. Our findings suggest that these discourses have evolved in response to shifting domains of knowledge and power, with each adopting a unique spatial perspective and delineating differing roles for the state and society. Notably, the concept of space undergoes a transformation from an absolute construct to one that is a-spatial within the discourses of urban inclusion and the global south. Consequently, space transcends the dichotomy of subjective and objective rationalism, emerging as a socio-political-economic reality shaped by conflicting and contradictory rationalities.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13563475.2025.2540764

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