IUEAM:
MoU to develop cooperation
Dr. Pourzarandi, president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) in the meeting on “tourism; shortcut of economic development”
Noting that according to the World Travel and Tourism Organization, tourism accounted for 7.6 trillion USD i.e. 10% of GDP in 2017 and it has created 292 million jobs equals one tenth of global employment, he added it is accounted for 6.6% of the world exports and 30% of service exports in this sector.
Saying that these figures indicate the increasing importance of this sector, particularly since we notice that there will be nearly 2 billion international tourists in 2030 and a close competition among countries and cities to attract tourists, he said tourism has had the fastest growth among the various sectors of the world economy for the sixth consecutive year. Despite geopolitical unrest and economic and political turmoil, tourism has boosted the lives of millions through job creation, poverty reduction and the promotion of development.
Stressing that the industry is capable of leading to sustainable employment and helping to bring world peace through bridging nations and cultures, he further said tourism is more sensitive to ecosystem than other parts of the economy, and it helps to preserve biodiversity in the earth.
Highlighting that for an increase of 30 tourists, a new job can be created, he said many countries have come to the conclusion that creating barriers and problems for tourists does not lead to security of the country, but also opportunities for economic growth and job creation will be lost.
Despite the fact that Iran is a fascinating and incredibly cheap destination, it is not still in a in a decent position in this industry, Dr. Pourzarandi said.
Dr. Pourzarandi added that Iran is well-positioned in terms of price competitiveness, which is measured by indicators such as ticket taxes and airport charges, hotel price index, purchasing power parity and fuel prices. This indicates that Iran is a cheap and economical destination for tourists, and it should plan for it as a country that is ranked 9th in the world in terms of cultural heritage sites.
IUESA secy.:
Noting that cities’ viability and sustainability are both attractive and at the same time undeniable necessity for the future of human urban life, he said viability is, in fact, the achievement of good urban planning or sustainable development, and it includes many other concepts, such as quality of life, ecological sustainability, vitality, equality, justice, security, participation, health, etc.
Stating that across the world, governments, institutions, institutions, planners and researchers are all looking to find ways to build viable cities, he added these cities consume less energy and resources, have more cohesive communities, show innovation and creativity, and offer better living conditions.
Noting that the Economist in its annual reports examines the viability status of the world’s cities based on numerous social, economic, and environmental factors, and ranks them, he further said cities like Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna, and Toronto are at the top of the world’s most viable cities every year.
In the 2011 report, 7 cities in Australia and Canada were among the top 10 cities in the world on the viability, which have maintained this trend by 2017, with only slight changes in their rankings, Tabatabaei said.
Stressing that in 2011, among 10 cities at the end of this table, with 140 cities, there were cities such as Harare, Dhaka, Lagos and Karachi, and Tehran ranked 133, he said but in the 2017 ranking, Tehran with its six steps made its way from the lowest ten cities and ranked 127th. Among the cities of the world, it has had the highest growth rate in terms of viability, so that a city like Dubai has a lower growth index than Tehran.
Secretary of IUESA said this growth trend is promising. "This growth indicates that moving in the path of sustainability and viability in the metropolis of Tehran is positive and, of course, needs to be accelerated further.
He counted the highest decline in 140 cities in Damascus, Syria, Ukraine and Detroit in the United States, and said one of the reasons for the growth and improvement of Tehran in the field of viability in recent years is undoubtedly the infrastructure and transportation, which over the years has been a step forward in promoting public transport and increasing metro and BRT lines. In addition, issues related to citizenship participation have also been effective in this regard.
Tehran has a much more favorable situation in some of the indicators of viability, such as security and health, and is located among the cities like Kuala Lumpur, Moscow and Dalian, he added.
The urban official considers environmental issues as urban management Achilles heel that should be regarded more than before. Solving the problems of this sector is not in the power and scope of urban management, but also it requires the synergies and efforts of various institutions of governance.
