Investigating the Relationship Structure of Knowledge-based Urban Development Stakeholders In Isfahan Using Social Network Analysis
Mostafa Dehghani
1
(
PhD Candidate in urban planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Art University of Tehran, Iran.
)
Gholamreza Haghighat Naeini,
2
(
Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Art University of Tehran, Iran
)
, Esfandiar Zebardast
3
(
Professor, Faculty of Urban Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
)
Keywords: Power-interest Matrix Model, Knowledge-Based Urban Development, Stakeholder Analysis, Social Network Analysis, Isfahan,
Abstract :
Today, cities are the center of development and the place of production and sharing of knowledge and play a fundamental role in knowledge-based development (KBD). However, due to the novelty of the knowledge-based Urban Development (KBUD) Studies and the lack of systematic development of its theoretical foundations, There have not been many reports of the success or failure of KBUD policies and the challenges they face in cities in developing countries. However, in order to create an integrated interaction between urban resources and stakeholders, good governance and strong political leadership, scientific and technological pioneers are needed to address the weakness of institutional arrangements and the inadequacy of governance tools. indeed, given the need for local government political will and support for increased organizational cooperation with civil society and citizens, for the KBUD stakeholders who have both the power and motivation and sufficient interest to establish and promote KBUD And it is necessary to reduce the barriers to their participation. Therefore, strengthening stakeholder trust and participation is an appropriate tool to move towards KBUD, and KBUD analysis of key stakeholder relations networks is an important and effective first step in this regard. Therefore, the present study aims to expand the participation of local stakeholders and strengthen trust and interaction between them to create institutional changes responsive to KBUD Isfahan, by analyzing communication networks, trust and participation of key stakeholders KBUD Isfahan using social network analysis method (SNA), identify and analyze the pattern of trust and participation of stakeholders that is the basis for the sharing of knowledge between them. The general strategy of the research is a case study with a pragmatic paradigm orientation and is descriptive-exploratory in terms of operational purpose. The results show that despite the great importance of the political will of the local government and its comprehensive support for the expansion of organizational cooperation with civil society and citizens in the global experience of forming KBUD, The main stakeholders who play a key role in promoting and guiding the KBUD and involvement of other stakeholders are usually the city council, the municipality, and other local non-governmental organizations and centers. This reflects the active and progressive civil society in these cities. While in Isfahan, despite the significant role of the city council and municipality, most of the main and central stakeholders of KBUD, such as the Governorate, Management and Planning Organization, Road and Urban Development Organization, government organizations with a governing role. This indicates the nature of centralized government, the power and superior resources of the government over other actors in society and the weakness of network governance, as well as the difficulty of forming the bottom-up process of creating KBUD in Isfahan. Under these circumstances, those in power in the network may organize resources to their advantage and, by controlling the public discourse of the network, provide grounds for excluding or marginalizing the weak actors of the network. Of course, it should be noted that the government plays a pivotal role in the process of knowledge-based urban development.
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