Abandoned ‘Paradise City’: A Haunting Look Inside Iran’s Forgotten Urban Project
Deserted Dreams: Mehra Mer Project in Pardis, Iran
CHILLING photos of an abandoned “Paradise City” in the middle of the desert show rotting tower blocks and roads to nowhere.
The Rise and Fall of Pardis
Located 31 miles outside of Tehran, Iran’s capital city, in a barren landscape, the Mehra Mer project in Pardis has been left abandoned and incomplete.
Post-Apocalyptic Vision: The Deserted City
What was supposed to be a ready-made community equipped with public transportation, hospitals, schools and even parks is now something reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic world.
A Failed Vision: The Tower Blocks of Pardis
Built between 2001 and 2011 to help Iran battle their population crisis and housing shortage, the tower blocks were supposed to be an affordable alternative for low-income and middle-class workers.
From Construction to Destruction: The Downfall of Pardis
But the early apartments had faulty sewage systems and heating, inadequate access to water, and only intermittent electricity. Many were also destroyed in the earthquake of 2017, contributing to the large number that already lay empty.
Ghostly Remains: The Eeriness of Pardis
Birds-eye view images show around 100 tower blocks that look as though they’ve sprouted straight from the ground. At first glance you could easily mistake the buildings for Lego blocks, but they are in fact real. Basking in the desert heat, they cast large shadows over the rest of the half-finished city.
Ecological Oversight: The Impact on Pardis
But that’s all there really is to look at. The failed project is a basic copy and paste job – with everything looking the exact same. There are no trees, no cars, no parks, no people. No signs of life whatsoever.
The Economic Fallout: Pardis’s Struggle
That’s because little thought was given to the ecological conditions when constructors first began building Pardis more than two decades ago. Inflation rates in a struggling economy proved to be the final nail in the coffin, too, turning the affordable apartments into unaffordable for many.
Current State: A Paradise Lost
What were originally intended to help house the underprivileged are now only affordable to the middle class. Before you knew it, developers halted the project mid-construction and have failed to bring it to completion.
Far from Paradise: The Reality of Pardis
The Mehr housing scheme became one of Iran’s biggest failures and a huge hurdle in their economic recovery. Pardis is Persian for “paradise” – but it couldn’t be further from it if it tried.
Occupied or Abandoned: Life in Pardis
Interestingly, some people do occupy some of the apartments on offer in the high-rise buildings. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 73,363 people in 23,938 households.
Eerily Quiet: The Reality of Pardis
Photographer Hashem Shakeri visited Pardis in 2007 and described it as eerily quiet, despite there being an estimated population of around 30,000.
Cycles of Disappointment: Daily Life in Pardis
The majority of residents moved to one of Pardis’ desolate cul-de-sacs, yet they are barely here, spending the majority of their days commuting to and from Tehran and only returning to sleep.
Incomplete Construction: The Legacy of Pardis
“There is a recurrent, vicious cycle where people are sleep-deprived—they have to wake early and work until late to commute to Tehran, which takes a lot of time,” Shakeri told The New Yorker. “They only sleep in the towns,” he said. “They have to repeat the cycle over and over.”
A Visual Journey: The Abandoned City
Conclusion: The Deserted Legacy of Pardis
Pardis is surrounded by desert and not much else. High-rise blocks have been left in various stages of completion, with nothing to suggest any signs of life in Pardis. There are a number of roads within the city that lead to nowhere, as a result of its unfinished construction. It stands as a haunting reminder of what happens when a dream goes unfulfilled in the harsh realities of the desert landscape.