Economic intelligence transforms cities from budget consumers to value generators

Mehr News Agency, Guest Note - Seyyed Mohsen Tabatabaei Mozdabadi; In a note titled "Economic intelligence and digital transformation in urban management," he examined successful global experiences in this field. He wrote in this note: In today's world, cities are no longer simply places where people live, but are also dynamic platforms for data, decisions, and knowledge. What will shape the future of urban management is the combination of economic intelligence with digital transformation; a point at which financial information, environmental data, and social behaviors intertwine to take urban decision-making from a reactive level to an intelligent, proactive, and flexible level. Examples such as Helsinki and Seoul have shown how economic data, in shared digital platforms, become the basis for financial policymaking, traffic planning, and social budget allocation. Countries such as Malaysia and Qatar, inspired by this model, have also taken steps towards data-driven management. The fundamental difference lies in the degree to which data-driven thinking is institutionalized in the structure of urban decision-making - where ignoring it leads to waste of resources and loss of productivity. In this context, economic intelligence not only transforms the way cities manage their finances, but also revises national grand plans. Urban development strategies must move from a focus on traditional construction and spending towards data-centricity, economic transparency and decisions based on smart analytics. This transformation requires restructuring upstream maps and introducing new indicators such as data literacy, digital decision efficiency and smart return on urban capital. Implementing this approach could improve countries' rankings in indicators such as smart governance, economic efficiency and social satisfaction from the global average of around 50 to the range of 20 to 30. On the contrary, neglecting it will cause investment stagnation, widening inequality and reducing public trust. The real results of these policies are accompanied by a 40-60% growth in municipal financial efficiency, improved service quality, transparency in spending and increased social satisfaction. Cities that use economic intelligence as a “common language of decision-making” will transform from budget consumers to value generators. In this path, social hope is born from data and efficiency; when citizens see that decisions are made based on analysis, not taste. Algorithms are used not to eliminate people, but to improve their quality of life. This process returns hope to the fabric of urban life. When citizens understand that management decisions are made based on data, not taste, their sense of participation, trust and social belonging is strengthened. In this model, hope-building does not come from slogans, but from transparency and tangible efficiency; Where people see that technology and algorithms are not used to eliminate humans, but to improve their quality of life and comfort. In the near future, economic intelligence and digital transformation will transform the mindset of urban managers, and the city's economy will no longer be managed by bureaucratic calculations, but will instead be pulsating with a network of live data, real-time analytics, and smart decisions. The future of Iranian urban management is also conditioned by accepting this reality; because a smart city, before being digital, is economic and human.

Secretary General of the Iranian Urban Economics Scientific Association

Mehr News Agency