CHILLING photos of an abandoned "Paradise City" in the middle of the desert show rotting tower blocks and roads to nowhere.But the early apartments had faulty sewage systems and heating, inadequate access to water, and only intermittent electricity.Abandoned VHS store left frozen in time for 20 years after owner diedBasking in the desert heat, they cast large shadows over the rest of the half-finished city.
That's because little thought was given to the ecological conditions when constructors first began building Pardis more than two decades ago. What were originally intended to help house the underprivileged are now only affordable to the middle class. The Mehr housing scheme became one of Iran's biggest failures and a huge hurdle in their economic recovery.Interestingly, some people do occupy some of the apartments on offer in the high-rise buildings.Photographer Hashem Shakeri visited Pardis in 2007 and described it as eerily quiet, despite there being an estimated population of around 30,000.