Another indicator that Tehran has made progress in recent years and it should be considered more is IT infrastructures since networking, intelligence and electronization of cities are one of the secrets of the high quality of life in these cities, he further added.
Dr. Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi, president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA):
Emphasizing that sustainable development has been considered as the core of all the global guidelines and agreements, the president of IUESA said urban regeneration is a comprehensive and integrated approach to solve urban issues and challenges, resulting in sustainable progress in all economic, cultural, social, and environmental aspects.
Saying that some superficial views can change the identity of a city in development processes, he said any development plan should be based on the principle of urban regeneration particularly in countries with long-standing cultures and civilizations, such as Iran.
Considering urban regeneration far beyond the processes and achievements of urban renewal and development, he further said it is not true that urban problems and challenges are the result of a factor according to the urban recreation idea; internal capacities and capabilities of cities should be noted in the path of urban regeneration.
Noting that social capital is one of the other pillars of urban regeneration, he added public partnership should be the central axis of change toward urban development and any plan and program that ignore public partnership will be failed certainly.
Stating that one of the most important aspects of urban regeneration is to pay attention to economic infrastructures of cities, he further said urban economy cannot be summarized only in municipal economy; therefore, this question should be answered as to what impact the economic aspect of this process will have on the quality of life of the people in any change process.
Accentuating that accurate definition of cities’ position should be presented in development process following general policies of resistance economy he said any city should have a strategic plan based on its opportunities and strengths in order to be in the path of urban regeneration.
Referring to the global experiences, the president of IUESA further said For example, Paradise Project was implemented in the center of Liverpool, by taking into account the principles of urban regeneration, it became one of the largest shopping centers in the UK which it was isolated for many years, in such a way that after implementing this plan, Liverpool ranked among commercial cities in this country and accordingly 5000 jobs were created.
Touching upon South Africa as another world experience in the field of urban regeneration, he said the small town of Stellenbosch, which has suffered from racial discrimination for many years, has become a place for global tourism through marketing and branding methods, and today it is a brand, and ultimately. The project has resulted in full employment in this small town and this city is one of the safest places in South Africa.
Referring to the second international conference on urban economy, Dr. Pourzarandi said urban regeneration will be regarded at this event in order to formulate urban regeneration planning in accordance with cities’ advantages in the country in the path of progress.
Highlighting that cities’ structure and identity should be kept in the path of progress, he further said we require a serious revision in urban planning.
Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association:
In the meantime, in order to obtain these types of dues, there are some problems that must be negotiated and presented by the municipality and the government:
The first problem is the implementation of Article 64 of the Direct Tax Code regarding the determination of the value of real estate transactions (land and buildings), which requires as much as possible strengthened databases to estimate the actual value of the property. Therefore, the main attention is paid to the Real Estate Calendar Commission, which needs to be coordinated among the members of the commission in this regard, and should use the capacity of the member organizations of this commission to determine the value of the property.
The second problem is to determine the rate of renovation costs that are set in the state budget law. This rate is 0.5% according to the urban renovation plan in 1968, in table 16 of row 38 of the single article, and the large tables of resources and expenditures of budget 2016 are set at 1.5%, and the staggering growth of this rate is the main cause of the shortage of sustainable municipal revenues. The property tax rate should be in accordance with the needs of the municipality for sustainable incomes; not inappropriately and contingently. Hence, the determination of this rate by the Organization for Management and Planning, as well as the Cabinet of Ministers and the government body, will be crucial.
The third problem is the collection of these dues, which goes back to the performance of the municipality and effective organizations in accordance with the law of urban renewal and development. At present, according to the Tehran Municipal Finance Facility, the rate of Tehran citizens’ participation in the payment of taxes is only 40%, which is considered as a very weak point in the management of tax processes. Article 12 of the City Development and Reform Act explicitly states that municipalities are obliged to submit a list of obligors who transfer funds from refusals to electricity and gas organizations, and these organizations should, after a two-month deadline, cut off electricity and gas pipelines; while there is no co-ordination between the municipal management bodies for the implementation of this article.
