Two-third of global GDP in cities; urban economy waiting for government bill

IUESA: Dr. Hossein Mohammadpour Zarandi, head of IUESA, and Dr. Mahdi Sadeqi Shahedani, head of faculty of Islamic studies and economics addresses the dimensions of first international conference on urban economy in the program of Iran’s economy.

Saying that more than 4 billion people live in cities in the current situation, he said this figure will be increased to 6.3 billion people by 2050 in a way that urbanization norm would be more than 60 percent globally.

Emphasizing that there are 37 large cities with more than 10 million people in the world, but it would reach to more than 100 cities by 2050, he added it can be said that we are faced with a metropolis revolution.

There are 468 large cities in the world with more than 60 percent of global GDP by 2030 and according to the statistics, currently 70 percent of the world GDP is produced in cities, he added.

Highlighting that rapid growth of urbanization and increase in the share of geographical areas in the world economy have created some damages faced with societies, he said marginalization, urban poverty, environmental pollution particularly air pollution, traffic, cultural and social dilemmas are some of the challenges of urban development.

The head of international conference on urban economy said: in this regard, IUESA has tried to integrate cities’ successful experiences globally in the field of sustainable development in order to take advantage of them to implement resistance economy in cities.

“Economy of smart city”, “economy of urban tourism”, “economy of urban infrastructures”, “economic culture of city and citizenship education”, “urban dilemmas, the environment, and air pollution, management of human capital development and urban economy, banking systems, social banking, and urban economy, modeling resistance economy in cities and urban passive defense, pricing urban services, financing, and municipal revenues, management of municipal service, organizations of urban management, and private sector” were among the major topics discussed at the event.

He criticized ignoring urban economy in academic and media fields and said the most important goal of international conference on urban economy has been to institutionalize urban economics. There is no alternative but up-to-dating domestic urban economy in order to move toward ideal horizon.

Saying that one of the main flaws in the path of urban development is lack of legal context for obtaining urban sustainable revenues, the head of IUESA said, the bill related to municipalities’ revenues is pended and we hope to be sent to the parliament by the eleventh government.