Institutional Change in Governance Structure of Spatial Plans Highlighting Transaction Cost: Case study of Detailed Plan of Isfahan City

The transaction cost (TC) -rooted in institutional economics-related to the concept of efficiency. One of the tasks of planners is promoting the efficiency of planning process. Thus identification of effective factors of producing TC -including searching information, negotiation, creating and application of monitoring mechanisms- is important. Because through this, planners can rely on institutional design of governance structures to reduce TC. In this regard, from 1990 efforts has begun in urban planning in the word. Many key actors including citizens are engaged with detailed plans in Iran’s planning system. The aim of present article is reducing the transaction costs of Isfahan’s detailed plan for different actors through introducing the effective factors on creating TC in the plan, determining the key factors among them, and developing possible scenarios with high consistency for governance structure of the plan in order to pave the way for redesigning this process.

The research is a case study. Its data collection and data analysis methods are qualitative and quantitative, thus can be called a mixed method research. Effective factors on TC were determined through thematic analysis of interviews conducted with key actors of detailed plan by using Atlas ti. The questionnaire of cross impact matrix were filled by experts and their data was analysis using structural analysis and MicMac method in order to determine five key factors/descriptors among all. For each key factor, various variants considered. Based on the experts’ opinion about the impact of these variants on each other as the input of ScenarioWizard possible scenarios with high consistency were developed for governance structure of detailed plan.

As preparing detailed plan encompasses both searching and information costs and also bargaining and decision costs to reach an acceptable agreement with other parties about land development rights, whole the costs of preparing a detailed plan are TC. The costs of monitoring the plan such as costs related to article 100 of municipality law, are also TC. Effecting factors in creating TC in the process of Isfahan detailed plan are categorized in three broad themes of institutional environment, quality of governance, and capital. These three categories include 23 effective factors among which 5 factors of rules and regulations, bureaucracy, trust between actors, level of participation and access to information are recognized as key factors/descriptors. Considering different variants devoted to these factors, three scenarios with high consistency were developed for governance structure of detailed plan. One of these scenario is toward less concentration and the others is seeking more concentration in planning system.

Comparing the effective factors of TC resulted from this research with that of theoretical background shows although there are differences in categorizing and naming the factors but their nature is the same. The key effective factors were identified through expert panel, among the total effective factors, are mostly related to implementation, monitoring and revision phases of detailed plan, in contrary to producing phase. Scenariowriting process for governance structure of detailed plan to reduce its TC in and conducting institutional design in a systematic and understandable way in this research, in compare with similar researches merely analyzing TC, fill the present gap in the body of knowledge. In three developed scenarios the variants of each five variables/descriptors are in one direction, forming a completely concentrated or deconcentrated scenario. Such a situation emphasizes this realty that the governance of urban land use is possible through patterns or systems formed of consistent elements and follows a unified logic. These patterns are either toward more concentration or deconcentration in planning system which has a historic background in present era in different cities.