The reduction in the share of sustainable incomes, such as the cost of renovation, which has been named as a successful experience in other countries, such as real estate, property, or housing taxes, has forced municipalities to make more use of unsustainable incomes and changes. This approach will be effective in the long term in the wake of municipal budget fluctuations, the urban ugly city, the deterioration of the respiratory organs of the city, and the deterioration of living conditions in cities, especially in metropolitan areas, and that measures must be taken to prevent this happening.
Dr. Mahdi Sadeghi Shahdani, vice-chair of the second international conference on urban economy:
Saying that urbanization, city development, rapid increase of population, and development of industrial activities caused many socio-economic problems for cities, Dr. Mahdi Sadeghi Shahdani, vice-chair of the second international conference on urban economy and faculty of Imam Sadiq University said potentially, urbanization can initiate a new era of welfare and economic productivity, but it may change cities into the place of concentration of poverty. 
Stating that urban management requires a municipal integrated management system to solve urban problems, he added city council, as a regulatory and supervisory authority over urban affairs, is the most efficient local government for urban management to institutionalize public participation in local decision-making structures. City councils are the origin of the evolution and sustainable development in urban areas.
Given particular position of city council in urban economy and management, Dr. Mahdi Sadeghi Shahdani, vice-chair of the second international conference on urban economy said the panel of “legislation and supervision in urban economy and management” will be held concurrent with the fifth city council.
The topics of this panel are laws, regulations, and their role in urban economy and management, the role of the Islamic Consultative Assembly in urban economy and management, the role of regulatory institutions in urban economy of Iran, and citizenship right and citizenship economy and management, he added.
Saying that professors and students can send their articles until August 10, 2017 to the secretariat, he emphasized that top articles will be honored.
It should be noted that this conference will be held this autumn in Tehran with the aim of developing economic culture and exchanging new achievements in order to study the problems of the urban economy and provide executive solutions. For more information, enthusiasts can visit the conference site at http://conference.iuea.ir/ or call 02188659004.
General Annual Forum of IUESA
Holding general annual forum of IUESA
IUESA:, Dr. Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi; the president of IUESA, Ghavami; Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission, Yarzadeh; Secretary General of the World Assembly of Islamic Cities, Pourvaziri; executive director of UN-HABITAT, B.D. of IUESA, affiliated members, experts, professors, and students participated at this meeting.
At this meeting, Dr. Pourzarandi, chair of the forum, presented a report about scientific and executive performance of IUESA that was welcomed and confirmed by members.
Noting that urban economy has been neglected in the country, Dr. Pourzarandi said given that urban development challenges have become more and more important day by day and it is necessary for city managers to take advantage of up-to-date urban management and economics knowledge, IUESA, as top association in humanities, has tried to help managers and experts in the country.
At this meeting, English version of the book on Social Banking written by Dr. Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi and Dr. Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei Mozdabadi was unveiled.
At the end, Pourvaziri, UN-Habitat global advocate, while reading a letter of appreciation from the author of this book said this effort is a creative and innovative measure in the path of urban development. Furthermore, Urban Economy and Finance branch of UN-Habitat confirmed and appreciated this work.
Chair of the Economic Committee of Parliament:
Chair of the Economic Committee of Parliament said
IUESA: Referring to the role of scientific associations in urban economy, Chair of the Economic Committee of Parliament said today, technical discourse is intended in administering the cities both in quantitative area i.e. infrastructures and socio-cultural area.
Traditional management approach in city management is changing in developing countries, he added.
The use of scientific and technical capacity to manage cities is of great importance, he emphasized.
Scientific associations are good measure in urban economy and management leading to take better decisions for the benefit of citizens, he further said.
