Municipality of Isfahan


The Municipality of Isfahan is responsible for the management of the city of Isfahan. The highest-ranking official of this organization is the mayor of Isfahan, who is chosen by the Islamic City Council of Isfahan. The city of Isfahan has 15 administrative divisions and each division has its own mayor, who work under the mayor of Isfahan. The present mayor of Isfahan is Ghodratollah Norouzi.

History

The municipality of Isfahan was founded in 1907. In that time, it was named Baladiyeh. The council of Baladiyeh appointed Haji Mohammad Ali Khan as the chief of Baladiyeh, Mirza Mehdi Khan as the deputy and Mirza Abolhasan Khan for official services. But after two weeks, Haji Mohammad Ali Khan was replaced by Mirza Assadollah Vassigholmilk. Baladiyeh had at first only 25 members. In 1911, the Baladiyeh faced a financial crisis because of shortage of income and the chief of Baladieyeh resigned and council of Baladiyeh decided to decrease its range of activities and only look after the provisions of the city.
With the amendment of baladiyeh's law in 1930, the responsibility of choosing mayor was given to the Interior ministry.
Until 1927, Isfahan had only two main streets, Charbagh-e Hezar Jarib street and Charbagh-e Abbassi street, and several broad alleys. from 1935 after giving more powers to the municipality of Isfahan, the municipality decided to rebuild new streets and so Foroughi street, Modarres street, Jomhouri square, Bozorgmehr street and Soroush street were built and the neighborhoods Hatef, hafez, Sepah and Neshat were changed gradually to streets. In 1941 with allocating oil income to the municipality and increasing its income, the streets of Isfahan were asphalted and several garbage trucks were purchased.

Organizational structures

We serve as the hub and platform for metropolises to connect, share experiences, and mobilize on a wide range of local and global issues, in addition to being the focal point of worldwide experience and expertise on metropolitan governance. Metropolis operates, as well, as the metropolitan section of the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments, since its constitution, in 2004. Since 1996. Isfahan has become one of Metropolis members.
Isfahan joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a creative city of handicrafts and folk arts in 2015. Over 18000 artists produce handicrafts in 196 types in Isfahan, which covers one third of handicraft products in Iran. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network represents an immense potential to assert the role of culture as enabler of sustainable development.
INTA is an unparalleled network bringing together the major actors in urban development: policymakers of national, regional and local government; business leaders in real estate development, construction, engineering, service provision, product development; preeminent thinkers and research institutes; influential architecture and urbanism firms, to jointly establish new parameters for sustainable and integrated development of urbanised areas. Isfahan joined this network in 2004.
CityNet is the largest association of urban stakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. Established in 1987 with the support of UNESCAP, UNDP and UN-Habitat, the Network of cities has grown to include over 163 municipalities, NGOs, private companies and research centers. In 1991, Isfahan joined the association that its vision is to connect urban actors and deliver tangible solutions for cities across the Asia Pacific region.
The League of Historical Cities was established in Kyoto, Japan in 1987. It holds a biennial world conference and provides cities from different cultures with a platform for bilateral cooperation and mutual learning. The League also acts as a think tank for bilateral cooperation and best practices. As a great historical and ancient city, Isfahan joined the league in 1994.
The Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network is the only international organization of local governments and cultural organizations that aim to safeguard the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. The ICCN has been working to explore creative and effective policies for the safeguarding of local Intangible Cultural Heritage and its inseparable relation to sustainable local development. In 2011, Isfahan joined the network and in 2014 hosted fifth general assembly and second festival of ICCN.
Mayors for Peace is an international organization of cities dedicated to the promotion of peace that was established in 1982 at the initiative of then Mayor of Hiroshima Takeshi Araki, in response to the deaths of around 140,000 people due to the atomic bombing of the city on August 6, 1945. Mayors for Peace was started in Japan, and since then Mayors throughout the World have signed on. When Mayors sign on, it means they support the commencement of negotiations towards the elimination of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. Over 900 cities including Isfahan from Iran are as members of Mayors for Peace.
Asian Mayors Forum was established with the purpose of establishing sustainable peace, promoting constructive co-operations among Asian cities and people, enhancing friendly relations among Asian cities as well as providing required ground for sustainable development of all Asian cities in different economic, social, scientific and technological fields. Isfahan in 2012 joined the Forum.