Socio-Cultural Appropriateness of the Use of Historic Persian Gardens for Modern Urban Edible Gardens

Majid Amani-Beni, Gaodi Xie, Qingjuan Yang, Alessio Russo and Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad
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Majid Amani-Beni: School of Architecture and Design, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, China
Gaodi Xie: Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, A11 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
Qingjuan Yang: School of Architecture and Design, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611756, China
Alessio Russo: School of Arts, Francis Close Hall Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Swindon Road, Cheltenham GL50 4AZ, UK
Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad: Faculty of Arts, University of Birjand, Birjand 9718854987, Iran

Land, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-29

Abstract: Historic gardens have the ability to provide several ecosystem services in cities, including provisioning services (i.e., food production). The historic gardens in Iran (known as “Persian Gardens”) have never been considered as places that could be used for food production. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the Iranian historic gardens’ spatial and structural layout is suitable for modern urban food gardening. We conducted field studies in six recognized Persian gardens in four provinces of Iran via qualitative analysis according to socio-cultural guidelines drawn from a literature review. The results suggested that combining the elements of formal landscape design, non-edible decorative plants, and traditional artwork would increase the Persian gardens’ attractiveness. Regarding encouraging users to become involved in urban gardening, we found that separating productive units containing edible plants from public units using a central meeting spot populated by aesthetic plants and items may attract ordinary visitors who are interested in gardening without disturbing anyone’s activities. Furthermore, the Persian gardens’ multifunctionality, aesthetic value, and health-promoting qualities constitute a considerable historic achievement in garden design, making the gardens a suitable model for edible urban gardening. The results of this study can enhance our understanding of the Persian gardens’ spatial and structural design and provide practical implications for sustainable urban planning and landscape architecture.

Keywords: food gardening; edible green infrastructure; Persian garden; socio-cultural guidelines; cultural landscape; urban ecosystem services; landscape architecture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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