Chair of the Economic Committee of Parliament said: Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) is a proper scientific and specialized capacity that can be used in managing cities, and result in economic interests of citizens.
Starting urban economy associations will be an important and influential step in comprehensive development of cities, leading to scientific and technical management of cities.
4th meeting of Editorial board of Journal Of Urban Economics and Management in 2017
4th meeting Editorial board of Journal Of Urban Economics and Management in 2017 was held
IUESA: 4th meeting of Editorial board of Journal Of Urban Economics and Management in 2017 was held with presence of members.
In this meeting last measures to standardize Journal of Urban Economics and Management with international criteria, indexing in new databases, and the latest regulations of reference institutions on qualitative evaluation of articles were discussed.
Pourzarandi, chair of the international conference on urban economy:
Two-thirds of the world’s energy consumed in cities
IUESA: Noting that one of the less considered aspects of urban development process is a mutual impact of cultural and economic development, Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association said according to economics, an individual’s economic behavior is based on a rational advantage, but it should be noted that the type of people’s choices, even in relation to economic issues, is based on their beliefs and their peripheral culture.
Saying that one of the issues that specify the relationship between these two categories is the role of culture in the optimization of energy consumption, he said according to the researches, although we have problems about pricing way in our country, major part of waste is due to socio-cultural issues.
Urban spaces will be tripled by the beginning of the twenty-first century for the next 13 years and this causes the consumption of energy in cities increase dramatically, Pourzarandi said.
Adding that cities account for more than two-thirds of the world’s energy consumption, he said any change in energy consumption in the metropolitan area can change the consumption equation globally.
Saying that particular attention has been paid to infrastructures to promote efficiency and saving energy consumption in resistance economy, he further said only by optimizing energy consumption, it will be possible to save $ 100 billion for the country. Even if 10% of this figure is realized, it can make a leap in the country’s growth path.
According to some estimates, nearly half of the energy consumption in the country comes from households. If the pattern of consumption is to change, the first goal should be to change the pattern of household consumption, especially in the city, Pourzarandi added.
Pourzarandi said some statistics indicate that energy consumption in our country is 70% higher than the global average. The Iranians consume electricity three times compared to global norm and gasoline consumption is said to be several times the world’s average.
Providing solutions to change the pattern of urban household consumption, chair of the international conference on urban economy said tax on excessive consumption, reducing government duties for low-income households; encouraging producers to deliver low-income and high-quality products to low-income households at a macroeconomic level can be useful. On the other hand, all cultural instruments, including the media, should be used to encourage people in this field.
Referring to the second international conference on urban economy, he said one of the main topics of the conference is to focus on modifying the pattern of energy consumption in cities.
With 8 scientific articles
The 18th issue of the Quarterly Journal of Urban Economics and Management has been published
IUESA: The 18th issue of the Quarterly Journal of Urban Economics and Management has been published. In this issue, 8 articles have been published including:
- The Role of Organizational Change on Improving Organizations Financial and Economic Performance (Case Study: Bank Shahr) by Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi, Alireza Amirkabiri, Hamidreza Azimi
- Proposing a Conceptual Framework of Urban Regeneration Interaction and Entrepreneur City in Achieving Place Marketing/ Mojtaba Rafieiyan, Fatemeh Mohammadi Aydaghmish
- Urban Regeneration by Emphasizing on Identification and Analysis of Cultural Creative Clusters (Case Study: Shiraz Historical-Cultural Fabric)/ Pegah Izadi, Zohreh Hadiyani, Ali Hajinejad, Jafar Qaderi
- Investigating Micro-System Management Establishment of Peri-Urban Areas (Case Study: Tehran Metropolis- District22)/ Gholamreza Kazemian Shirvan, Mahmoud Ziyaei, Maghasood Amiri, Hossein Moradi
- Energy Consumption Optimization in Urban Rail Transport (Case study: Tehran Subway)/ Amir Masoud Nikookar, Tahmineh Nategh, Jalil Gharibi, Morad Kordi
- Identification and Prioritization of Effective Factors on Willingness to Pre-Purchase Demand of Housing (Case Study: Buyers of Under Construction Houses in the City of Ilam)/ Esfandiyar Mohammadi, Mahdiyeh Mokhtarifar, Ardeshir Shiri
- Structural Equation Modeling of Effective Economic and Cultural Components on Energy Consumption Behavior in Urban Societies/ Mahdi Sadeghi Shahdani, Mahdi Khoshkhooy
- Assessing the Indicators of Good Governance in Development of Urban Tourism (Case Study: City of Tehran)/ Naser Aminian, MirAli Seyyed Naghavi, Manoochehr Jahaniyan, Seyyed Mohsen Emami
Development of urban economics and management, publishing new findings and theories in this area, and preparing the ground for exchanging ideas about related issues are some of the most important goals of this journal.
