Concluding Remarks
Shopping malls in the contemporary Tehran generate images of wealthy
life that advertise luxurious lifestyle. Prioritizing the ‘wants’ over
the ‘needs’ means to create dream worlds where grandiose malls create a
sense of ‘being’ rather than ‘having’ as a form of luxury. At this point
these malls capture imaginations of people by bringing them close to the
reality of luxurious commodities without creating the necessity of the
ownership.
Considering the contemporary dynamism of the society, co-existence of
Grand Bazaar and grandiose shopping malls in contemporary Tehran
indicates transformations in the society’s demands. Apart from the
economic significance of bazaar for the mercantile sector, Grand Bazaar
has become another site for entertainment in Tehran. For the consumer
society of Tehran, Bazaar, as a spatial organization, is more a
historical site for visit; the image of nostalgia. In other words, for
the citizens of the North of Tehran, visits to the Grand Bazaar are
turning into a type of luxury activities rather than necessities for the
daily consumption; an excessive activity to create feelings of being
special. In such conditions, Bazaar is not producing culture but is
approached from a new cultural perspective that thrives within shopping
malls. Consumer culture in the North of Tehran, being fed from the
sprawl of shopping malls, is shifting relationships between social
actions and social locations in the city.
With the present situation and the growing urge towards luxury, Tehran
is seeking a new identity as a contemporary city filled with images; and
a growing fracture between social classes. Such fracture will create
even more urge for reaching the dream world of luxury. The utopian
picture for the citizens of Tehran will be an image created by the dream
of wealth. Thus this city of spectacle is heading towards becoming an
urban setting for display of festivity, leisure and expenditure.
Citizens of Tehran are becoming tourists in their own city; and that is
the contradictory nature of producing spaces as mediators of consumer
culture in North Tehran and its impact on the City as a whole.