Mapping Participatory Governance in Urban Management: A Scoping Review of Scientific Research Published in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Master, Faculty of Public Administration, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Public Governance Department, Faculty of Governance, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Participatory urban governance, as an innovative approach, emphasizes enhancing the role of citizens in urban decision-making and planning processes. This governance model not only seeks to increase transparency and accountability but also aims to strengthen public trust and improve urban quality of life through the active participation of stakeholders. Numerous studies and research have been conducted on participatory urban governance in Iran; however, there is no comprehensive understanding of the specific thematic areas these studies have focused on, their methodological approaches, or the research gaps in the field of participatory urban governance within the Iranian context. Therefore, this study aims to address these questions. To this end, 32 studies published in five reputable domestic databases were reviewed using a scoping review methodology. The findings revealed that the majority of articles were published in 2016 and 2023. Additionally, most studies (14 articles) focused on the city of Tehran. Furthermore, a significant portion of the articles aimed to design models for citizen participation in urban management (7 studies) and assess the level of citizen participation in urban management (5 articles). An examination of the areas of citizen participation in the selected studies indicated that most research was conducted in the general domain without focusing on a specific urban management function (26 studies). Moreover, the majority of studies employed quantitative methods (19 studies), while qualitative (10 studies) and mixed-methods approaches (2 studies) were less common. Consequently, the findings highlight theoretical gaps (such as the intersection of participatory cities and digital governance, participatory cities and data governance, and co-creation and participatory urban governance) and methodological gaps (such as qualitative studies emphasizing case study strategy) in the reviewed research.

Keywords

References

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Governance and Development
Volume 6, Issue 2
August 2026
Pages 289-261

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