Reproduction of inequality in policies related to informal settlements

Informal settlements in contemporary cities are not simply the result of a lack of resources or poor planning, but are the product of complex structures of power, policy-making, and dominant discourses that actively reproduce spatial and social inequality. Critical discourse analysis views urban policies not simply as a set of administrative or technical decisions, but as part of a socio-ideological process that organizes spatial and social order through language. By examining policy documents, public narratives, and prevalent discourses in urban planning, this approach demonstrates how dominant ideologies and power dynamics frame urban development and reproduce spatial and social inequality by marginalizing certain groups while privileging others. This approach, emphasizing concepts such as representation, ideology, and hegemony, shows how urban policies and programs can reinforce spatial inequalities and allow analysts to examine the complex relationships between language, power, and society in urban policies. Despite the widespread use of critical discourse analysis in global urban studies, there are gaps in research on Iranian urban policies, especially in the field of informal settlements. In recent decades, the expansion of informal settlements as a clear manifestation of urban poverty in large, medium, and even small cities of Iran has become a serious challenge. Informal settlements are one of the clear symbols of spatial inequality in contemporary Iranian cities. Spatial inequality in these areas is observed not only in terms of access to services, facilities, and infrastructure, but is also reproduced and reinforced at the discursive level. According to the statistics of the Iranian Urban Regeneration Company, more than 32% of the country's population lives in inefficient urban contexts and informal settlements, and the high population density in these areas necessitates fundamental interventions. Many existing studies related to informal settlements are limited to describing the current situation or providing technical solutions and have paid less attention on analyzing the hidden discourses in related policies. The aim of the present study is to analyze Iranian urban policies with a critical discourse analysis approach to identify hidden mechanisms that, through language, lead to the reproduction of inequality, the elimination of popular participation, and the legitimization of existing power structures. This approach, by filling the theoretical gap in the Iranian research literature, also highlights the necessity of the present study. This analysis can constitutea new step towards clarifying the processes of production and reproduction of domination and inequality in Iran's informal settlements and provide a critical framework for reviewing related policies. Through a critical analysis of urban policy discourses in informal settlements in Iran over the past two decades (2003–2023), three dominant discourses have been identified: neoliberal-technocratic discourse, symbolic participation discourse, and participation-oriented discourse. However, the results indicate that although on the surface, policies have shifted towards concepts such as “spatial justice,” “empowerment,” and “popular participation,” these changes have remained mostly at the linguistic and symbolic level and have not led to reforming power structures, and as a result, have contributed  to the reproduction of inequality.