The Quarterly Journal of Urban Economics and Management has been indexed in Econlit, Econbiz, ISC, RICeST, Magiran, Google Scholar, Noormags, and Ensani under the license of the Ministry of science, research, and technology.
IUESA was top scientific association in humanities, in last three years, chaired by Dr. Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi as copyright holder and Dr. Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei Mozdabadi as general director. Dr. Sadeqi Shahdani is responsible for editor-in-chief.
Those interested can visit www.iuea.ir for more information.
Dr. Mohammad Hosseinpour Zarandi, the president of IUESA:
10% share of tourism from the world GDP/ cities as a center of tourism development
IUESA: Noting that comprehensive model of resistance economy should be considered in all economic aspects, Dr. Pourzarandi said however, much attempt has been done in this regard, but there is a long a way to reach ideal regarded by the Supreme Leader.
Saying that resistance economy is a domestic model taken from economic, social, cultural, and political necessities of the country, he said theoretically, it is a detailed model covering all sectors.
Stating that cities have extensive capacity to accomplish resistance model, yet it has been less considered by officials, he added only one of these capacities is development of urban tourism that can improve state revenue level and facilitate the process of entering foreign investment.
Expressing that comprehensive and targeted support of exporting goods has been highlighted in article 10 of resistance economy; he added it should be considered that there is a direct relationship between tourism industry and exports of handicrafts.
Saying that the number of global tourists has reached more than 1.2 billion people, he said as estimated, this trend is ascending in 2017.
Referring to the impact of tourism growth on economy of countries, he said tourism industry could create 2 million and 357 thousand jobs i.e. more than 3 percent of total employment in this area, in south west of Asia in 2016.
Tourism has created 108 million jobs on average in 2015 and it could allocate 9.8 percent of the world GDP to itself; a figure equals to 7.2 trillion USD, Pourzarandi said.
Saying that despite many capacities, Iran could not achieve the objective of annual 20 million tourists, he further said nearly 5 million foreign tourists visit Iran annually i.e. 2.3 percent of Iran GDP.
Touching upon strategies to strengthen tourism industry, particularly in urban area, he added cities are both origin and destination of tourism, so planning should be based on tourism development.
Highlighting that most tourism attractions are in cities, he further said one of the main problems of tourism industry in Iran is lack of standard hotels that requires the presence of banking system to finance it purposefully.
Asking to formulate a supportive package for entrepreneurs in tourism area, Pourzarandi said those who invest in this regard should ensure that their investment is profitable.
Referring to the development of intra-bank communication and the use of international credit cards in the country, he added fortunately, some important steps have been taken in this regard, which we hope to reach the conclusion as soon as possible.
Emphasizing that tourism can be influential and pioneer in the framework of resistance economy he added that from one hand, this industry is productive and effective on increasing employment and exchange revenues, and on the other hand it can be changed into a tool to transfer cultural messages.
