Evaluating impacts of city of Shahre-Rey possible separation from Tehran metropolis

Extended Abstract



Introduction

In April 2012, as a result of Article 12 of the establishment of the Islamic Council of Tehran Metropolis, only one city Islamic Council was formed in the urban limits of Tehran, Rey, and Tajrish cities. The mayor of Tehran and the city council members stated that the reason for this is the infrastructural and physical continuity and the lack of financial self-sufficiency of Shahr-e-Rey. This issue has caused great dissatisfaction among Rey's people and city managers, who believe that this city is being persecuted. On the one hand, Rey's budget and revenues are deposited into the treasury of Tehran municipality every year. On the other hand, all the pollutants of the Tehran metropolis are transferred to Shahr-e-Rey and its territory. Therefore, according to the Iranian constitution law, they are pursuing the separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis.



Methodology

The research method is based on the analytical-developmental method. This means that first, based on the analytical method, theoretical studies and change statistics were carried out, and the practical and influential components of the plan implementation were identified; then, through the developmental method, all kinds of scenarios were formulated in this field. The data collection was done by documentary and survey methods, and the tools of questionnaires and interview letters were used in this way. Statistical communities include Shahr-e-Rey and the experts' group. The experts' group consisted of some Members of Parliament, some members of the Provincial Supreme Council, some Council members of Tehran metropolis, some members of Tehran and Rey township Councils, managers, the General Directorate of Tehran's Privacy, and the Center for Studies and Planning of Tehran City. For the sample size of Shahr-e-Rey, considering the 95% confidence coefficient of Cochran's formula, the sample size was determined to be 384 people. The sampling method was done in a simple, random way. Five Likert scales were used in the questionnaire (very little = 1, little = 2, medium = 3, high = 4, and very high = 5). The sample size for conducting research is obtained from interviews and questionnaires by an expert group. In order to document and raise the level of public consensus and more confidence in the questionnaire results, 40 letters were published among each of the experts, and 36 people responded. Data analysis was done using statistical tests, MIC MAC, and Wizard software. The validity of the research is based on construct validity and reliability using Cronbach's alpha.



Results and discussion

The results indicate that the legal dimension, with an average of 3.23, will have the most impact, and the environmental dimension, with an average of 1.80, will have the least impact on the possible separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis. Economic-financial, physical, and administrative-institutional dimensions will have moderate impacts with averages of 2.68, 2.59, and 2.51, respectively, and the socio-cultural dimensions, with an average of 3.11, will have high impacts in the separation issue on the Likert scale. The findings also illustrate that in order to resolve the research problem, six scenarios have been presented, which in order of priority are: adherence to the rules and regulations of the country divisions organization (separation of Shahr-e-Rey from Tehran metropolis; integration of Tehran and Rey cities), independence of urban management of District 20 of Tehran (Establishing an independent council and mayor; transforming the municipality of District 20 into a special municipality), transforming District 20 into a special Iranian-Islamic and natural tourism region, developing all kinds of technologies in various institutional, economic, social, transportation and physical fields, preservation of privacy along with the development of ecotourism and sustainable agriculture in it, and the development of non-governmental organizations at Shahr-e-Rey.



Conclusion

In order to investigate the consequences of Shahr-e-Rey's separation from the Tehran metropolis and to identify the influential and influential components, the opinions of citizens and expert groups were examined. The results elucidate that in the case of the separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis, the most impacts will be in the legal and socio-cultural dimension, and the least will be in the environmental dimension. In order to decide on the separation or integration of Shahr-e-Rey from the metropolis, firstly, the establishment of the steering secretariat for decision-making on the separation/integration of Rey and Tehran in two policy-making and executive working groups with the presence of different members, Tehran mayor, the secretary of Tehran city council, the governors of Tehran and Rey cities, the representative of the Supreme Council of the province, the representatives of both city councils, the mayor of District 20, the governor of Tehran and the head of the commission of councils and internal affairs of the Islamic Council are required. Establishing this secretariat is necessary to strengthen organizational cooperation and collaborative project implementation, avoid parallel work in decisions and policies, prevent failure and prolong project implementation, and control the estimates of the project's negative impacts. In addition, in order to immediately resolve the problems of District 20, in order to subside local protests, and prevent the separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis, it is suggested that the municipality of this region be turned into a special urban region. Establishing this secretariat is necessary to strengthen organizational cooperation and collaborative project implementation, avoid parallel work in decisions and policies, prevent failure and prolong project implementation, and control the estimates of the project's negative impacts. In addition, in order to immediately resolve the problems of District 20, in order to subside local protests, and prevent the separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis, it is suggested that the municipality of this region be turned into a special urban region.



Acknowledgments

I am grateful to all managers and employees of Tehran Study and Planning Center who had enough cooperation in conducting this research. I would also like to thank all the managers and employees of Tehran Municipality, the honorable members of the Supreme Council of the Province and Tehran City Council, the governors of Tehran and Ray, and other officials who cooperated in various parts of planning and holding meetings.