decentralization curve

Iranian economy:

During this period, Tehran has gradually turned from a political and administrative center into a dominant economic, financial, educational, medical and service hub of the country, and as a result, a kind of structural imbalance has formed in Iran’s space organization; A situation in which the urban complex of Tehran and Alborz, at the same time, has become the center of attraction of resources and opportunities, and to be more precise, it has become a “spatial black hole” that absorbs a significant part of the human, financial and capital capacities of other areas of the country and weakens the possibility of forming competing and complementary centers of development. However, the main problem lies not in the necessity of decentralization, but in the misunderstanding of the nature of centralization and choosing an inefficient and ineffective way to deal with it. It seems that this resolution, rather than being based on the recognition of the economic and institutional engines of production and reproduction of “concentration” in the urban complex of Tehran and Alborz, is focused with a simplistic view of the category of “concentration” on its physical aspects and its consequent consequences; As if by limiting the licensing of industrial and residential settlements, controlling the change of land use and transferring some activities, the capital’s weight in the spatial structure of the country can be gradually reduced. This is the wrong point of departure that stems from a misunderstanding of the issue and will undoubtedly lead the decentralization policy to the wrong path.

It should not be overlooked that “concentration” in the urban complex of Tehran and Alborz is not only the result of natural population growth, rural migration or the uncontrolled expansion of constructions and change of use, but this important process is the result of the historical concentration of political and administrative power, the establishment of central offices of large enterprises, the advanced education and health system, the consolidation of banking and financial networks and the concentration of economic decision-making institutions through cumulative savings or scale, which reproduced itself in the form of geometrical escalation during recent decades. has done In such a structure, Tehran is not only the place of population and activity, but also the center of circulation, mediation and allocation of a large part of the resources and interests of the national economy. To understand the dimensions of this problem, it is enough to know that according to the statistics of the Central Bank in 1404, about 59% of the country’s bank deposits and more than 62% of the remaining facilities of the banking network were concentrated in Tehran province.

To be more precise, out of the total of 15 thousand and 793 hemat bank deposits of the country, 9 thousand and 325 hemat and out of the total of about 11 thousand and 785 hemat of the remaining facilities, 7 thousand and 331 hemat are allocated to Tehran province. In this way, nearly three-fifths of the deposit resources and more than three-fifths of the country’s bank credits circulate in this province; A concentration that, regardless of the considerations related to the place of registration of accounts and the establishment of the central offices of companies, speaks of Tehran’s dominance in the organization and allocation of the country’s financial resources. The question is, what is the decision of the Council of Ministers regarding decentralization to change this pattern of accumulation and circulation of resources?

Among the other components, or in other words, the reproduction engines of concentration in this urban complex, is the accumulation of higher education capacities and knowledge production in Tehran and Alborz; An issue that is almost completely absent in the political logic of the resolution. According to the latest statistics announced by the Ministry of Science, about 30% of all students in the country are based in the 2 provinces of Tehran and Alborz; A share that has a significant distance with the following provinces. In addition, Tehran, with hundreds of universities, academic units and higher education institutions, especially at the master’s and doctoral levels, is considered the main center of the gathering of professors, researchers, specialized laboratories, research centers and scientific networks in the country. The importance of this concentration is not limited to the number of students, but higher education creates a chain of demand for housing, services, specialized employment, cultural activities and job opportunities after graduation, which continuously attracts the young and educated population to Tehran. When the opportunity to access high-quality higher education and paths to scientific and professional advancement are so unevenly distributed, how can we expect to curb the flow of migration to the capital with only physical restrictions?

The next engine of concentration production in this urban complex is related to comprehensive and specialized health services. Due to having reference hospitals, specialized centers, advanced diagnostic and treatment equipment and a network of doctors and specialists, Tehran is not only a job or study destination for a large part of the country’s population, but also a necessary destination to receive vital health services. According to the official statistics announced in August 1405, about 80% of hospital beds in Tehran province are occupied by patients from other provinces. This figure, regardless of the need to check its statistical scope, shows the scale of the extra-regional performance of Tehran’s treatment system. It is natural that continuous access to medical services, especially for chronic patients, the elderly and retirees, can become one of the determining factors for families to migrate to the capital.