Mass migration to future cities
IUESA: The immigrant population was estimated about 244 million people worldwide in 2015. 65.3 million of them immigrated because of conflict and homelessness. It has been predicted that 200 million people will become homeless by 2050.
Major part of immigrants, including 90 percent of them, settled in the cities of the U.S. Britain, Australia, and Canada in the past years. In this regard, these cities will face many problems such as health, lack of water resources, safety, and environmental hazards in coming years.
However, mass migration that we may consider today does not only contain problems. The studies indicate that cities can take advantage of this opportunity in order to have better economic condition and they should welcome this phenomenon instead of fighting against it.
However, the migration due to war, economic problems, homelessness, or other reasons warn cities to be prepared for facing their problems such as providing job or settlement. 
Moreover, cities should proceed to improve conditions and reduce shock caused by pressure on their natural ecosystems and prepare the ground for immigrants’ living conditions. They should be prepared for coming crises and take advantage of this opportunity to have a better community for their residents.
A glance to new achievements of urban economy
Smart city in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT)
IUESA: Thanks to IoT, smart city changes to reality rapidly. The growing number of electronic devices in personal life and our businesses that connect to the internet and share data can be mentioned in this regard.
Smart city refers to a part of IoT dealing with urban infrastructures and facilities; from transport to garbage collection system and distribution of electricity. Citizens’ access to democratic processes such as decision-making, open data, and election has been improved by smart technology.
It has been specified in the researches that many works will be developed by IoT. For example, Telefónica is a company that is aware of the new challenges posed by today’s society. This is why the company offers the means to facilitate communication between people, providing them with the most secure and state of the art technology in order for them to live better, and for them to achieve whatever they resolve.
In waste management, there are some censors connected to recycling bins that alarms when the capacity fills. However, sending required number of garbage collection trucks also will be managed better.
Generally, this issue can alter the urban service contracts. Collected data from these censors can be combined with demographic data to provide better services to citizens.
One of the other strengths of smart city plan is different programs to participate different groups of people in urban affairs by using available tools and data. Citizens can report accumulation of garbage in their neighborhood or insulting graffiti. Then, contractors’ operating speed can be evaluated.
Parking lot can also be developed in a smart city by using sensors to monitor parking. This means that information of parking capacity is real in city. Proper distribution of parking spaces in car parks reduces traffic around them and air pollution as well.
Collected data of environmental monitoring stations and weather data can be used to solve traffic of certain areas and reduce their pollution.
Motion sensors report traffic congestion in the city in order that drivers can choose their routes intelligently.
Not only smart city infrastructures help city residents, but also visitors and tourists van take advantage of them. This means that online statistic of visitors from sightseeing attractions can be displayed. By using these data, city authorities can have a proper planning for tourists.
Dr. Pourzarandi, President of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA)
45% greenhouse growth by 2030; 1% allocation of the world GDP to green economy
IUESA: Noting that green economy and sustainable development in cities should be considered by city managers, Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) said although environmental and social aspects of sustainable development are generally considered, urban economy has a particular share in this regard.
Saying that as it has been forecasted, global demand for energy would be increased 45 percent and the world oil prices would rise to near $ 180 per barrel, he added greenhouse gas emissions would be increased 45 percent more that is five times more than absorbing them by the earth.
Emphasizing that more than half of the world population live in cities, the president of IUESA said economic activities of cities are 55 percent of GDP in less-developed countries and 73 percent in developing ones and 85 percent in developed ones.
Stating that economic growth can solve the world problems, particularly in developing countries, he further said it should be regarded that if the growth is not accompanied by environmental considerations, not only it will not lead to sustainable progress, but also it will face societies with more complicated problems.
Noting that relying on green economy is one of the solutions to achieve sustainable development, he said it was proposed by the UN for the first time in economic crisis conditions in order to help governments and other decision-makers to formulate new policies toward sectors supporting the environment.
Highlighting that green economy is a unique way for global development as international authorizes say; he added they suggest allotting 1 percent of the world GDP to invest in green economy.
