ABSTRACT
Urban green spaces for recreational purposes appeared long before urban public parks. La Alameda, a garden square in Seville (built in 1574) is suggested as the first known public garden with a function similar to modern urban public parks in Europe (Albardonedo Freire, 2002: 194) which promoted the notion of the modern urban parks. Nevertheless, there have been institutions in other parts of the world, however different in forms and structures, to fulfill similar functions. Among scholars, there has been disagreement as to whether the modern parks in Iran are the result of the development of the indigenous Persian gardens or an idea borrowed from the West in the process of modernization. The Persian garden (Bagh-i Irani),2 a green man-made space and an urban microclimate with its distinct elements, is presented by some scholars as the Persian vernacular version of the modern park. Using terms such as bustan or pardis in lieu of park after the Islamic Revolution has also strengthened this assumption. Although using certain terminology might appear as an endeavor to use the familiar terms over loanwords, in such an ideologically-laden context as Iran it also defines the ideal function attributed to the place. A pardis (in all its forms, including bagh and bustan) is perceived as a visual articulation of the Celestial Garden or divine paradise on Earth. Persian gardens, imperial or vernacular, private or public have been an integral part of Iranian architecture and urban planning. Instances of such gardens were referred to in scholarly literature and excavated in Pasargadae, Persepolis, Susa, and other ancient Persian sites (Pinder-Wilson 1976: 83).
