Article ۳ of the Decentralization Resolution Can Curb Overloading Beyond Capacity

Ali Ata, a former member of the Tehran City Council, gave a positive assessment of the recent resolution by the Council of Ministers titled “Action Plan for the Organization, Functional Refinement, and Decentralization of Tehran and Alborz.” He said that Article 3 of the resolution, which sets out a prohibition on demographic and activity-related overloading beyond comprehensive and detailed urban and rural plans, could play a controlling role against measures carried out under the heading of “productivity enhancement.”

Productivity Enhancement: From a Customary Concept to a Source of Government Revenue

Referring to the expanding use of the concept of productivity enhancement, Ali Ata stated: “Productivity enhancement, as a customary concept, was gradually generalized across many state-owned subsidiary companies and quasi-public companies, entered their economic literature, and in practice became part of the revenue sources for the government and many affiliated companies.”

A Shift in the Government’s Approach from Questionable Ideas to Decentralization

Referring to the recent resolution by the Council of Ministers titled “Action Plan for the Organization, Functional Refinement, and Decentralization of Tehran and Alborz,” he said: “It can be interpreted that the government is seeing the issue on the ground and is no longer pursuing ideas whose realization and even usefulness are in question, and is specifically focusing on the discussion of decentralization.” Ata described this approach as very positive and an important point.

Article 3: Prohibition of Loading Beyond Comprehensive and Detailed Plans

He described Article 3 of this resolution as significant and said: “This article specifically addresses the prohibition of demographic and activity-related overloading beyond comprehensive, detailed, and guiding urban and rural plans.” According to him, this has always been a subject on which experts and many managers have agreed, but the question is how to devise a way to ensure that this type of loading beyond plans — which, with some leniency, is synonymous with loading beyond capacity — is actually prohibited.

The Relationship Between Article 3 and the Productivity Enhancement Resolution

In response to a question about the relationship between Article 3 and the productivity enhancement resolution, Ali Ata stated: “When we look at the productivity enhancement resolution, it is clear that with regard to surplus government lands, the possibility has been given for extensive loading on many large plots of land.” He raised the question of whether Article 3 can play a controlling role against the measures that are to be carried out under the heading of productivity enhancement, and added: “If this possibility is provided — which I hope will be provided — I consider this restriction on loadings to be very positive and auspicious.”

The Need to Amend the Law on Sustainable Revenue for Municipalities

Regarding the arrangements for this restriction in relation to the resources and financing plans of urban management, he said: “We all know that urban managements obtain the bulk of their resources through construction fees, excess density, and building violations.” According to him, this means there is a need to amend the Law on Sustainable Revenue and Municipal Expenditures, which, of course, is foreseen in Article 21 of this same resolution, but Ata believes that more precise and extensive work is needed to reach a comprehensive and all-inclusive solution that truly achieves this goal.

The Need for Greater Interaction and Inter-Agency Coordination

In conclusion, Ali Ata emphasized: “For the realizability of this important resolution — which in my view contains very positive points — we still need more work, more reflection, and greater inter-agency coordination, and with the will that has formed in the government in this regard, it will be realized, God willing.”