What is the rank of Tehran in the list of desirable cities in the world?

In the latest index table of global cities, among a thousand cities of the world, Tehran is ranked 459; A rank that is 31 places lower compared to last year's rank of 428. What attracts more attention than Tehran's overall ranking is the combination of scores that made this position: 51 out of 100 in economy, 58.9 in human capital, 48.5 in quality of life, 40.8 in environment and only 10 in governance.

Ambassador Arjan - Social Group: In the latest table of "World Cities Index" by Oxford Economics, among the thousand cities of the world, Tehran is ranked 459; A rank that does not even place the capital of Iran in the upper half of this thousand-city table. Compared to last year's rank of 428, Tehran is 31 places lower; But maybe this number itself is not the most important part of the report. What attracts more attention than Tehran's overall ranking is the combination of scores that made this position: 51 out of 100 in economy, 58.9 in human capital, 48.5 in quality of life, 40.8 in environment and only 10 in governance.

These numbers give a thought-provoking picture of the capital of Iran; A city that still has human capital and significant economic weight, but is facing problems in converting these capacities into quality of life, favorable environment and efficient governance. From this point of view, Tehran's problem cannot be explained simply by lack of resources or lack of capacity. The more important issue is how to use the capacities that already exist in the city.

Tehran is not just a big city for Iran. The capital is the main center of politics, economy, university, media, culture, specialized services and an important part of the country's human capital. The importance of the Oxford report begins precisely here. This institute did not design the index of world cities just to produce a ranking table and put five areas of economy, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance together to present a picture of the strengths, weaknesses and direction of the cities. Therefore, Tehran's drop from 428th to 459th rank should be considered more than a simple shift in the table, it should be considered a warning about the direction in which the capital is moving.

Perhaps the most telling part of this picture is the gap between two numbers: 58.9 in human capital and 10 in governance. Tehran is still an academic, specialized and dense city of educated manpower. Universities, research centers, knowledge-based companies, specialists, doctors, engineers and a wide range of professional forces are concentrated in this city. But human capital becomes an urban advantage when it can be converted into better policy making, innovation, economic growth, quality of public services and better life. If this capacity cannot affect the quality of the city's administration, part of the human capital will be left out of the decision-making and development cycle.

Of course, the score of 10 in governance cannot be attributed only to Tehran Municipality. In this section, Oxford does not only measure the performance of urban management and includes components such as institutional stability, quality of regulations, government effectiveness and business environment in its evaluation; Therefore, part of this score is related to conditions at the national level and is outside the direct authority of the city administration. But this point increases the importance of the issue. If the capital of a country with this amount of human and economic capital cannot transform this capacity into effective governance and a suitable quality of life, the issue is no longer just an executive problem or related to a period of urban management; Rather, it refers to the relationship between decision-making institutions, policy-making, expert capacity and city administration mechanisms.

In fact, the image of Tehran in the Oxford index indicates a gap; The gap between capacity and performance. Tehran's economy is 51 and its human capital is 58.9, but the quality of life is 48.5 and the environment is 40.8. That is, a city that still has a significant economic and human capacity is facing difficulties in providing suitable conditions for the life of its citizens and preserving its environment. This gap can also be seen in the daily life of citizens. Traffic, air pollution, housing costs, pressure on the public transportation network, lack of desirable public spaces, wear and tear of some infrastructures, water stress and land subsidence are not separate issues. They are parts of a bigger problem: the problem of Tehran's livability.

Today, Tehran is facing an accumulation of problems rather than a lack of projects. A project can be defined for each of the city's problems, but the metropolis cannot be managed with a set of individual projects. Traffic is related to the pattern of urban development, housing and public transportation; Air pollution is related to transportation, fuel, industry and energy policy; The water crisis is linked to physical development, consumption patterns and resource management, and subsidence is also a product of years of pressure on underground resources. Therefore, Tehran needs more integrated policies than more projects.

Change of urban policy, lost in Tehran

This change is actually a change in the philosophy of urban politics. The success of Tehran's management should not be measured only by the number of opened projects, the amount of construction or the volume of construction operations. It should be asked if the travel time of citizens has decreased? Has the share of public transportation increased? Has housing become more accessible for the middle and low-income classes? Has air quality improved? Is water consumption controlled? Are more public and cultural spaces available to citizens? Has the city been able to maintain its human capital? And most importantly, does the citizen feel seen and heard in the decisions that affect his life?

Oxford emphasizes this link between different components in its report. Successful cities are not just big economies; They have been able to create a reinforcing cycle between economy, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. A stronger economy helps to attract skilled labor, skilled labor accelerates innovation and economic growth, and quality of life and proper governance also helps to sustain human capital and attract capital and business. The problem starts when this cycle turns into an erosive cycle instead of reinforcing each other.

From this point of view, the change of Tehran's urban policy should move from "everyday administration" to "future governance". Tehran needs a long-term view; A view whose horizon is not limited to the four-year period of an urban administration and which can measure the effects of today's decisions on Tehran in the next ten or twenty years. Water, energy, transportation, housing, environment, population, technology, urban economy and climate resilience must be seen in a single picture.

Tehran can still change its course; But this change does not happen by adding a few projects to the list of construction projects. The main issue is the change in priorities and success criteria. If the capital is going to continue to be the mega city of Iran and the symbol of the country's national capacity, it should change from a city that is just big to a city that is well managed, well lived and ready for the future.