Abstract
Urban development in Tehran has been tied up with oil. Since 1999 when the first election of “city and village councils of Iran” was held for the first time after Islamic revolution in 1979 to separate governance of cities and rural areas from the government and to give citizens the opportunity to participate in the process of city management, financial resources of municipalities were separated from public budget which has been mainly provided by selling oil. Meanwhile, revenues of municipalities in Iran are narrowed to legal taxes from any kind of construction or changes in the usage of building (I.e. from residential to commercial) and also selling properties and densities. Due to shortage of living spaces in Tehran, the portion of selling densities as an ephemeral earning in the annual budget of Tehran’s municipality has been reached to virtual half of its income. Through comparative studying of the periods of oil selling and urban governance’s income, we found that the thriving economy arisen from the price of oil and possibility of its marketing and domestic expenditure of its revenue has caused a flourishing building markets which brought about more money for the municipality of Tehran. This means that the role of every citizen in the cycle of earn and consumption of financial resources of the municipality has been reduced to an obliged subject who pays just in specific times of flourishing economy and receives a “rentier welfare” instead which fades their right to the city on sale! Conducting an evidential review of the stages of Tehran’s development after the nationalization of oil industry in Iran and the position of citizens in each stage, this article investigates the pivotal role of oil in the governance of Tehran as a developing city. The main goal of our argument is to find solutions to shift the current governance to a participatory one where the reliance on the oil would be decreased. As a matter of fact, the citizens who feel their rights to the city will participate in the process of governing the city. On the other hand, shrinking the heavy institution of municipality with a massive burden of buildings and staffs will be discussed in our writing. Smartization of Tehran will pave the path of reaching to a participatory governance of Tehran which offers a right to the smart city.
