Mohsen Saraji | Creative Director and Futurist
Context: This statement, made by Mohsen Saraji, a creative director and futurist, criticizes the recent urban beautification efforts in a city, particularly . Saraji argues that instead of focusing on superficial beautification projects, the city should prioritize cleaning up and removing visual pollution.
Detailed English Translation of the Entire Text:
In recent years, we have witnessed significant budgetary allocations by Mashhad's urban managers towards beautifying the city. However, have these actions truly benefited the city and its citizens?
Unfortunately, in many cases, these budgets have been spent on initiatives that not only failed to enhance the city's aesthetics but have actually harmed it.
Notable examples include:
- Lack of expert input: Many beautification projects have disregarded the opinions of experts in various fields such as architecture, urban planning, and sociology. This has resulted in the implementation of plans that are not only incompatible with the city's social and historical fabric but also suffer from numerous functional and aesthetic flaws.
- Adherence to traditional models: While preserving and reviving the city's historical identity is essential, it should not mean ignoring contemporary needs and challenges. Many beautification projects merely seek to replicate traditional models without considering their suitability for the city's current conditions. This mindset is largely due to a lack of change in policymaking and decision-makers' perspectives.
- Numerous visual pollutants: Alongside incomplete and inappropriate beautification efforts, the proliferation of decision-making organizations in the city, such as the Parks and Green Spaces Organization, the Markets and Produce Organization, and the Cultural Organization's Arts Department of مشهد Municipality, has led to an increase in visual pollution across the city. Inappropriate advertising billboards and a lack of oversight of their content, along with heavy traffic of commercial signs, are just a few examples of this pollution, which significantly negatively impacts the city's beauty and quality of life.
- Lack of a comprehensive urban beautification plan: Many cities lack a comprehensive and well-structured plan for urban beautification. This results in the waste of resources, a lack of coherence in actions, and the infringement of citizens' rights.
Therefore, it is suggested that instead of allocating large budgets to superficial and showy actions, a comprehensive and well-structured program should be developed in to clean the city of visual clutter, mismatched elements and statues, worn-out murals, and unsightly billboards. This program should be developed with the participation of experts and citizens and be based on the following principles:
- Focus on cleaning and removing pollution: Before taking any beautification measures, the city should prioritize cleaning up various visual pollutants.
- Increasing the participation of artists and experts in urban decision-making: Experts and specialists from various fields should be consulted without any political or ideological limitations at all stages of planning, implementation, and monitoring of beautification projects.
- Paying attention to the identity and needs of the city's younger generation: Beautification projects should be compatible with the city's historical and cultural identity while also considering the contemporary needs and challenges of the city.
- Encouraging citizen participation: Citizens should be involved in the planning and implementation of beautification projects. Showy and media-driven projects to falsely display the success of urban beautification should be avoided.
- Developing a comprehensive urban beautification plan: A comprehensive and well-structured plan for urban beautification is essential to prevent the waste of resources and the infringement of citizens' rights. Therefore, it is essential to establish a Municipal Beautification Organization in مشهد to foster greater convergence among decision-making organizations and departments.
Only by implementing such a program can we witness a clean, beautiful, and livable city for all citizens. A city that, more than anything today, is thirsty for a cleanup, not a makeover!
Key points emphasized in the text:
- The need for a holistic approach to urban beautification.
- The importance of citizen participation and expert input.
- The negative impacts of superficial beautification efforts.
- The urgency of addressing visual pollution.
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