Abstract:
Park design in Iran has followed the traditional European style since the Qajar dynasty. The
familiarity of Iranians with the spirit of Persian gardens and the low quality of the newest parks is such that users
prefer ancient geometrical Persian gardens. Today, those responsible for the design of urban green spaces lacking
examples differing from the traditional and thus they are in need of an adequate set of guidelines for how to design for
present conditions, users, and their needs. This research focuses on the relationship between park design components
and users’ psychological restoration regarding their preferences and perceptions to increase the quality of parks,
diminish vandalism, and increase user agency. Psychological restoration is the likeliness that people will be able to
rest and recover their ability to focus. A random sample of 100 Tehranian residents was taken by presenting them
with images depicting 6 urban parks from around their city. The results were analyzed by grouping into categories:
1-similar activities and 2-by counting and categorizing the individual descriptions of components (frequency of words)
contributing to restoration likelihood. Findings showed that the categories mentioned most frequently for high levels
of restoration were natural categories including trees, shrubs, grasses, flowers, and water. Findings with low levels
of restoration and recovery consisted of negative contextual conditions and the absence of nature such as high rise
buildings around the parks, lack of trees, and crowds of people. The activities imagined more frequently were playing
and other physical activities, social activities, and relaxation.
Machine summary:
ABSTRACT: Tehran, Iran, Urban parks, Psychological restoration, Users’ preferences and perceptions, nature,Design guidelines INTRODUCTION Parks and nature are important settings for a number of public-health related reasons, in that they offer psychological restorative experiences, physical activity and social interaction (Nilsson et al.
Evidence shows how the urban nature should be designed to enhance people’s use of it and that this would help practitioners and politicians develop strategies for building future cities that incorporate health promoting components (Nordh & Østby, 2013).
To follow up on the previous studies the main objective of this study is to assess what environmental components people think will contribute to the restorative experience of a park in the arid climate of Tehran.
We asked participants to rate the probability of relaxing and recovering in the parks presented, the activities they could imagine performing while in the spaces and what amenities and appurtenances contributed to high and low levels of restoration.
Most of the people consider urban spaces as a potential place to make friendships (Maleki, Rahimi, Noori, & Hatami, 2015).
Urban parks should be designed with natural components, shielded from disturbing surroundings and furnished with some seating to promote opportunities for restorative experiences and to function as social meeting places.
Despite the limitations related to choice of participants and the sample of photos, we believe the study contributes important information to the bigger picture of designing urban parks for psychological restoration.