نشریه اقتصاد و برنامه ریزی شهری
سال سوم شماره 9 (بهار 1390)

The metropolis of Tehran - Iran’s capital city - enjoys a lot of gains not onlydue to its size and the large crowd it has but also because of its advantageousoverflows. Therefore, a lot of commuting is daily made to the city for work andeconomic activities. Such a trend implies that the municipality of Tehran givessubsidy to the people who live around the city for their traffic, employment,and economic activities from the money the dwellers of the city pay or fromthe selling of the city space each of which has its own drawbacks. What is clearhere is the market failure. Daily commuting to the city, in addition to benefitingfrom the ‘free-ride’, has negative consequences for the city from among whichthe abnormal expansion of the city, heavy traffic, air pollution, and the publiccrowd could be mentioned. And, of course, the commuters are not affected bythe negative consequences.This article, firstly, using library research and a comparative study, investigatesthe failure of the market and public goods, the consequences and side-effects,urban economy and the gains from the economic activities in it, the localgovernments’ financial resources, and the green taxes. Then, the status quo ofthe revenues of Tehran municipality is probed and, based on the features ofdaily commuting to Tehran, a description of the characteristics of Tehran andits problems is given.What should be paid attention to is that the current situation highly affects thehousehold and the enterprises’ location-finding decisions and results in thereduction in efficiency and, hence, inappropriate and inefficient allocation ofresources and input. Such a situation counteracts social optimization. “DemandManagement and Supply Control via Price Policies and by means of TollInstrument” could be one of the methods for the urban management and Tehranmunicipality to control the negative consequences of daily commuting to thecity. It goes without saying that such a policy may create new resources ofrevenue. “Traffic Toll” and “Fuel Toll” are samples of the mentioned tolls.

Urban renovation, pathway construction, repair, and development, as well as the renovation of the neighborhoods are among the essential responsibilities vested in the municipalities. Due to the municipalities’ impotence in providing huge financial resources which is in fact necessary, the new approach urges that the private sector be involved in the process. If the expected revenue is guaranteed to be earned and investment risk is lowered to the least possible, the participation of the private sector in urban renovation is actualized. On one hand, the prospect of the interest rate should be so much that theinvestment is fostered in the field and, on the other hand, the prospect of the risk of investment should not be in a way that prevents investment in urban renovation.This article, for the first time, investigates different investment risks in urban renovation plans and projects and offers methods for managing such risks. Promoting and stabilizing the culture for wide-ranging participation of all the responsible and beneficiary elements and factors in the urban renovation plan, creating a trustworthy atmosphere, and emphasizing the supporting presence of both the municipalities and the government in tandem with the private sector to invest in urban renovation as well as passing laws andoffering appropriate methods for accumulation of the worn-out texture where renovation is in the agenda are the resultant factors in reducing and managing investment risk in urban renovation.

Nowadays, expense reduction is considered as one of the sustainable revenue sources.The present article includes two sections. The first section investigates theoreticalprinciples of organizing workplace, the Japanese principles of 5S, and their rolesin the reduction of the expenses. Organizing the workplace is a system improvingtrend and a factor in modern management system and in workshop management.The system has been established in Japan and called 5S standing for five principlesof Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke in Japanese language. The purposeof this system is to make and keep the workplace neat, orderly, and organized. Thesystem increases safety and hygiene rate, facilitates completing the tasks, reducesthe time and expense, makes the workplace beautiful, and saves a lot of time forboth the staff and the clients. The second section offers the implementation of theworkplace organizing system in form of a comprehensive plan for Tehran municipalityand the results (or the prediction of the results) whereof in the reduction of themunicipality expenses. In this section, the issue of implementing virtual storehousefor the optimum use of the existing facilities, equipment, instruments, items, andmaterials and for preventing repetitive or unnecessary purchases is addressed. Themain theme of the second section of the article is a managerial experience havingbeen implemented in Tehran municipality. The experience is, in fact, an example ofthe implementation of parts of the 5S system having been resulted in the reductionof the expenses

Establishing municipalities investment funds is a must for this organization. Despite the tolls and taxes that constitute the main part of the revenues the municipalities earn, in case of the successful function of the investment funds, small and medium municipalities may earn a noticeable part of their revenues from such sources. This article, taking a practical approach to the issue, after generally investigating the financial problems of themunicipalities, explicates the principles of sustainable revenue provision for the municipalities and the roles the municipalities investment funds can play in this regard. Then, the article probes the required preconditions for the sustainable revenue provision of the municipalities investment funds. In the next two sections, practical methods of sustainable revenue provision of municipalities investment funds via participating in agricultural and industrial activities are offered. The two sections enjoy some of the common methods which are used in the world for sustainable revenue provision ofmunicipalities investment funds via referring to a number of examples and experiences. Moreover, the fundamental points in urban economics are offered so that they could be used in urban management.