Benchmarking a sister city: Identifying value-adding activities in Tehran compared to Seoul

Using employment statistics based on economic activity groups, the present study was to benchmark the economic status of Seoul (South Korea) to Tehran (Iran). Comparing both cities, it was observed that Tehran had a big gap with its benchmark (Seoul) in terms of seven activity groups including accommodation and food service activities, administrative and support service activities; professional, scientific, and technical activities; information and communication activities, real estate activities, human health and social work activities, as well as financial and insurance ones. Moreover, the contribution of these activity groups to national gross domestic product was reported significant. Thus, with the use of comparative research methodology for this research, it was found that improving these activities could help Tehran claim a much better stance in the network of global cities. In this respect, Tehran’s policy makers were recommended to have a special focus on these activity groups. Also, it was suggested to monitor these activity groups on a yearly basis in order to track the changes and identify the new ones. Indeed, Tehran would approach to its benchmark position in the network of global cities by reflecting on these activities and promoting them to fill the gaps between itself and the benchmark city.