Policies for developing collaboration between urban management actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tehran

Samadi-Foroushani, Marzieh; Boochani, Mohammad Hossein; Kayhanpour, Mohammad Javad; Behrouz, Mahdi

doi:10.22034/uep.2025.561547.1787

Policies for developing collaboration between urban management actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tehran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Marzieh Samadi-Foroushani ¹

Mohammad Hossein Boochani ²

Mohammad Javad Kayhanpour ³

Mahdi Behrouz ⁴

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Engineering, University of Eyvanekey, Eyvanekey, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

³ Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Master of Public Administration, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/uep.2025.561547.1787

Abstract

Cities, as engines of economic growth, create entrepreneurial and employment opportunities. Given the importance of collaboration among the institutional interactions of entrepreneurial ecosystem actors for the success of employment generation programs, this study aimed to identify policies for developing a collaboration network among urban management actors in Tehran. After the literature review, documents related to urban management were examined. Through qualitative content analysis, themes related to entrepreneurship and employment were identified. Subsequently, a collaboration network matrix was formed, and the legal positions of actors were analyzed according to degree-centrality, betweenness-centrality, geodesic-distance, cut-off points, and K-core using social network analysis. There was a lack of integration and an unbalanced distribution of legal power among urban management actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tehran. In this context, policies for developing legal collaboration among actors were proposed, including redesigning and activating the policy council, forming the coordination council for entrepreneurship development in Tehran, expanding cooperation between government actors, clarifying and defining the scope of duties for non-governmental organizations, and strengthening the role of the private sector in the decision-making process. Additionally, it is suggested to develop a collaboration network to integrate science and technology policies with investment and entrepreneurship opportunities, organize the spatial distribution of technology parks and growth centers within urban areas, formulate flexible and incentivizing laws and regulations, expand investment tools, attract public participation, invest in smart infrastructure and business platforms, promote neighborhood-based entrepreneurship, establish accelerator centers for the development of micro and home-based businesses, and support an entrepreneurial culture in civic education.

Keywords

Business development

Entrepreneurial ecosystem

Social network analysis

Urban economy

Urban management

Subjects

Urban planning

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