TEHRAN—Maragheh in East Azarbaijan province, has been chosen as a pilot for implementation of tourist city.

Maragheh Mayor Shahram Morevvati intends to become a successful model of Iranian tourist city by making serious changes in basic tourism in urban changes, ILNA reported. 

He announced the change of the management model of Maragheh city to the tourist city planning model.

Maragheh is located northwest of Iran in a mountainous landscape with a river running through the city and a historic observatory. 

The mayor is the initiator of the path to revitalizing Maragheh under the title of a tourist city. He said the world is changing with an unprecedented speed. “New technologies have created new styles of urban life. We can no longer manage cities with the old tools and approaches. If urban management fails to adapt to these changes, it will inevitably face inefficiency, social dissatisfaction, and waste of resources. For this reason, more than ever, we need a revamp of the urban planning system. When we talk about sustainable development, we mean more than just the physical growth of the city.”

He continued: “Today, with economic pressures and decline in household purchasing power, one major question confronts us: traditional revenue-based financing models no longer meet today's needs for urban services and facilities. We need sustainable income models which both guarantee the city’s financial independence and do not impose more pressure on families.”

“In Maragheh urban management, we have come to believe that the future lies in creativity. Global experiences have shown that one of the most successful approaches to achieving sustainable development is the development of urban tourism. Maragheh, with its rich historical, cultural, and natural background, has an unparalleled capacity to become a tourist city. Fortunately, with the support of Mostafa Fatemi, the director-general of the Domestic Tourism Development Office, an opportunity was provided to replace the traditional ‘ideal city’ model with the ‘tourist city planning’ model. This change in approach is a transition from abstract idealism to creative realism; an approach that can generate sustainable income, increase social vitality, and turn Maragheh into a national model in the field of sustainable development. In a word, the future of Maragheh's urban management will not be determined by repeating the past, but by daring to choose the creative and sustainable paths.”

He stated that in the new model, the first achievement will be to create sustainable income opportunities along with converting costs into income. This means that the city of Maragheh will transform itself from a city that simply consumes services to an active hosting environment, he added.

KD