Reports

Abstract Urban renewal in worn-out urban textures, as one of the common urban planning strategies, aims to improve the physical, social, and economic conditions of cities. However, these projects often lead to unintended consequences such as gentrification, which can result in the displacement of low-income residents, increased socio-economic inequalities, and changes in the cultural and social fabric of neighborhoods. This report analyzes the consequences of urban renewal projects in Iran’s worn-out urban textures from the perspective of gentrification. The findings indicate that the lack of comprehensive planning, insufficient attention to the social impacts of renewal projects, and prioritizing economic interests over residents’ needs have intensified gentrification in many urban areas. The report also highlights challenges such as the lack of affordable housing, inadequate community participation, and weak regulatory frameworks. To mitigate these issues, the report proposes guidelines including strengthening participatory planning, ensuring affordable housing provision, protecting vulnerable populations, and integrating social impact assessments into urban renewal projects to achieve balanced and inclusive urban development.

Abstract The Seventh Development Plan has set multiple targets for the country's electricity sector, and monitoring the extent to which these goals are achieved requires continuous tracking of the sector's macro indicators. This report examines the macro indicators of the electricity sector in the year 2023, which marks the final year of the Sixth Development Plan. Future reports will include semi-annual monitoring of these indicators. One of the most critical challenges facing the electricity industry in recent years has been the imbalance between electricity supply and demand during peak consumption periods. An analysis of the sector’s macro indicators in 2023 reveals that although the nominal capacity of the country’s power plants increased by 7.1%, peak electricity demand grew by 8.5%, intensifying the supply-demand gap. Therefore, alongside expanding production capacity, serious attention must be given to electricity consumption management and optimization programs. In terms of diversifying the electricity generation mix, current statistics indicate an excessive reliance over 90% on fossil fuels. The imbalance in natural gas supply during colder seasons, along with the economic and environmental drawbacks of liquid fuels, underscores the need to further develop non-fossil electricity sources (especially renewables) and improve the efficiency of thermal power plants.  

Abstract Trade facilitation can be beneficial for all countries, whether exporters or importers, and increase their access to production inputs and their participation in global value chains. In this regard, reducing the time and cost of customs procedures plays an effective role in trade facilitation and improving business indicators; therefore, identifying and removing challenges in the customs field is of high importance. In this report, some of the most important customs challenges such as the multiplicity of customs offices, multiplicity of procedures, the method of valuation and tariff determination, integrated border management, system deployment, delays in issuing permits, goods smuggling, and … have been examined. However, the transformation of customs in different countries has generally been considered as a factor prone to the economic and commercial reforms of countries, and with the adoption of new trade policies, the customs of that country, as one of the main stakeholders in the trade sector, has needed transformation in line with achieving the objectives of the new policies; studies show that the transformation of customs in countries such as China and Turkey has coincided with the economic reforms of those countries. Therefore, one of the essential prerequisites for removing customs challenges will be the drafting of a comprehensive industrial and trade policy document for the country.

Abstract The current report aimed at investigating the dedicated budget line to implement the law of “Youthful population and protection of the family”. 10/720 billion and 7/255 billion toman was allocated to implement this law in 2022 and 2023, respectively. It cannot be considered as a budget reduction because in 2023, increase in family benefit and child allowance in article (16) has been separated from this line and it was under the Note “12”. The process of funds allocations represents challenges such as lack of balanced distribution, not clear criteria for prioritize subjects to spend funds, lack of controllable indexes to measure expenditure, lack of detachment of administrative funds of Youthful population and protection of the family law and lack of a clear mechanism for provincial funds related to population. Investigating the way of enacting and allocating a dedicated line to Youthful population law in budget law in 2022 to 2024 indicate without referring to the share of executive organizations in the budget law a total amount has been enacted and decision on how to be distributed was made in National Headquarter of population that is in contrast to the process determined in Note “3” , Article “71” by legislator. On the other hand, due to not holding the meeting of National headquarter of population a dedicated line item has not been allocated to the National Headquarter of Population in budget law for 2024 showing the necessity for amending the way of approving funds and determining the administrative funds clearly in the budget law that leads to an increase in transparency and monitoring.

Abstract

Abstract The Municipality Law enacted in 1955 (with subsequent amendments and revisions) has been the most important governing legislation for construction operations, particularly concerning building violations. Since the establishment of the commission under Article 100 of this law, this quasi-judicial body has experienced numerous fluctuations and, at times, the responsibility for handling building violations was transferred to other authorities. According to the latest amendment of the law, this commission is recognized as the sole competent authority for addressing construction violations in all cities, effectively serving as the executive arm of the municipality in supervising constructions and preventing the erection of buildings that violate urban planning, technical, health regulations, or those built without permits. Considering that more than half a century has passed since the enactment of this article, despite multiple reviews and the addition of clauses under the said article according to temporal necessities and to resolve societal challenges on a case-by-case basis, serious gaps remain. These include the incompatibility of these clauses with current conditions—such as low enforceability, ambiguity and interpretational flexibility of the law, inconsistency with the type and volume of contemporary constructions, and failure to consider urban development concerns. Ultimately, these shortcomings have directed the construction market towards violations and unprofessional building practices by intermediaries and profiteers, resulting in corruption and breaches of urban planning and architectural laws and regulations, public dissatisfaction, infringement of public rights, citizen mistrust, unjust discrimination, and the failure to realize urban development plans. Therefore, analyzing the systemic issues of the commissions under this law is essential for providing a foundation to facilitate necessary reforms.

Abstract The establishment of justice-centered mechanisms for increasing the salaries and benefits of various groups of government wage earners in annual budget laws is considered one of the most effective and accessible approaches to enhancing justice in the government employee compensation system. In this report, alongside analyzing the appropriations for compensation of government employees and retirees in the 2025 budget bill, the provisions contained in Clause 12 of the bill have been evaluated. According to the conducted reviews and assumptions underlying this bill, as well as the salary increases implemented in the current year, approximately forty-four percent (44%) of the total public expenditures of the government in 2025 will be allocated to the payment of salaries and benefits for various groups of government employees and retirees. In this regard, the key assumptions of the budget bill in this area include a 20% increase in salaries for employees and retirees, along with a 50% and 100% growth, respectively, in family and child allowances. Regarding the alignment between these increases and the inflation rate, it is worth noting that although a higher increase in government employees’ salaries without securing sustainable revenue sources—especially in circumstances where the operational balance of the bill is estimated at approximately a negative 1,800 trillion rials—may deepen the budget deficit, cause further inflation, and lead to demands for additional salary increases; nevertheless, the continuation of a significant gap between annual salary increases and the inflation rate for several consecutive years may also result in decreased employee productivity and administrative system efficiency, wage imbalances between the public and private sectors, increased incentives for executive agencies to seek special allowances, and deepened injustice within the national compensation system. Therefore, it is recommended that a working group composed of members from the Parliament and the Government, in cooperation with specialized experts, be formed to identify new sources of cash and non-cash support and to consider additional supportive measures in this regard.