نشریه اقتصاد و برنامه ریزی شهری
سال سوم شماره 11 (پاییز 1390)

Nowadays, there are few who can ignore the importance of the clarification of financial reports as the shareholders and credit providers make their vital investment-related decisions based on companies’ financial information. What they require is receiving clear information about the performance and function of the companies. Complete disclosure of the financial information together with the clarity thereof can pave a safe way for building the investors’ trust. In effect, clarity of the reports and information has a positive effect on the companies’ performance and can protect the shareholders’ interests. Therefore, the municipalities and the citizens are not excepted from such a principle; citizens, having clear information about the way the resources are consumed, the method the municipality offers services, and the way they take responsibility and are responsive to them, would hold trust in them and accompany them. This article, due to the importance attached to the issue of being responsive to the citizens and to that of the financial clarification, investigates into the process of financial clarification, the prerequisites, and the principles of financial clarification and the effect thereof on building the citizens’ trust and on the improvement of the financial status of the city. Financial clarification, affecting the organizational processes and structures and the working method, makes supervising the financial efficiency of the municipalities possible. It also helps establish a mutual relation between the municipality and the citizens and prevents financial corruption. The article concludes with a description of the importance of the measures made in Tehran municipality regarding financial clarification and a model is also introduced.

One of the most important issues in the municipalities, across the globe, is providing sufficient income resources for financing the urban services. In Iran, the over dependency of many municipalities, especially that of Tehran, on such an unsustainable income resource as the housing section, in addition to its effect on the increase in the housing prices, has made the municipality face financial problems at different periods of time. A study on income resources and the income of the municipalities of the world cities and also utilizing the experiences of those which have a structure the same as that of Tehran may help solve the problems of the municipality. In this research, the method of investigation was descriptive and contrastive and the purpose was making a comparison between the financial and income resources of Tehran and the most important cities of the world which have the governing system similar to that of Tehran. The results showed that the main income resources of the municipalities of the world cities are the direct selling of the services (via receiving the price of urban services), collecting taxes and duties, utilizing the financial supports of the government (governmental money transfers), obtaining loans, and issuing urban bonds (utilizing financial markets as a complement to income system). The results also showed that the main income resource of the large cities is receiving the tax and duty from the citizens and one of the most sustainable tax resources is the tax on assets. Therefore, based on the comparative studies, the increase in the income from urban taxes, the selling of services, governmental transfers (the transfer of a part of national tax to the municipality), and to some extent the increase in financial supports by the government are argued to be the best income resources for the municipality of Tehran.

Citizenship refers to a specific pattern of relationship between citizens and their government. Such a relationship can be conceived through different methods. In fact, citizenship is regarded as a purpose which can be managed via different ways. In this article, utilizing the practical research conducted in the city of Vandoeuvre in France, a typology of citizenship management through information and computerized technology is explicated which has such four categories as Electronic Management, Electronic Government, Electronic Governance, and an Learning City. In Electronic Management, citizens are regarded as consumers of rights who are after receiving individualized and efficient public services and require a people-oriented government whose approach is augmenting citizens’ satisfaction. The second type, Electronic Government, takes an independent look at the citizen as the ones who are shouldering their own responsibilities. Due to the need to quantification and comparing of the solutions, such a government is dependent on regular consultations [with people] with an approach to improving citizens’ accepting of the policies. Here, electronic polling is the most appropriate method as it gives way to making connection between citizens’ opinions and those of the government, and, simultaneously, maintains the index of consultancy. In Electronic Governance, citizens are active members in local democracy. In this category, a citizen is considered a source of ideas and innovations whose opinions would result in benefits to the both parties. Electronic Governance is a reflection of the capacity of the local government to manage knowledge. Such an approach can help achieving the fourth type of management of the relation with citizens wherein the government is not from, for, or by people but it is according to and corresponding to people. We call it a learning city. The logic behind it is learning and how to learn which is accompanied by a definition of a continuum of the possible and the decision based the required conditions to gain success. In this case, citizens are both active members and decision makers in setting laws and the role of the local officials and the ICT instruments is still maintained and theorizeable.

