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The importance of theme parks as an effective way to express the relationship of modern cities and their audience
Mohsen Saraji - Founder and Director of Saraaj
The center for Creation and development of art spaces
Development in the last century has pushed the structure of modern social life towards urbanization. Urban public places have changed their function into recreational, educational and cultural places to meet various urban requirements such as shopping centers, parks, supermarkets and restaurants. Therefore, the importance of theme parks where citizens can experience different situations and feel like as if they are tourists in their own city, and in a safe space, is evident. theme parks are such an important urban element where visiting them alongside other tourist attractions such as zoos, aquariums, museums, galleries and shopping centers are included in most of tourist and recreational tours.
Nowadays, theme parks are an important part of modern cities design, and there is no modern city that has tourist attractions but lacks recreational and educational theme parks. Theme parks are so important to tourists that visiting them is included in most of travel and recreational tours.
Having various functions, they are built aimed at establishing interaction and meeting the needs of different ages and groups of people. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the needs of target audience, respect aesthetic principles, and cultural and social characteristics in their construction process. Achieving all these goals requires the use of planning and design based on the perception of patterns, thematic indicators, supportive spaces and identity-maker elements.
Thematic, themed or context-oriented park is a general term used for a group of structures located in a specific place around a unique theme. Such park, like Walt Disney's Magical Kingdome, has a special theme that dominates the entire park. These places are usually built in a way that visitors would spend most of the day walking and touring in them.
As a result, meeting different needs of visitors during a day is one of the necessities of such parks. And they have a combination of various services such as entertainment, education, restaurants, shops and resorts. Creating a sense of excitement and difference in theme parks is intensified by showing them in a vague and inaccessible way, using high fences or hedges.
However, theme parks might have negative environmental impacts. As the park is specifically designed for modern visitor, environmental effects of the park may include visual pollution such as unattractive buildings, structures and large unsuitable parking lots. As the parking space is very large it includes the destruction of natural environment. Air, acoustic and water pollution, population and pedestrian congestion, and inappropriate land use are some other environmental problems. Therefore, the basic element in planning the design and construction of a theme park is calculating and considering the threshold or saturation capacity of the area.
Theme parks are designed for all members of society to use and enjoy its special facilities. Peace and escape from daily life and work is one of the advantages of such parks. Most of citizens turn to parks in order to breathe its fresh air, have fun with their families, walk, relieve fatigue, scape from pollution and their cramped residential environment and from the monotony of urban life.
The importance of urban parks and green space in the life and sustainability of cities and its physical effects in urban system is undeniable. Urban parks and green spaces are one of the most important factors in shaping social stability and unity, but different reasons such as security and safety in parks and green spaces and facilities and inappropriateness of facilities for different ages and genders, made citizens reluctant toward them. Specific social and demographic variables such as age, gender, education, income and accessibility have a direct effect on the time and manner of using parks.
We hope that the imagineers, designers and city managers, take design requirements into account and apply aesthetic and technical principles and standards to design more attractive and usable parks that are in harmony with native culture and tradition of Iran.
Click to see the theme parks designed by "Seraaj center for Creation and development of art spaces".