Shahid Beheshti University Sustainable Development of Geographical Environment 2476-5805 7 15 2025 12 22 Applying the political economy of land approach to urban planning Applying the political economy of land approach to urban planning 1 15 106680 10.48308/sdge.2026.241743.1275 FA Rasoul Rahmatzadeh Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 0009-0000-4409-799X Behzad Malekpourasl Department of Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-3708-8515 Gholamreza Kazemian Department of Urban Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2025 09 29 Introduction: Cities grow and develop under the influence of economic and political forces, and changes in urban spaces are more of a political-economic phenomenon than a natural process. Urban planning, as a discipline that deals with urban development, is not limited to physical and technical aspects but is also shaped by social, economic, and political contexts. One major criticism of urban planning is the focus on technical issues and the lack of attention to the influence of key economic and political powers and actors in urban plans. Despite the importance of the political economy perspective in understanding and analyzing urban issues from the perspective of power in planning, this perspective has not yet been sufficiently conceptualized in planning scholarship. One possible reason is the complexity associated with applying this perspective, because political economy is an interdisciplinary science and is involved in various fields of knowledge, including economic, political, social, and management disciplines. Therefore, the present study attempts to examine and analyze the political economy of land approach, which addresses both the issues of power and political economy in planning while avoiding the complexities associated with the political economy of space perspective. To this end, the study analyzes existing research to propose a conceptual framework for explaining the political economy of land approach with an emphasis on urban planning. Materials and Methods: The study seeks to explain the political economy of land approach and explain its dimensions and components; Therefore, it adopts a descriptive-analytical design andit is applied in nature and qualitative in terms of data, and the data was collected using document analysis and literature review. The PRISMA guidelines were used to identify and extract research sources, and ultimately 42 studies were selected for analysis, including 17 domestic studies and 25 foreign studies. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis and coding through MAXQDA software, and themes related to the political economy of land approach were identified. Results and Discussion: At the theoretical level, the political economy of land approach, which is considered a critical theory of urban planning, seeks to explain land developments that occur as a result of the actions of economic, social, and political powers and actors to accumulate capital through land. Based on this approach, urban land is a platform for capital accumulation and profit-making. This has led to the commodification of land, the consequences of which include inequality and class conflict, excessive urban growth and density, profiteering and land rent, and the destruction of urban cultural and natural heritage. At the analytical level, and based on the analysis of the content of the studies, this approach consists of two main dimensions: one; the political economy dimension and two; the urban land dimension. The components of the political economy dimension include: the motivation and interests of actors, the relationships between actors, and the way actors act, and the components of the land dimension include: land ownership, land exploitation, and land management and policy-making. Conclusion: This study aimed to present a clearer picture of the developments in urban land in the form of a political economy of land approach by reviewing the studies conducted, so that on the one hand, the mere attention of planning from a technical and specialized matter to the issues of power and influence of political economic actors and forces in urban issues is drawn more, and on the other hand, the complexity of the political economy of space perspective is reduced. To this end, by analyzing the studies conducted in this area, a conceptual framework was presented to explain the political economy of land approach in urban planning. Based on the results of the research, the political economy of land approach focuses on identifying key actors and their relationships with each other (cooperation or competition) who, using their power and methods of action, pursue their interests and motivations by influencing the components of land, namely ownership, exploitation, management and policy-making of land, this process has led to the commodification of land. Introduction: Cities grow and develop under the influence of economic and political forces, and changes in urban spaces are more of a political-economic phenomenon than a natural process. Urban planning, as a discipline that deals with urban development, is not limited to physical and technical aspects but is also shaped by social, economic, and political contexts. One major criticism of urban planning is the focus on technical issues and the lack of attention to the influence of key economic and political powers and actors in urban plans. Despite the importance of the political economy perspective in understanding and analyzing urban issues from the perspective of power in planning, this perspective has not yet been sufficiently conceptualized in planning scholarship. One possible reason is the complexity associated with applying this perspective, because political economy is an interdisciplinary science and is involved in various fields of knowledge, including economic, political, social, and management disciplines. Therefore, the present study attempts to examine and analyze the political economy of land approach, which addresses both the issues of power and political economy in planning while avoiding the complexities associated with the political economy of space perspective. To this end, the study analyzes existing research to propose a conceptual framework for explaining the political economy of land approach with an emphasis on urban planning. Materials and Methods: The study seeks to explain the political economy of land approach and explain its dimensions and components; Therefore, it adopts a descriptive-analytical design andit is applied in nature and qualitative in terms of data, and the data was collected using document analysis and literature review. The PRISMA guidelines were used to identify and extract research sources, and ultimately 42 studies were selected for analysis, including 17 domestic studies and 25 foreign studies. Data analysis was performed using thematic analysis and coding through MAXQDA software, and themes related to the political economy of land approach were identified. Results and Discussion: At the theoretical level, the political economy of land approach, which is considered a critical theory of urban planning, seeks to explain land developments that occur as a result of the actions of economic, social, and political powers and actors to accumulate capital through land. Based on this approach, urban land is a platform for capital accumulation and profit-making. This has led to the commodification of land, the consequences of which include inequality and class conflict, excessive urban growth and density, profiteering and land rent, and the destruction of urban cultural and natural heritage. At the analytical level, and based on the analysis of the content of the studies, this approach consists of two main dimensions: one; the political economy dimension and two; the urban land dimension. The components of the political economy dimension include: the motivation and interests of actors, the relationships between actors, and the way actors act, and the components of the land dimension include: land ownership, land exploitation, and land management and policy-making. Conclusion: This study aimed to present a clearer picture of the developments in urban land in the form of a political economy of land approach by reviewing the studies conducted, so that on the one hand, the mere attention of planning from a technical and specialized matter to the issues of power and influence of political economic actors and forces in urban issues is drawn more, and on the other hand, the complexity of the political economy of space perspective is reduced. To this end, by analyzing the studies conducted in this area, a conceptual framework was presented to explain the political economy of land approach in urban planning. Based on the results of the research, the political economy of land approach focuses on identifying key actors and their relationships with each other (cooperation or competition) who, using their power and methods of action, pursue their interests and motivations by influencing the components of land, namely ownership, exploitation, management and policy-making of land, this process has led to the commodification of land.

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