Masouleh, Yazd, Shushtar named as Iran paragon cities

The international magazine of 2A (Architecture & Art) has named the village of Masouleh and the cities of Yazd and Shushtar as Iran’s paragon cities.  

Architecture & Art picked Masouleh, Yazd and Shushtar “due to the way each of them combines design, public space, sustainability, social justice, transportation, and other aspects of city life in order to create a space that willfully addresses every aspect of city life.”  

According to the official website of the magazine, living in a paragon city helps its citizens to become more peaceful, less stressed, while allowing them to live in a more positive and more innovative way.

Living in such cities is believed to be a place where all members of a society of all ages can grow and live harmoniously and peacefully.

2A defines a Paragon City as “a major, modern city, one that combines the past with energy and liveliness. Urban design is the way cities are fashioned to best unite the local populations with their surroundings.”

Masouleh is a popular stair village in the middle of green mountains of Gilan, northern Iran. The houses of the village are built in a way that the roof of each house is the courtyard of the upper neighbor.

There are numerous graveyards in the village, which are a proof Masouleh dates for a millennium.

Yazd, known as the city of wind-catchers, was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list in July 2017.

Yazd is sprawled on the northern Dasht-e Kavir and the southern Dasht-e Lut, enjoying a harmonious historical architecture.

Among the distinguished features of Yazd include the wind-catchers, courtyards, traditional houses, bazaars, public bathhouses, thick earthen walls and water that is brought to the city by the qanat system.  

The city enjoys the peaceful coexistence of three religions: Islam, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

Shushtar in southwest Iran is home to the UNESCO-registered Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, known as a “masterpiece of creative genius”.

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