The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Recognition of Theoretical Domains Related to Urban Rhythms Using Systematic Metasynthesis

https://doi.org/10.22034/bagh.2026.552487.5912
Volume 23, Issue 157
July 2026
Pages 31-46
The Monthly Scientific Journal of Bagh-e Nazar

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Azimeh Mosayebi
Mahmoud Ghalehnoee

Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture & Urban Planning, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: At first glance, the concept of urban rhythms is often understood merely as repetitive temporal patterns or a technical lens for analyzing everyday urban life. However, beyond this superficial interpretation lies a deeper theoretical landscape that has not yet been systematically explored. Therefore, there is a need to identify and classify the diverse theoretical domains that shape the understanding of spatial-temporal dynamics in contemporary cities. This study seeks to answer the fundamental question: “What are the main theoretical domains associated with urban rhythms, and how can these domains be systematically identified, classified, and conceptually represented?”
Research objective: The main aim is to develop an integrated theoretical framework that maps, organizes, and interprets the core conceptual interactions underpinning urban rhythm studies, with particular emphasis on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of rhythmanalysis.
Research method: Adopting a mixed-method approach, the research was conducted in two main stages. First, a bibliometric analysis was performed on 1,539 scholarly documents indexed in Scopus (1994–2024) to identify dominant research streams and recurrent conceptual clusters. In the second stage, a systematic qualitative meta-synthesis was applied to 521 selected articles, using thematic coding and clustering in ATLAS.ti. This process led to the construction of a conceptual network illustrating theoretical interrelations within the field of urban rhythms.
Conclusion: The analysis revealed five major conceptual clusters: Temporal and Rhythmic Structures, Spatial and Urban Theory, Everyday Practices and Embodiment, Socio-Political Dimensions of Space, and Production and Political Economy. Collectively, these clusters indicate that urban rhythms are multi-dimensional and multi-temporal phenomena arising from the intersection of spatial, temporal, social, embodied, and political processes. The study provides a comprehensive theoretical and analytical framework that deepens the understanding of rhythmic complexity in urban life and offers a foundation for advancing future research in spatial-social rhythmanalysis and contemporary urban theory.

Keywords

Urban rhythms
Bibliometrics
Metasynthesis
ATLAS.ti.
Subjects
Brenner, N. (2000). The urban question as a scale question: Reflections on Henri Lefebvre, urban theory and the politics of scale. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 24(2), 361–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.00234
Edensor, T. (2010a). Geographies of Rhythm: Nature, Place, Mobilities and Bodies. Ashgate Publishing.
Edensor, T. (2010b). Walking in rhythms: Place, regulation, style, and the flow of experience. Theory, Culture & Society, 27(1), 35–56. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276409356084]
Edensor, T., & Holloway, J. (2008). Rhythmanalysing the coach tour: The Ring of Kerry, Ireland. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 33(4), 483–501. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2008.00318.x ]
Lefebvre, H. (2004). Rhythmanalysis: Space, time and everyday life. Continuum.
Marston, S. A. (2000). The social construction of scale. Progress in Human Geography, 24(2), 219–242. [https://doi.org/10.1191/030913200674086272]
Mulíček, O., Osman, R., & Seidenglanz, D. (2015). Urban rhythms: A chronotopic approach to urban timespace. Time & Society, 24(3), 304-325. [https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X14535905]
Paiva, D. (2016). Experiencing virtual places: insights on the geographies of sim racing. In Mediated Geographies and Geographies of Media, (pp.159-175). Springer.
Ramos, R., Rita, P., & Vong, C. (2024). Mapping research in marketing: Trends, influential papers, and agenda for future research. Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, 28(2), 187–206. [https://doi.org/10.1108/SJME-10-2022-0221]
Roy, A. (2009). Why India cannot plan its cities: Informality, insurgence and the idiom of urbanization. Planning Theory, 8(1), 76–87. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095208099299]
Simpson, P. (2012). Apprehending everyday rhythms: Rhythmanalysis, time-lapse photography, and the space-times of street performance. Cultural Geographies, 19(4), 423–445. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474012443201]
Smith, N. (2008). Uneven development: Nature, capital, and the production of space (3rd ed.). University of Georgia Press.
Wunderlich, F. M. (2008). Walking and rhythmicity: sensing urban space. Journal of Urban Design, 13(1), 125-139.[ https://doi.org/10.1080/13574800701803472]
Yiftachel, O. (2009). Critical theory and ‘gray space’: Mobilization of the colonized. City, 13(2-3), 246–263. [https://doi.org/10.1080/13604810902982227]
Yiftachel, O., & Yacobi, H. (2003). Urban ethnocracy: Ethnicization and the production of space in an Israeli “mixed city”. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 21(6), 673–693 https://doi.org/10.1068/d47j

Home

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us