With this description, in a program that claims to decentralize the urban complex of Tehran and Alborz, the lack of any specific strategy for geographically appropriate distribution of treatment capacities and medical education is considered a serious gap. Another very important issue in identifying the logic of concentration and the solutions to face it is related to the mechanisms of production and stabilization of land and building rent in Tehran and Alborz urban complex. In the meantime, Article 5 Commission and its role in the change of use, density and other criteria of approved urban plans are of special importance. This commission, due to its multi-institutional composition and legal powers, is one of the main points of decision regarding the changes of the detailed plan and, as a result, the change of the economic value of land and real estate. However, instead of revising the decision-making mechanism of this commission, the decentralization resolution has emphasized the transparency of processes, the evaluation of the cumulative effects of changes, and the curbing of possible conflicts of interest, by clumsily simplifying the issue, mainly emphasizing the limitation of changes and load control. However, until the cycle of value production is corrected through the change of use, increase in density and case decisions of urban development, we cannot expect the economic engine of physical expansion and concentration to stop in Tehran.

In addition to this, the disorganization of the structures and processes that lead to population and activity loading, along with the political-functional division between numerous institutions, has formed a network of rich economic interests over the past decades around physical expansion and greater concentration and density in this urban complex. From landowners and large builders to consulting engineers, some of the activists of the engineering system organization, municipalities, rural districts, registration offices and other institutions involved in the chain of licensing, construction, change of use and supervision, each of them have somehow been connected with this cycle. The problem is not to accuse all these actors, but to recognize a powerful economic interest structure in which the dispersion of responsibility, weak supervision, multiple licenses and lack of integrated accountability have enabled the creation and distribution of toxic but significant benefits. Disrupting such deep-rooted and intertwined relationships is not possible by issuing a circular or by applying temporary and three-year bans, but requires redefining and redesigning the rules of the game, clarifying processes and decisions, curbing the conflict of interests, and most importantly, breaking the cycle of rent reproduction and the interests of the beneficiaries, which directly or indirectly, result from the continuation of concentration and concentration of sales in the complex. Tehran and Alborz cities will benefit.

On the other hand, the reference to the revision of the law on sustainable income and the cost of municipalities and rural districts in Article (21) of the resolution, rather than having a new solution, is a reminder of one of the recurring and undecided issues of the country’s urban management system. For years, reforming the financial system of municipalities, reducing dependence on unstable incomes from construction, and creating sustainable sources of income have been on the agenda; However, this discussion has not yet led to a corresponding institutional and executive transformation. As long as the finances of the municipalities are directly or indirectly linked to the increase in land value, issuance of construction permits, and density sales, limiting physical development without replacing income sources will face structural resistance, and the municipality cannot be expected to curb the engine of construction development at the same time and use the same mechanism to finance its current and construction costs.

Of course, these considerations do not mean that controlling population loading, protecting water resources, preventing the uncontrolled development of settlements, and refining polluting industries are unimportant. The problem is that these measures should be placed as components of a comprehensive decentralization strategy, rather than being considered as the main strategy. Real decentralization, rather than limiting Tehran, means attracting and empowering other urban and regional centers to accept population, capital and economic activity. In order to achieve such a goal, a part of higher education capacities, specialized health services, financial and staff activities, logistics infrastructure and production chains must be transferred or reproduced in other provinces. This will not be possible without tax and credit incentives, regional pricing of water and energy in the territory, reforming the system of allocating bank facilities, developing transportation infrastructure and attracting the effective participation of economic enterprises and governmental and non-governmental investors.

Finally, the decentralization of the urban complex of Tehran and Alborz should not be equated with shrinking this complex or stopping its physical growth. The main issue is not limiting Tehran and Alborz, but changing the geography of value creation, capital circulation, establishment of economic opportunities and a more balanced distribution of national functions in the territory. The urban complex of Tehran and Alborz can and should maintain its position as the center of advanced services, innovation, technology, financial activities and economic management of the country; However, the continuation and promotion of this position should not lead to continuous sucking of resources, funds and talents of other regions and weakening their growth capacities. Therefore, real decentralization depends on the intelligent redistribution of resources and development opportunities, the strengthening of complementary and competing foci in other territorial areas, and most importantly, reducing the polarity and one-sided attraction of Tehran and Alborz in the spatial and economic structure of the country; So that the advantages of the capital do not feed off the disadvantages of other regions.

Dr. Amir Thamani / planning expert