In recent decades, rapid economic development, regardless of natural limitations, has inflicted irreparable damage to the environment. Due to the increase in the amount of pollution and the consequences thereof, paying attention to the environmental effects of development has gained utmost importance. Hence, utilizing modern policy-making instruments and frameworks, making the sustainable development possible, seems of great use. Environmental taxes or green tax is one of the modern instruments to implement the norms for sustainable development in the process of economic activities. In fact, the role such taxes play is to compensate for and equalize the ineffectuality resulting from putting tax on income, and on companies and also the reduction of the payments by social welfare organization. Gasoline, as one of the environmental pollutants, is of focal attention and the issue is even much more important in Iran. Thus, drawing on the international experiences on this issue, it is possible to investigate the role and effect of the green tax on gasoline both in Iran and in some selected countries. It would also be possible to implement international solutions, methods, and experiences in collecting green tax in Iran. This research is an applied one, purpose-wise. Therefore, utilizing the background studies and theoretical principles, efforts are made to carry out a study on one of the issues in development in urban economy and to offer suggestions, accordingly. The research lends itself to descriptive and analytical ones, both natureand method-wise. It is expected that the research would offer strategies and policies for reducing the amount and intensity of gasoline-induced environmental pollution. The results of the research are as following: 1. A strategic view of the tax on gasoline, 2. The necessity to prepare long-term national document for Energy, 3. A structural modification in the tax system of the country to introduce green tax, especially tax on gasoline, to the system, 4. allocation of the share of such taxes (90 ٪) to the municipalities, especially in metropolises, and its spending for the final goals of collecting green tax from gasoline.

The management of processes is a rather modern instrument which can accelerate and facilitate the carrying of responsibilities and duties and achieving the goals in any organization ranging from those involved in production or offering services. Reduction in costs is the other result of utilizing the skills for improving processes and as we know, cost reduction is one of the resources of sustainable income. This article comes in two sections. The first part briefly introduces the practical and theoretical principles of the process-based approach and the management of the processes. First of all, the concepts of process and process-inclination are defined via a process-oriented approach and then the generalities of the indexes of efficiency assessment of a process and the instruments for improving the process are mentioned. In this regard, the concepts of work and time are introduced and the diagram for the operation process as one of the mostly-used instruments for schematic representation of a production process and the diagram for work cycle as its counterpart in non-production processes (services, administrative, …) are introduced. The definition of productivity and the introduction of some instruments for improving it, like problem-solving techniques, and the seven instruments for quality control and, then, clarifying the role of process management in increasing productivity come in the following. The second section of the article takes an approach different from that of the first one and is more practical. In this part, after giving an account of the history and the stages of the implementation of the project for official reform in Tehran municipality, as a successful practical experience, the most important measures taken and the results obtained are offered. Afterwards, four samples of the macro-processes in Tehran municipality which have been defined, in form of projects, based on the skills mentioned in the first section and have been analyzed and improved are introduced. They are as following: Improving the process for ordering and providing goods and utilizing virtual storehouse, improving the process launching bids and assessing the contractors of Tehran municipality, Changing the method of widening the streets form axial to one-way and utilizing arid areas for different applications, improving the process for reconstructing and implementing the project for placing asphalt via utilizing software technology. This article is after clarifying the role of process and skills management in increasing productivity and in reducing the costs of the municipality. To this end, the technique of work- and time-measuring in the first model, the technique of drawing causeeffect diagrams (fish-bone diagram) in the second sample, and making use of technique of value engineering in the samples three and four could be mentioned in the macro-processes of Tehran municipality.

The management of financial resources of the municipalities has a basic role in urban development. However, no serious attention has been paid to such an issue in Iran. In this article, a new mathematical model has been developed for the management of financial resources which can serve a basis for developing more advanced models of distributing and allocating financial resources for sustainable urban development. In this model, the index for attracting capital has been used as an indicative of the status of development of each district of the city of Tehran, and the index of distance of each district from the city center has been used as an indicative of the extent of intensity of the city. Moreover, this article uses the amount of the investment in housing construction section in each district of Tehran as the index for attracting capital. In the second section of this article, with an estimation of an amount equal to one thousand billion tomans, as an activating budget for developing the districts of the city of Tehran, via developed model, the share each district can have from such a budget has been determined as well. As sustainable urban development has helped increasing the quality of life, and since this model helps actualizing the required conditions for sustainable urban development, it is expected that utilizing this model would help improving the competitiveness in the city and the business atmosphere in different districts of the cities.