Investigating and analyzing the urban financial per capita index (proportion of the municipal budget and the population of the country's cities) For the realization of a sustainable urban economy

One of the signs of improving and excelling the ability of urban management is the increase of stable incomes and, accordingly, the decrease of unstable incomes of the municipality. One of the indicators that show the financial power of municipalities is financial per capita, which means the ratio of the municipal budget to the city's population. In this article, the provincial centers and major cities of the country's provinces were examined and analyzed in terms of this index. Data collection was done based on library and survey method. The budget data of the municipalities of the capital of the provinces and the big cities of each province were collected in the current year (2022). In the survey section, expert experts were interviewed. The sampling method used to find the characteristics of cities is snowball type or chain reference sampling. 30 items were introduced and discussed by urban elites and experts as influencing factors in increasing the financial per capita of cities. Among the mentioned items, 14 items were chosen by elites and experts as having a great impact on the financial per capita of cities and with the ability to access accurate data. In the next step, by re-examining 14 items by experts and elites, using the Likert method, the extent of their impact on the financial per capita of the cities was introduced and discussed. The eight indicators: population, tourism, industrial and mining, close to the centers of provinces/Tehran, in the way of traffic, religious and public participation were chosen as the most effective indicators in increasing the financial per capita of the cities. Finally, for each of the provincial centers and big cities of the country's provinces, 8 indicators were determined by experts and urban elites using a Likert test. The results of the surveys show that the financial per capita of the cities of the country has a direct relationship with the population of that city, but the suitability of this index is not the same for all cities, and with the increase in the population of the cities, their financial per capita also generally increases. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the city of Tehran, where the urban financial per capita has not increased in proportion to the increase in population. In the end, by examining various proposed solutions, to improve the position of municipalities and their sustainable incomes, a comprehensive solution centered on increasing the range of duties and powers of municipalities has been proposed.