Spatial structures in event-place formation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/jau.2026.21528

Abstract

Event-places occupy different physical layouts, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of their structures and arrangements. This study aims to uncover some of these patterns by examining various urban spaces recognized as event-places. By reviewing the research background, a variety of definitions and terms were observed in this field. So, by drawing on existing knowledge and exploring similar terms for event places, six events have been selected for analysis: the Tiananmen Square Protest events, the Al-Tahrir Square Political Event, the Oëral Event, the Bangor Folk Event, the Rio Event, and the 2008 Olympics. In selecting the events, an effort was made to select cases that could cover different interpretations. Through categorizing events as either planned or unplanned, this research demonstrates that decisions concerning selection, alteration, or creation significantly influence the spatial layout of events. The extent of spatial change or the potential for constructing dedicated event venues is directly linked to the size of the event and its impact. Within event places, venues can take various forms, such as expansive areas with multiple entry points (Al-Tahrir Square Political Event and Tiananmen Square Protest events), linear layouts (Rio Event), central hubs (2008 Olympics and Oëral Event), or combinations thereof (Bangor Folk Event).

Keywords:

event-place, place-making, event, place, spatial structure

How to Cite

Moazzami, M., & Tafreshi, F. (2026). Spatial structures in event-place formation. Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 50(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/10.3846/jau.2026.21528

Share

Published in Issue
January 28, 2026
Abstract Views
52

References

Angel, S., & Blei, A. M. (2016). The spatial structure of American cities: The great majority of workplaces are no longer in CBDs, employment sub-centers, or live-work communities. Cities, 51, 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.11.031

Arup. (2010). Designing the most striking structure of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Chinese National Stadium. https://www.arup.com/projects/chinese-national-stadium/

Arvin, M., Pourahmad, A., Zyari, K. A., & Zangeneh Shahraki, S. (2020). Realization of the desired urban spatial structure by creating new cores (case study: Ahvaz city). Urban Economics, 5(2), 19–34.

Behmanesh, H. (2022). Planned events in urban public spaces. Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington.

Berridge, G. (2020). Designing event experiences. In S. J. Page & J. Connell (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of events (pp. 378–395). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429280993-24

Bhavand Mehraz Consulting Engineers and Designers. (2016). Identifying and redefining the historical event-places; Presenting a strategic plan for redefining and managing event-places. Administration of Context and Historical Buildings, Tehran Municipality.

Coblence, A. (2021). What do place-makers actually do to sustain knowledge dynamics? Place-making practices in a Czech suburban knowledge location. European Planning Studies, 29(10), 1886–1905. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2021.1889990

Cresswell, T. (2004). Defining place. In Place: A short introduction. Blackwell.

Cudny, W. (2016). Festivalisation of urban spaces: Factors, processes and effects. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31997-1

Dadashpoor, H., Jahanzad, N., & Jalili-Safarian, H. (2015). Analysis and forecasting of the integrated spatial structure in Mashhad metropolitan region in the period 1996-2041. Urban Studies, 5(18), 51–62.

Dadashpoor, H., & Tadayon, S. (2015). Identification of the homogeneous flow zones based on spatial motilities and trip patterns in Tehran metropolitan region. Motaleate Shahri, 4(14), 61–76.

Eatrio. (2017, January 19). How to enjoy Rio carnival. https://eatrio.net/2017/01/getting-the-most-out-of-rio-carnival.html/

Emery, P. R., Kerr, A. K., & Crabtree, R. M. (2016). Critical incidents, emotions, and value-added moments: The London 2012 spectator experience. Event Management, 20(4), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.3727/152599516X14745497664433

Escobar, A. (2001). Culture sits in places: Reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, 20(2), 139–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0962-6298(00)00064-0

Finkel, R., & Platt, L. (2020). Cultural festivals and the city. Geography Compass, 14(9), Article e12498. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12498

Frenchman, D. (2004). Event-places in North America: City meaning and making [Research and debate]. Places, 16(3), 36–49.

Friedmann, J. (2010). Place and place-making in cities: A global perspective. Planning Theory & Practice, 11(2), 149–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649351003759573

Garcia-Lopez, M. A., & Muniz, I. (2010). Employment decentralization: Polycentricity or scatteration? The case of Barcelona. The Urban Study, 47(14), 3035–3056. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098009360229

Getz, D., & Page, S. J. (2019). Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429023002

Ghalibaf, M., Ezzat Panah, B., & Poormosavi, M. (2009). Spatial concentration and its effects on the physical extensionand spatial structure of Sanandaj city. Geographic Space, 10(32), 151–180.

