Examination of effects of Direct Election of Mayors in Improving Iran’s Urban Governance Indicators

Ahmad Akhoundi, Abbas; Barakpour, Naser; Asadie, Iradj; Basirat, Maysam; Taherkhani, Habibollah

Examination of effects of Direct Election of Mayors in Improving Iran’s Urban Governance Indicators

Document Type : مقاله کوتاه

Authors

¹ Faculty Member of University of Tehran, Institute for North American and European Studies

² Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Art

³ PhD Student, School of Urban Planning, University College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran

⁴ -

Abstract

Comparable to the general Council-City Manager Model, Iranian citizens indirectly elect their mayor through the vote of city councilors. This creates problems such as instability of city manager in his/her position, non demarcation of political leadership from expertise-based management, weak political leadership, insufficient concern for sectoral check, and inadequate balance in council-city manager relations. This will in turn lead to lack of efficiency, transparency and accountability.This paper attempts to investigate problems in the currently dominant urban management model. To enhance mayors’ authority, reinforce political leadership, increase responsibility and accountability of city managers, and boost public participation, several countries are substituting indirect selection of mayors with direct elections. The evaluation in the paper, suggests that direct election of mayors in Iran improves urban governance indices.