Strategies for Realizing the Vision of Smart Governance in Iranian Cities

Governance can be seen as an action, method, or system of administration in which the boundaries between organizations and the public and private sectors fade into each other's shadows. The essence of governance refers to the existence of interactive relationships between and within the government and non-government forces. Good urban governance is considered one of the four features of sustainable development and one of its tools, which has been mentioned in the development literature since the 1980s. Urban governance is a multilateral process between the official actors of the city administration on the one hand, as well as the activists of the civil arena as informal actors whose multifaceted interactions can lead to the compatibility of various interests among the actors. What is evident in this concept is the entry of civil society and the private sector into the process of planning and managing (urban) affairs. This is despite the fact that the government is a set of official and legal institutions with legal power. (Smart) cities need a proper governance system to connect all forces at work, enable knowledge transfer, and facilitate decision-making to maximize their socioeconomic and environmental performance. Therefore, we conclude that smart city governance is a style of management that is formed based on the intelligent participation of citizens through information and communication technologies. Smart city governance is a style of management that is formed based on the intelligent participation of citizens through information and communication technology. This new form of governance makes citizens from passive consumers of urban services to active actors who can comment on the kind of service they need. The purpose of this research is to provide macro and generalizable strategies for smart governance in Iranian cities.

The present research is descriptive-analytical and survey research. Also, in terms of purpose, it is fundamental. According to the nature of the subject and the investigated indicators, documentary research methods and field studies (questionnaires, interviews) have been used to collect information. The questions were collected based on the variables determined by a Likert scale with five options (completely disagree, disagree, have no opinion, agree, completely agree). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts related to the research and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha test. The statistical population of this research includes 170 city managers and university experts in the field of urban planning, which was selected using the purposeful sampling method (170 people). The necessary information was collected through a questionnaire and the output was modeled using the statistical model of Minitab software and structural equations (EQS). Finally, the proposed strategies were extracted in the form of the SOAR strategic model.
 

The results obtained from the analysis of information show that the highest realizability is in the case of indicators of human-social factors, decision-making and intelligent decision-making factors, and infrastructural management factors. In these indicators, the variables of citizens' knowledge and awareness, facilitation of citizens' intervention in the process of local development, and the foresight of urban projects with a specific strategic vision, all have the highest realizability with a statistical average of 1.3 and Friedman's ranking average of 24 and 18. Also, the lowest degree of realizability is related to the variables of project efficiency and effectiveness and citizen survey system and collective and working group belief, whose statistical average is 2.7 and 2.8, respectively, and their Friedman ranking average is 3. Also, the results of the t-test show that out of 24 variables, 10 variables have a critical situation and lack proper realization, and their t-test value is lower than the value of the test (i.e. 3). Moreover, the findings of the research show that the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable can be predicted up to 51% level and the significance between independent and dependent variables is up to 95% level and among the components related to smart urban governance, the components Organizational management with a beta coefficient of 363% and technological factors with a beta coefficient of 206% have the greatest influence on smart governance in Iranian cities. The results of this research show that the most critical executive strategy from the point of view of the stakeholders is the readiness of citizens to participate in planning, the support of citizens and managers for governance, adherence to laws in economic and commercial activities of the municipality, Citizens' commitment and passion for progress and urban development are their place of residence.

According to the analysis and investigations carried out about the feasibility and realization of smart urban governance in Iranian cities and based on the opinion of the elite, it is concluded that Iranian cities have strengths and opportunities in the field of smart governance. However, to reach the model of the management-participatory system based on governance with an emphasis on the smartness of the city, in this regard, using the opinions of the elites and the participation of all relevant officials and stakeholders is considered an unavoidable necessity. In this regard, factors such as Citizens' preparedness to participate in planning, support of citizens and managers for governance, commitment to rules in economic and commercial activities of the municipality, community-based management and decentralization of power institutions, and reducing the tenure of government institutions, commitment and citizens' enthusiasm for progress and urban development of their lives can be regarded.