According to the UN environmental plan, green economy is defined as an economy that leads to improve human health, increase social justice, and reduce environmental hazards and ecological bottlenecks, he said.
Green economy is a prerequisite to achieve sustainable development since it includes three main progress factors i.e. economic, social, and environmental development, Dr. Pourzarandi said.
Accentuating that the most important challenge in moving toward green economy is to create balance and cooperation such as economic growth, creating employment, and environmental integrity among the poor and rich, and current and future generations, he further said regarding environmental necessities in sustainable economic activities, green economy deals with creating balance among economic growth requirements and necessity to protect natural resources to develop for future generations.
Dr. Pourzarandi, President of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA)
45% greenhouse growth by 2030; 1% allocation of the world GDP to green economy
IUESA: Noting that green economy and sustainable development in cities should be considered by city managers, Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) said although environmental and social aspects of sustainable development are generally considered, urban economy has a particular share in this regard.
Saying that as it has been forecasted, global demand for energy would be increased 45 percent and the world oil prices would rise to near $ 180 per barrel, he added greenhouse gas emissions would be increased 45 percent more that is five times more than absorbing them by the earth.
Emphasizing that more than half of the world population live in cities, the president of IUESA said economic activities of cities are 55 percent of GDP in less-developed countries and 73 percent in developing ones and 85 percent in developed ones.
Stating that economic growth can solve the world problems, particularly in developing countries, he further said it should be regarded that if the growth is not accompanied by environmental considerations, not only it will not lead to sustainable progress, but also it will face societies with more complicated problems.
Noting that relying on green economy is one of the solutions to achieve sustainable development, he said it was proposed by the UN for the first time in economic crisis conditions in order to help governments and other decision-makers to formulate new policies toward sectors supporting the environment.
Highlighting that green economy is a unique way for global development as international authorizes say; he added they suggest allotting 1 percent of the world GDP to invest in green economy.
According to the UN environmental plan, green economy is defined as an economy that leads to improve human health, increase social justice, and reduce environmental hazards and ecological bottlenecks, he said.
Green economy is a prerequisite to achieve sustainable development since it includes three main progress factors i.e. economic, social, and environmental development, Dr. Pourzarandi said.
Accentuating that the most important challenge in moving toward green economy is to create balance and cooperation such as economic growth, creating employment, and environmental integrity among the poor and rich, and current and future generations, he further said regarding environmental necessities in sustainable economic activities, green economy deals with creating balance among economic growth requirements and necessity to protect natural resources to develop for future generations.
Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA):
Reducing air pollution and saving fuel by intelligent transport
IUESA: Explaining the challenges facing urban transport infrastructures, Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) said, today, transport and traffic are related with all pillars of urban life and areas such as leisure time, education, business, production, industry require sustainable transport.
Noting that proper transport is one of the pillars of sustainable development, he added most problems facing cities and quality of urban life are associated with transport as air pollution is main challenge of our metropolises.
Considering waste of resources as one of the other deficiencies of unsustainable transport systems in cities, he further said this amount is so that its impact can be measured on economic growth in the country.
Saying that development of satellite cities near metropolises has made urban transport more important, he said nearly 400 thousand automobiles are added to Tehran streets.
Stressing that the only solution is intelligent transportation systems (ITS), he added infrastructures of Tehran metropolis are at standard level, but infrastructure development cannot meet challenges of this area alone.
Regarding ITS as one of the main solution to improve urban transport, he said Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are advanced applications aim to provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic management and enable various users to be better informed and make safer, more coordinated, and 'smarter' use of transport networks. They are considered a part of the Internet of things resulting in cost reduction.
The use of these systems will lead to saving in energy, time, increasing safety, and reducing accidents, he said.