Globe Hopping with Irma. (2015). History of Tiananmen Square and its protest events. https://www.globehoppingwithirma.com/blog/2017/3/11/tiananmen-square/January2024

Hammelburg, E. (2020). Live event-spaces: Place and space in the mediatized experience of events. In Locating imagination in popular culture (pp. 215–229). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003045359-17

Hanna, S. P. (1996). Is it Roslyn or is it Cicely? Representation and the ambiguity of place. Urban Geography, 17(7), 633–649. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.17.7.633

Harrison, S., & Tatar, D. (2008). Places: People, events, loci – the relation of semantic frames in the construction of place. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 17, 97–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-007-9073-0

Hegde, V., Mileo, A., & Pozdnoukhov, A. (2016). Events describe places: Tagging places with event based social network data. In Proceedings of the 3rd IKDD Conference on Data Science (pp. 1–6). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/2888451.2888477

Hershkovitz, L. (1993). Tiananmen Square and the politics of place. Political Geography, 12(5), 395–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/0962-6298(93)90010-5

Lehtovuori, P. (2005). Experience and conflict: The dialectics of the production of public urban space in the light of new event venues in Helsinki 1993-2003. Helsinki University of Technology.

Liu, Y. D. (2014). Cultural events and cultural tourism development: Lessons from the European capitals of culture. European Planning Studies, 22(3), 498–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2012.752442

Mahjoub Jalali, N., Molavi, M., Shabani, A., & Nazemi, E. (2020). Hierarchical pattern of the place meaningfulness through establishing events in the urban public spaces (case study: The Central Pedestrian District of Rasht). Urban Planning Knowledge, 4(1), 113–132.

Massey, D. (1994). Space, place, and gender. Univiversity of Minnesota Press.

Michelini, L., Iasevoli, G., & Theodoraki, E. (2017). Event venue satisfaction and its impact on sponsorship outcomes. Event Management, 21(3), 319–331. https://doi.org/10.3727/152599517X14942648527536

Mirdamad Cultural Institute of Gorgan. (2018). The event-place, the place of remembrance; Report on the process of approving and implementing the event-places and monuments in Gorgan. Mirdamad, 17, 122–133.

Moazzami, M., ShaahinRaad, M., & DolatAabaadi, F. (2014). Accumulated historical experience and collective memory, an essential component of future civil life [Conference presentation]. Fifth International Cultural Landscape Conference (Urban Cultural Landscape: Past; Present; Future), Tehran, Iran.

Oerol. (2022). Oerol festival. https://www.oerol.nl/nl/eilandprogramma2023/

Pierce, J., Martin, D. G., & Murphy, J. T. (2011). Relational place‐making: The networked politics of place. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 36(1), 54–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2010.00411.x

Pred, A. (1984). Place as historically contingent process: Structuration and the time‐geography of becoming places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 74(2), 279–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1984.tb01453.x

Rahvand Shahr Consulting Engineers and Designers. (2012). The plan for the management of historical event-places in the city of Tehran in order to revive the historical fabric of Tehran. Administration of Context and Historical Buildings, Tehran Municipality.

Rebolledo, F. (2012). Putting the event in its place: Territories, bodies, thresholds. Informática na educação: teoria & prática, 15(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.22456/1982-1654.23708

Relph, E. (1997). Sense of place. In Ten geographic ideas that changed the world (pp. 205–226). Rutgres University Press.

Risager, B. S. (2017). The eventful places of occupy Wall Street and Tahrir Square: Cosmopolitan imagination and social movements. Globalizations, 14(5), 714–729. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2016.1217623

Salama, H. H. (2013). Tahrir Square: A narrative of a public space. ArchNet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, 7(1), 128.

Shadley Associates. (2012). Bangor Folk festival, Happiness festival. https://shadleyassociates.com/project/bangor-waterfront-park/

Simões Aelbrecht, P. (2010). Rethinking urban design for a changing public life. Journal of Place Management and Development, 3(2), 113–129. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538331011062667

Smith, A. (2015). Events in the city: Using public spaces as event venues. Routledge.

Smith, A., Vodicka, G., Colombo, A., Lindstrom, K. N., McGillivray, D., & Quinn, B. (2021). Staging city events in public spaces: An urban design perspective. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 12(2), 224–239. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-10-2020-0063

Smith, M., Carnegie, E., & Robertson, M. (2006). Juxtaposing the timeless and the ephemeral: Staging festivals and events at World Heritage Sites. In Managing world heritage sites (pp. 110–124). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-7506-6546-9.50018-6

The Globe and Mail. (2011, January 30). Where it’s all happening: History of Tahrir Square. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/where-its-all-happening-history-of-tahrir-square/article564146/

Thrift, N. (1999). Steps to an ecology of place. In D. Massey, J. Allen, & P. Sarre (Eds.), Human geography today (pp. 295–322). Polity Press.

Tuan, Y.-F. (1977). Space and place: The perspective of experience. University of Minnesota Press.

Volkmer, I. (2008). Conflict-related media events and cultures of proximity. Media, War & Conflict, 1(1), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635207087629

Wagner-Pacifici, R. (2019). What is an event? University of Chicago Press.

Walters, T., & Insch, A. (2018). How community event narratives contribute to place branding. Journal of Place Management and Development, 11(1), 130–144. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-09-2017-0089

View article in other formats

CrossMark check

CrossMark logo

Published

2026-01-28

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Moazzami, M., & Tafreshi, F. (2026). Spatial structures in event-place formation. Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 50(1), 27–43. https://doi.org/10.3846/jau.2026.21528

Share