Institutional stakeholder participation in urban redevelopment in Tehran: An evaluation of decisions and actions

Abstract

Experimentation with citizen participation in urban redevelopments is increasing worldwide. This paper aims to scrutinise this trend through an in-depth case study of the decisions and actions taken by the institutional stakeholders involved in participatory urban redevelopment in Tehran, Iran. The discussion is based around two contrasting urban redevelopment areas which set out to adopt a participatory approach involving various stakeholders including institutions (the Municipality of Tehran and the Heritage Organisation) and local owneroccupiers, developing new knowledge, understanding, and clarity about the concept and application of participation in urban redevelopments in developing countries. In both areas, the institutions invited owners to participate in the physical and economic improvements of their places through land assemblage or sharing redevelopment costs. In this study a range of qualitative methods are used including photo-elicitation techniques (PEI) and semi-structured interviews with locals, officials and professionals. The results show the vulnerability of the process. This was revealed when one institution did not maintain their role and when some owner-occupiers acted as free-riders. This highlights the challenge of building an enduring collaboration between institutional stakeholders from the planning to in-use stages, in particular the difficulties that arise as different institutions become involved in the process. This issue is more problematic when resources are limited and/or intermittent. As the results show, the institutional collaboration was smoother when fewer stakeholders were involved in decision making. In the commercial case, there were more complaints about overdue completion in the projects due to poor institutional collaboration. We recommend the need for an agreed mechanism prior to such initiatives where the role of the various stakeholders and their responsibilities are clearly cited, and where all different impact scenarios from the planning to in-use stage are set out.

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“…One of the important outcomes of the workshops was the understanding that solutions to the problems should be realized by inter-agency coordination. This result is consistent with previous studies (Adu-Ampong, 2017;Akça, 2006;Bello et al, 2016;Durgun, 2007;Erfani & Roe, 2020;Eyassu et al, 2019;Hatipoglu et al, 2016;Kantawateera et al, 2013;Ladkin & Bertramini, 2020;Suherlan et al, 2018;Wan & Pinheiro, 2014;Yuksel et al, 1999;Zengingönül et al, 2012) which emphasize the lack of coordination and cooperation as among the important obstacles in sustainable tourism development and planning. For coordination issues, although a consensus was reached on the establishment of a platform in the workshops, the follow up session revealed that no action had been taken.…”

“…Byrd et al (2008) stated that stakeholders do not have a direct impact on tourism development; however, the level of understanding may contribute to social and cultural interactions between all stakeholders. Erfani and Roe (2020) emphasized that the quality of the whole process is liable to criticism when participation is considered inconsistent and perceived as unfair except for limited or intermittent resources. If the members of the community are ignored or treated unequally while accessing resources, they may feel rejected and, thus, both the process and the wider community cohesion may be damaged (Erfani & Roe, 2020).…”

“…If all of a community's members believe they are given enough information about the expected outcomes, are treated equally, and their concerns and aspirations are taken into consideration, they may think it is worth further involvement in the planning and decision making processes (Erfani & Roe, 2020). According to Zuo et al (2017), a lack of information and isolation from tourism affairs may give rise not only to a lack in confidence in the local government but also to lower positive perceptions.…”

How Can I Help You? Questioning the Role of Evaluation Techniques in Democratic Decision-Making Processes

“…An urban development project consists of several steps (e.g., preparation, planning, implementing) whereby specific results can be achieved through proposals, plans, changes, and recommendations [61]. Urban development includes issues such as transport, land use, infrastructure, housing, economic development, and especially sustainability, which require that a wide range of actors be included in the process [61,62]. The actors that influence or are influenced by urban planning are many and highly fragmented.…”

“…Involving social actors enriches planning processes. Their participation can be described as the engagement and interaction among the actors, actions, and decisions [61]. Participation, indeed, is often associated with the concepts of democracy and justice: it is the element that makes it possible to achieve socio-cultural and economic objectives [61,67].…”