The Nature of Place under the Shadow of the Rentier Capitalist Economy: The Mediating Role of Artificial Form in the Precinct of the Razavi Shrine (A Human-Centered Perspective)

Ramazannejad, Javad; Hamzehnezhad, Mehdi; Mohammad-Moradi, Asghar

doi:10.22034/aaud.2026.545120.2994

The Nature of Place under the Shadow of the Rentier Capitalist Economy: The Mediating Role of Artificial Form in the Precinct of the Razavi Shrine (A Human-Centered Perspective)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Javad Ramazannejad ¹

Mehdi Hamzehnezhad ²

Asghar Mohammad-Moradi ³

¹ Ph.D. Graduate of Architecture, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).

³ Professor of Restoration, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/aaud.2026.545120.2994

Abstract

In religious cities such as Mashhad, the rentier capitalist economy transforms urban structures and the nature of place through the exploitation of pilgrimage flows and exclusive resources without generating productive value. This process converts the identities of lived places into market-oriented commodities. The theoretical framework of this study is based on three fundamental human-centered concepts: dwelling, the power–space relationship, and the theory of the production of space, with artificial form considered as the mediating mechanism. A review of previous studies indicates that the role of artificial form in facilitating rent-seeking processes within religious environments has received limited scholarly attention. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms through which the rentier capitalist economy affects the nature of place. The central research question is: How does the rentier capitalist economy transform the human-centered nature of place through the mediation of artificial form? The research is conducted within an interpretive–critical paradigm with a human-centered orientation and adopts a qualitative methodology that integrates discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis through a bricolage approach. Data were collected through document analysis and in-depth interviews with twelve participants. The collected data were analyzed using the bricolage method in combination with the three-stage coding procedure of grounded theory. The analysis generated 1,578 initial codes, which were organized into twelve subcategories. Actor-network mapping identified nine key actors, and the core category of “Systematic Destruction of Collective Identity through Rent-Seeking Networks and Social Control” emerged from the analysis, leading to the identification of the central phenomenon of “the commodification of the nature of place.” The findings indicate that the forces driving commodification exceed the capacity of local resistance, with a balance coefficient of 0.51, suggesting that destructive forces operate at approximately twice the strength of reconstructive forces. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in demonstrating that the rentier capitalist economy, through the mediating role of artificial form, directs the nature of place toward commodification, degradation, and identity transformation. However, the findings also reveal that three interconnected forms of resistance–political, narrative, and interpretive–retain the potential to reconstruct and revitalize the human dimension of place.

Keywords

Commodification of Place

Rentier Capitalist Economy

Nature of Place

Artificial Form

Razavi Shrine Precinct

Human-Centered Paradigm

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