Dr. Pourzarandi, President of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA)
Sustainable employment key for sustainable economy
The Supreme Leader promulgated general policies of employment in 2011 and he emphasized on this issue in the form of resistance economy, but he particularly used the keyword of employment. Yet, we should consider why he has accentuated on this matter.
Employment is a socio-economic reality, but its economic aspect is more important; therefore, any policy that ignores economic logic of employment will be failed.
Unemployment is a global issue. While the growth rate of the world GDP was 3.1 percent in 2016 and 3.4 percent growth rate is predicted for 2017 unemployment rate is still high and this figure will be 5.8 percent in 2017. It is estimated that 3.4 million will be added to the world unemployed people and there would be 201 million jobless globally.
Unemployment increase will be much more severe in emerging economies because of the deep recession in 2016. For instance, Brazil would experience unemployment rate of 8.4 percent in 2017 while unemployment rate will be reduced in developed countries in 2017 compared to the last year.
In addition to global unemployment, the issue of vulnerable jobs is important as well. Currently, 1.4 billion vulnerable employments exist in the world. 4 out of 5 employed people have vulnerable jobs in developing countries. Half of workers in the South Asia and Africa earn less than 3 USD. Moreover, inequality and gap between age groups in employment and injustice between men and women employment should be regarded. In developing countries, youth unemployment wastes economic opportunities one after another leading to social instability. For example, youth unemployment is 26 percent in the Africa, 24 percent in the Middle East, and 22%in the CIS countries.
Joblessness is a critical issue in our country, particularly youth unemployment. It is nearly 12.5 percent and this figure is more than 31 percent among 20 to 24 year-old young people. One the other hand, there is no balance between different economic sectors. This means that 50.6 percent worked in service sector, 32.1 percent in industry, and 17.3 in agricultural sector unlike developed countries that employment is higher in industry sector. It seems that employment issue requires a fundamental solution and short-term sectional policies will not lead to a great change.
In addition to high unemployment, low rate of labor productivity is also a major problem. Raising wages is achieved by increasing productivity. Supporting employment, without increasing labor productivity and efficiency, is considered as inefficient policy. Productivity is the engine of the economy. As Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate and economist, said, Productivity is not everything, but in the long run, it is almost everything. Productivity means working smarter instead of working harder. Thus, productivity of labor force should be paid more than before beside employment.
Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA):
IUESA: Referring to the naming of 1396 by the Supreme Leader as “Economy of Resistance; production-employment,” Dr. Pourzarandi, the president of Iran Urban Economics Scientific Association (IUESA) said his reemphasis on economic issues and people’s livelihood indicate gap between ideal and current situation about economic issues in the country.
Saying that the Supreme Leader has introduced domestic product and employment as key components in the country, Dr. Pourzarandi said the importance of this issue led this year to be named as “economy of resistance; production-employment” by the Supreme Leader.
As the Supreme Leader asserted, success and efficiency in implementation of resistance economy policies will be obvious when it is tangible.
Noting that the most tangible ones are welfare, employment, and family’s costs, he said if we want to evaluate the government’s performance in improvement of people’s livelihood based on resistance economy, we should analyze the performance according to indicators and variables of unemployment rate, family’s costs, Gini coefficient, and inflation rate.
Looking at statistics, increase in unemployment rate in urban and rural areas of the country will be evident that is contrary to paragraph 1 of general policies of resistance economy, he said.
Generally, it can be stated that costs of household expenditures have been drawn from food to non-food costs and mainly housing and transport. This means that people, particularly poor classes of the society, spend on non-food needs instead of food, indicating poverty development in economic, social and even feeding aspects in urban communities, he added.
Referring to the capacity of cities to accomplish the slogan, he said globally, metropolises are development engines, and there is a capacity for Iran’s cities to be influential in economic growth and development in 1396.
Emphasizing that the share of cities in countries’ GDP is usually more than their population, he added city managers can formulate the package of production and employment in cities with the help of responsible organizations, and supporting small enterprises and urban creativity should be put on the agenda.
