Evaluation of the International Conference Center Mega-Project in Isfahan Metropolis

S t r e s z c z e n i e Jednym z megaprojektów budowanych w metropolii Isfahan jest projekt Międzynarodowego Centrum Konferencyjnego Metropolii Isfahan, które pomimo wielowymiarowych i dogłębnych analiz nie zostało jeszcze w pełni zbadane. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest ocena megaprojektu pod względem zróżnicowanych aspektów fizycznych, społecznych, ekonomicznych, zarządczych i środowiskowych. W związku z tym wykonano połączone badania – kombinację metod jakościowych i ilościowych. Dane zostały zebrane za pomocą zarówno dokumentów jak i metod sondażowych (typ wywiadu). Do oceny i analizy użyto skali Likerta, metody AHP i oprogramowania Expert Choice. Wyniki pokazują, że prócz pozytywnych cech megaprojektu w sektorach społecznym, fizycznym i środowiskowym, megaprojekt w sektorze gospodarczym i zarządzania ma wiele niedociągnięć a w szczególności wykazuje nieadekwatne odniesienie kosztów do osiągniętych celów w określonym czasie. Wprowadzone zostają sugestie naprawcze odnoszące się do tego błędnego rozwiązania. K e y w o r d s : Evaluation, Megaproject, International Conference Center, Isfahan Metropolis. 1/2018 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T 43 A R C H I T E C T U R E C I V I L E N G I N E E R I N G E N V I R O N M E N T The Si les ian Univers i ty of Technology No. 1/2018 d o i : 1 0 . 2 1 3 0 7 / A C E E 2 0 1 8 0 0 5 H . N o o r a i e , A . Y a d e g a r i , M . G h o r b a n i , S . G h o r b a n i stage if necessary, through which the occurrence of unexpected effects and outcomes during the project is minimized. But despite the above importance, most of information in urban programs and projects in the country remains confidential until the time of implementation as a black box and makes it impossible to make a preliminary evaluation before entering the implementation phase. Therefore, considering the aforementioned issue, as well as the evaluation importance during urban projects and identifying the broader aspects of the subject after the implementation of some of its parts, the evaluation during the implementation is very important in introducing the strengths and weaknesses of the projects and can reduce the incidence of unwanted and/ or negative effects [2]. One of the large-scale projects currently pursued and implemented in Isfahan metropolis as the capital of Islamic culture and civilization is the project of the International Conference Center of Isfahan Metropolis. The idea of this national project returns to July 2009 on Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Leadership Plan (the 16th) hosted and chaired by Iran. Although it was supposed to be built in Kish, but due to the continuous pursue of management of the province and municipality of Isfahan on holding NAM Leadership Plan in the Isfahan metropolis it was transferred to the city and it was prescribed to be implemented and completed with the help of state credits (over 1,000 billion rials) on the Isfahan Shahid Keshvari site within a maximum of 3 years. But despite the mentioned agreements, due to the lack of timely allocation of national credits to this project, the mentioned project was transformed from a national project into a provincial project and by 2016 it had grown by about 68% [3]. Therefore, regarding the above-mentioned challenges, as well as the multidimensional effects on Isfahan and the research gap in this regard, the purpose of conducting this research is to assess the conference center of Isfahan in various aspects and as multi-dimensional. In this regard, first the research theoretical and empirical literature was reviewed and then the methodology of the research has been explained. In the following, according to the theoretical, empirical and methodological framework, the project has been recognized and assessed and, finally, conclusions and suggestions have been presented. 2. THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL LITERATURE Because of the widespread use of the evaluation, there are a variety of definitions available. However, despite the diversity of definitions and controversies about it, in this regard there is a consensus that the main objective of the evaluation studies is to measure the effects and consequences of various human activities in the social, economic and environmental aspects [4-7]. Therefore, in addition to helping to maintain the characteristics of the social, economic, and environmental aspects, the evaluation facilitates the achievement of programs’ objectives. Also, there is no specific agreement on how to assess and apply the measures for the evaluation such as the evaluation definition, and different thinkers and theorists have provided different categories for measures in the evaluation, which is due to the type of dominant approach in the evaluation of special research case. But despite this disagreement, the determination of the evaluation criteria and measures is always the most important element in the evaluation. Because the measures’ bias can lead to the results' bias and the truth of the effects is hidden [1,8]. Hence, in this study, in order to achieve the measures and criteria of the Megaproject of International Conference Center in Isfahan metropolis, first theoretical literature related to the evaluation was described as the general concept in Table 1, and then, by referring to the national and international experiences (including “Center for International Conference of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, “Edinburgh Conference Hall” and “London International Conventions and Conferences”), in Table 2, the measures and criteria have been extracted specific for the evaluation of relevant projects. In the following, also according to the aforementioned theoretical and empirical literature, the needed aspects, components and measures to assess the megaproject of International Conference Center in Isfahan metropolis were identified in Table 3 as the research conceptual framework.