A Social Practice Perspective on Consumption of Agricultural Land in the West of Tabriz (From the Preparation of the First Master Plan of Tabriz City in 1970 Until Now)

In the era of climate change, ensuring food security through the utilization of agricultural lands in and around cities is paramount. These lands are threatened by urban expansion, and their preservation requires the support of urban planners. This research examines the issue of repurposing urban agricultural land for other urban uses from a social practice perspective rather than a physical or legal one. The article explores why and how changes in agricultural land use occur and the potential for intervention, guidance, and management of this process from a social practice standpoint. The case study focuses on agricultural lands in the west of Tabriz city over more than 50 years, from the approval of the first urban plan to the present. The study employs historical reconstruction for analysis. “Sayings” are analyzed using texts from urban development plans, while “doings” are derived from maps of the current situation from different years and interviews with long-time neighborhood residents. The findings indicate that changes in the three sources of meanings, materials, and competence have altered social practices in different periods during this period. If this continues, it could lead to changes in land use methods. Also, multiple meanings and corresponding materials and competence coexisted during each period, weakening or strengthening the dominant social practice. Throughout the period, the differing perspectives of urban management, landowners, and citizens have influenced the process of social practice.
 
Extended Abstract
1-Introduction
Food security is vital in the era of climate change, and local food and agricultural systems around cities are one of its main components. New urban expansions highly threaten agricultural lands around cities, and their protection is only possible with the support of urban planners. Previous research has dealt with protecting urban agricultural lands from a physical and legal point of view. Through the lens of social practice, we deal with the issue of using fertile agricultural land for other urban land uses. The investigation aims to determine why and how agricultural land consumption changes and whether it can be intervened by changing social practices.
 
2-Materials and Methods
Social practice as common behavioral patterns is the basis of social norms. But contrary to the norms, no one is punished for leaving. In this study, land use over time is a result of simplified social practice resources in a triangular model, with the vertices of "meanings," "materials," and "competencies." This triangle is discussed from the point of view of residents, urban management, and citizens in different periods. study of social practice is to observe "saying" and "doing." We extracted the saying from the analysis of historical documents (especially urban development plans) and for the doing from the maps of the existing situation and interviews with residents. The studied area of ​​green lands west of Tabriz includes Hokmabad, Qaramelek, Lak Dizej, Grand Park, and Amir Baghi in the north and Laleh and Khatib in the south.
 
3- Results and Discussion
A study of different periods in more than fifty years shows that combining "meanings" and "material" resources creates a specific social practice and affects the environment over time. As the lands that were used as agricultural lands around Tabriz in the first period were assumed to be lands "awaiting development" with the first comprehensive plan of Tabriz, and according to their more suitable prices, the creation of new accesses and urban infrastructures, the existence of financial resources, cooperation of experts and construction workers and public or private sector investors became new neighborhoods in Tabriz city in less than two decades. Based on the social practice in the periods and the existing condition of the lands in each period, we understand that there were different "meanings" in each period, and their "materials" and "competencies" formed the social practices themselves or the existing social practice have "weakened" or "strengthened." During the survey period, we have seen constant conflicts between the meanings and practices of urban management from above and the resistance of the lands. Contrary to the opinion of the city management, the slums inside the park grew and, in some cases, were even stabilized in the following urban development plans or local plans by the "Land Use Change" Commission. The role of citizens has been strengthening or weakening the dominant social practice in different periods according to the dominant meanings. People are in demand to buy freshly picked agricultural and horticultural products during the study period. This practice has been in the periods of strengthening the protection of agricultural lands and weakening the use of land for urban development, which, even after consuming a significant part of the agricultural lands, are still scattered on the site.
Research shows that it is possible to reconstruct strong sources of social practice and, in this way, intervene in environmental conditions. The change in public belief about land use as agricultural land - in recent years, especially during the coronavirus era, when the supply of local food became important again - and the sharp increase in the price of vegetables has caused the revival of agriculture. Even changing the approach of the new comprehensive plan to "land protection" and changing the title of the detailed plan under study to "Tabriz Grand Park Protection and Development Plan" is a result of changing "meanings" under the influence of conservation paradigms. In the city's master plan, all resources were aligned with changing the agricultural land to an "urban park," but the lack of financial resources prevented this.
 
4- Conclusion
Based on the discussions, we conclude that rebuilding actions with more substantial resources can intervene in social actions to benefit environmental sustainability. In this approach, it is considered to change practical resources through constituent resources that are the target of interventions. We have seen that cheap land is the primary material for big land dealers. Lands should be made more valuable for their owners with strategies such as transferring development rights or increasing the price of agricultural products. A comparison of two methods of action inside and outside the boundary shows that, with segregation plots, the Net price of a piece of land is reduced, and it is possible to use it for construction. Limited access to roads and urban infrastructure, such as electricity and gas, can also be beneficial.