Exploring the Challenges of Urban Management at the Local Scale: A Study of District Mayors’ Experiences in Tehran

Urban management at the local scale faces growing complexity arising from multiple actors, intensified citizen expectations, and structural transformations in governance. Although extensive research has examined decentralization, local government capacity, and multilevel governance, less is known about how structural constraints are translated into patterns of managerial action in the everyday experiences of local managers. Using a qualitative approach and Strauss and Corbin’s systematic grounded theory strategy, this study draws on semi-structured interviews with district mayors in Tehran to develop a theoretical explanation of local urban management challenges from their lived experiences. Analysis identified three interrelated categories: the gap between responsibility and authority in decision-making; erosion of frontline organizational capacity; and fragmented governance accompanied by legal vulnerability arising from incoherent administrative boundaries. These dynamics interact to constrain mayors’ capacity for managerial action and encourage defensive, risk-averse practices. The study shows that structural governance constraints are translated into defensive managerial action through institutional design rather than individual managerial shortcomings. The findings offer policy implications for redistributing authority, strengthening frontline capacity, and improving the legal and administrative coherence of urban governance.