Pardisan Park ( fa, پارک پردیسان – Pārk e Pardisān) is a complex covering more than 270 hectares, located in the northwest of
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
. It is connected to
Hemmat Expressway
Hemmat Expressway is a route in Tehran, Iran. It starts from Pasdaran Avenue junction and goes west. It passes Haghani Expressway, Kordestan Expressway, Milad Tower, Ashrafi Esfahani Expressway and Ziba Shahr in Western Tehran and ends into ...
in the north, and to
Sheikh Nouri Expressway in the east.
History
The original design of the park is attributed to
Ian McHarg
Ian L. McHarg (20 November 1920 – 5 March 2001) was a Scottish landscape architect and writer on regional planning using natural systems. McHarg was one of the most influential persons in the environmental movement who brought environmental co ...
of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
The planning phase of the park was begun by
Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd in 1975, under the reign of the last
Shah of Iran
This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, title = Shahanshah Aryamehr Bozorg Arteshtaran
, image = File:Shah_fullsize.jpg
, caption = Shah in 1973
, succession = Shah of Iran
, reign = 16 September 1941 – 11 February 1979
, coronation = 26 October ...
.
[Schnadelbach, R. Terry, et al. "Ian McHarg 1920–." Fifty Key Thinkers on the Environment (7 Dec 2000): 228–241. Environment Complete] Due to the conflicts of the
1979 Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
, the project was suspended, and the firm was left with a large amount of debt. The site was retained as a green space after the revolution but the designs of Wallace McHarg Roberts & Todd were never implemented.
Facilities
It is primarily an educational, research and cultural center, with the objective of
environmental studies
Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...
, and is a multipurpose project aimed at increasing public awareness about natural environment.
Several animals live in the park; including monkeys, rabbits, and the
Pallas's cat
The Pallas's cat (''Otocolobus manul'', also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur. Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a long bushy tail. It is ...
s. In addition to the wildlife park, the complex contains playgrounds, a theater, and a biodiversity museum.
References
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Parks in Tehran