A total of 25 roadside and 25 park soils have been sampled from six major streets and seven urban parksof the city of Hamedan (Iran) and analyzed for Pb and Cd. Metal pollution and spatial distribution mapswere carried out using the pollution index(PI), integrated pollution index(IPI) and ordinary kriging withGeographic Information Systems. High levels of Cd and Pb were observed with average concentrations ofCd and Pb in the urban roadside soils being 1.57 ± 0.53, and 164.04 ± 50.08 mg/kg, respectively. However,the concentrations in urban park soils (1.16 ± 0.62, and 105.4 ± 46.47 mg/kg, respectively), were signif-icantly lower. Vehicle traffic has resulted in a significant enrichment of Cd and Pb in the roadside soilswith the highest concentrations found in the city center. The spatial distribution pattern of Cd and Pbin urban soils of Hamedan indicated that the concentration of metals in the central and northern partsof Hamedan is high, due to the human activities. Findings of metals in soils of major streets and urbanparks indicated that metal contamination in urban roadside soils was higher than urban parks showingsuitability of these soils than urban parks as indicators of metal contamination in urban areas.
