A Study on the Network Governance System of Disaster Management in Tehran, Iran, Based On Participatory Governance: A Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Background and objective This study aims to analyze the network governance of safety and disaster management in Tehran by examining the laws of the fourth development plan and emphasizing the participation of key actors, including government institutions, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and local communities using social network analysis. Method In this study, 22 laws with 101 issues were extracted from the fourth development plan, and 47 involved organizations, including 26 internal institutions of Tehran Municipality and 21 external institutions involved in the safety and disaster management program in the areas of transportation/traffic, urban safety/worn-out fabric, cultural/social issues, and intelligentization/management improvement were evaluated. The organizations and institutions were considered as the rows and columns of the governance network matrix, and the number of times of cooperation between organizations and institutions was considered as the entries of cells of the matrix. The matrix of actors’ cooperation network was analyzed based on the degree centrality, betweenness centrality, geodesic distance, density and cohesion. Results The results of the analysis of the governance system of Tehran city showed the planners’ belief in participatory governance for solving the safety and disaster management issues of the city. However, the participation of citizens, local communities, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector requires improvement and expansion of legal cooperation such that the lack of transparency in determining the roles, responsibilities, and powers of external institutions of Tehran Municipality, such as executive, legislative and supervisory institutions, and absence of policies for facilitating and encouraging the participation of private sector, economic institutions, universities, scientific and research centers, local communities and citizens need to be addressed by legislators and planners. They should support the network governance in solving disaster management issues in Tehran. Conclusion The recommendations for improving the governance system of disaster management in Tehran for balancing the distribution of legal power among the responsible institutions and actors of Tehran’s safety and disaster management program include: Strengthening the cooperation of municipal and inter-institutional actors to solve key issues of safety and disaster management; strengthening the communication network and continuously exploiting the capacity of academic elites and consultants; strengthening the mechanisms for the participation of citizens, non-governmental organizations and the private sector; rising awareness and strengthening citizens’ trust in safety and disaster management programs using social media, developing incentive policies to utilize the capacity and participation of knowledge-based organizations and new and creative firms in solving safety and disaster management issues; developing incentive policies for the participation of managers and employees; strengthening the legal communication of financial and economic institutions and financing projects; and transparency and accountability of responsible institutions.