Hierarchical access to the edible landscape: the Akbarieh Garden in Iran

ABSTRACT

The Akbarieh Garden in Iran accommodates both pleasure and edible landscapes. In this study, visitor accessibility of the fruit trees of this garden was assessed using continuous and stop-motion walking modes. Results indicated that in the continuous walking mode, focus rested more on recognising the macro elements of the garden along the walkways; therefore, the edible landscape was not adequately considered. In the stop-motion mode, by stopping in successive landscape sequences, the edible landscape could be accessed. However, access to the edible landscape in Akbarieh Garden was limited by several factors. While the perimeter wall limited accessibility, spatial organisation of the garden along two walkways channelled visitors towards the pleasure landscape. In addition, an impenetrable green wall (boxwood) also limited access to the agricultural landscape. Thus, obstacles, longer walks, and the location of the edible landscape in the garden decreased the accessibility of fruit trees in this semi-public urban space.

KEYWORDS:

• Akbarieh Garden
• accessibility
• edible landscape
• continuous walking
• stop-motion walking
• fruit trees
• World Heritage Site

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. 2682019CX77) and Interdisciplinary Research Projects of Southwest Jiaotong University (No. 2682021ZTPY085).

Notes on contributors

Majid Amani-Beni

Majid Amani-Beni holds a PhD degree in Natural Resource Science from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), China. He is a faculty member at the School of Architecture and Design, Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), Chengdu, China.

Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad

Mohammad Reza Khalilnezhad holds a PhD degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Kaiserslautern (TUKL), Germany. He has been a faculty member at the University of Birjand (UoB), Birjand, Iran, for over 10 years. Most of his research in the field of urban agriculture for Iran emphasises the role of Persian gardens.

Sara Mahdizadeh

Sara Mahdizadeh completed her Ph.D. at the School of Architecture (SSoA), University of Sheffield, UK. In 2013, she was awarded a fellowship by Dumbarton Oaks, trustee for Harvard University, the USA. She has published several papers (lead and co-authored) in international journals including Nonlinear Dynamics; Heritage Studies; Landscape Research; Landscape History; Architecture and Urbanism; and Architectural Conservation. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture at the Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran.