From rails to public space: competing narratives in Tehran's Fatemeh Zahra Linear Park

This study examines how the trajectory of a megaproject is shaped through decision-making, focusing on narratives and their relationship to structure and agency. Using narrative analysis, it investigates the Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra Linear Park in Tehran. The findings identify four competing narratives – service provision, safety logic, ideological identity, and residents’ memory and claims – that interact over time to redefine the project’s direction. The analysis shows that narratives shape decision-making by influencing how problems are defined, which interventions are considered viable, and how decisions are justified. The study argues that narratives operate as mechanisms that translate interpretations into action within project processes. The main theoretical contribution lies in integrating narrative analysis with Giddens’s structuration theory to explain how narratives connect meaning, power, and legitimacy. The findings further indicate that in Global South contexts, narratives play a constitutive role in shaping project trajectories, particularly where formal decision-making frameworks are limited or unstable.