The city of Shiraz was once famous for its parks and gardens, which had to close due to other urban needs.

The project has the following objectives:

• Ecology: A serious problem in large cities is air and water pollution largely due to the industrial sector and private means of transportation. Therefore, the project’s main objective is to improve the air and water quality in Shiraz. 
• Another significant objective is to reduce energy consumption by planting and maintaining trees. The project should also reduce the intensity and volume of water runoff (by building roof gardens), urban flooding (by extending the green belt and controlling floods in the heights) and prevent soil erosion in the heights (by cultivating appropriate plant species).
• Economy: The project’s economic objective is to reduce energy costs and create municipal income by harvesting olives to produce olive oil from the olive trees planted.
• Social: The project aims to improve living conditions of marginalised people. Through the assumption that green areas can increase social inclusion, the goal is to communicate to marginalised people that efforts are being undertaken to improve their living situation.

The first target group of the project is all citizens of the city of Shiraz, with a special focus on marginalized people, who live in areas with high unemployment and crime rates. The second target group are the national and international tourists that visit Shiraz.

The Green City project consists of four actions:

• The Urban Forest Development Project aims to plant trees in an area of 14,195 hectares in the heights and mountains surrounding the city. The Barme Shour Olive Plantation Project has been nominated by the International Olive Council as the biggest olive garden in the world. The costs for the Barme Shour Olive Garden are estimated at 28,892,019 USD. There are altogether eight planting projects within the Urban Forest Development Project. The majority of the planted trees are olive trees (13,500 hectares), but needle leaf trees and almond trees have also been planted. The total cost of all these planting projects is estimated at 87,867,883 USD.

• Roof Parks: The lack of green space in the downtown area led the municipality of Shiraz to implement the idea of roof parks. The goal is to create recreational spaces within the city, mainly on the roofs of multi-storey car parks. This would reduce the intensity of urban water runoff. There are six roof parks planned, of which two are already under construction. These two car parks, with an area of 5,000 sq. m., will be built by the municipality of Shiraz with estimated costs of 420,000 USD. The other four roof parks will be planned in cooperation with private sector entities. The total area of roof parks is estimated to be 23,560 sq. m. Estimated costs are not yet available.
• Linear Parks: These parks will make the city ascetically more attractive and create a suitable path for pedestrians to spend their free time. The first park was built along the Chamran Boulevard in 2008, covering an area of 10 hectares. Eight other linear parks have been built with a total area of 43 hectares (including the Chamran Boulevard). The total costs of this project were 7,950,000 USD.
• Roof Gardens: The construction of roof gardens is another way of dealing with the limited space for green projects within the city. The municipality encourages both construction companies and citizens to establish roof gardens in their projects. Tax rebates can apply if the requirements of the municipality are fulfilled. The steering committee for the project comprises members of the “Parks and Green Spaces Organization” of the municipality of Shiraz who work in collaboration with the local university.

The overall time frame for the project is from 2008 to 2018.

The next steps will be to design and build the necessary buildings and provide the required facilities to create parks. The increased partnership with the private sector should increase tourism in the city. Another plan is to use the area where the forest development project is carried out as a place for sports such as grass skiing or archery.

The main stakeholders are the Shiraz Municipality, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Agriculture Bank, and the Organization of Municipalities. Furthermore, the partnerships with the private sector help to finance the project. For example, the Agriculture Bank created loan facilities for the pressurized irrigation system. Private sector investors who plan to build a tourist attraction, which adheres to the general plan of the project and complies with the development plan of the city, are exempt from paying taxes.

The total budget for the project is 101,035,883 USD.

The results vary from increasing the per capita green space rate (from 13 sq. m. to 85 sq. m.)   to limiting unbridled development in the outskirts of the urban region. Environmental pollution and heat islands are combated by creating peripheral and central green spaces. The intensity and volume of water runoff (by building roof gardens) and urban floods (by the expansion of the green belt and controlling the floods in the heights) are also addressed.

There are four categories of impacts:

• Social impact:

By increasing the number of recreational spots (linear parks and mountain parks) more people can enjoy their free time in a way that minimizes mental health problems caused by urbanization. The opportunity to exercise at the newly built sport facilities will improve citizens health and positively impact young people, who may be less likely to turn to drugs or commit crimes.

• Cultural impact:

When the project has been fully implemented, it will promote nature tourism.

• Economic impact:

The building of green spaces and roof gardens minimizes the costs that are usually caused by water runoff or urban floods.

Over 80 percent of the oil consumed in Iran is imported. By planting olive trees, the city will be able to produce olive oil and therefore be less dependent on imports. Oil from the olive trees has increased the municipal income.

• Urban impact:

The project increases ground water resources and will improve air quality in the city.

Overall barriers for further implementation of the project can be the general political situation in Iran and the impacts it has on both the interior politics as well as the politics with other states (for example the impacts of an embargo).

Another potential future barrier may be the situation of the “illegal” settlers around the city, for whom the city municipality has to build houses etc. It is unrealistic to combat this problem only by planting trees. This situation could also lead to further conflicts.

The climate situation could also be a barrier towards the implementation, especially the low amount of annual rainfall (307 millimetres). This barrier was recognized and handled by constructing a water transfer system which pumps the water of the Shiraz Plain to a height of 646 meters.

Furthermore, the project focuses on volunteers to plant trees on private property (roof gardens) due to the lack of green spaces. This is a good way to involve the citizens of Shiraz to participate in the project, however, it could be problematic, if there are no volunteers.

The project aims to improve ecology in the city but monocultures may be counterproductive.

The liaison between different authorities (state and local authorities) was recognized and led to a nation-wide law proposing similar projects (covering a total area of 40 thousand hectares) to be carried out in the Fars Province. There was also an agreement signed by other cities to follow this example.

The roof garden initiative can easily be transferred to other public, government, or private buildings all over the country. For this purpose, a set of codes was defined to specify, which variety or species is suitable for intensive or extensive green space. If transferred, urban greening plans could also shape the characteristics of different cities involving the climatic differences in the planting of trees.

- http://www.isocarp.net/Data/case_studies/476.pdf 

- http://www.eshiraz.ir/parks/en/per,14 

- Application documents for the Metropolis-Award of 2011

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiraz