Daily Times

The Master Conservation & Re-development Plan (MCRP) of Walled City Lahore has been approved in principle by the members of the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) in a meeting held at the Punjab Chief Secretary’s Secretariat on Tuesday.

This MCRP has been designed and formulated for the first time specifically for the Walled City of Lahore and the conservation department of WCLA along with experts from Aga Khan Culture Services Pakistan (AKCSP) has designed it in two years time. During the fourth meeting of the WCLA, which was chaired by the caretaker setup of Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani, WCLA presented the MCRP which got approved by the members in principle.

The other members in the meeting included Punjab’s Secretary Finance, Secretary Local Government, Secretary Law & Parliamentary Affairs, Secretary Services, Secretary Auqaf, Director General Archaeology Mian Yusaf Salahuddin, Deputy Commissioner Lahore and WCLA director general along with other staff members.

The MCRP of Walled City Lahore has been comprehensively designed and includes conservation plan of public passages, urban open spaces, public areas improvement and development along with the land use plan for the development, improvement and maintenance of utilities and infrastructure. The MCRP also gives a detailed structuring concept of the zones of special value inside the walled city Lahore along with their management to decrease the increasing commercialization and keep the residential units intact.

WCLA Conservation & Planning Director Najam Saqib, while talking exclusively to Daily Times said, “The MCRP was much needed for the preservation, conservation and improvement in the walled city Lahore and this type of MCRP is the first one for the walled city. At present there was a dire need to make a distinction between the old and new markets as the new ones have become more powerful and dangerous for the heritage value of the city. The overarching goal of this MCRP is that the Walled City’s distinct character and identity must be cherished and preserved whereas the external pressures and threats they impose on the Walled City must be mitigated. Negative developments should be identified and restricted whereas the planning for greater Lahore should be integrated with policies for the Walled City. To the world outside its perimeter, the Walled City must be visually presented as a clearly seen historic asset, which is well cared for and has a special place in the hearts and minds of Lahore’s citizens. A mechanism for the improvement in the residents’ quality of life along with the key aspects of human development has also been included in the MCRP. Mechanisms and processes must be created to protect the heritage of the Walled City in a sustained and sustainable manner and in my opinion strong regulatory frameworks should be created and the means of enforcing them should be applied. Historic precincts and monuments must be revalorized and diversity of income levels of residents along with the creation of suitable conditions for tourism to play its role in the economic future of the Walled City. We have designed this MCRP which covers all these aspects.”

Najam Saqib further added that the proposed land use plan aimed to restore the traditional balance between commercial and non-commercial activities in the Walled City, traditional scale of commercial activities and land use in accordance with the traditional building and architectural forms of the walled city to save the historic fabric.

“The entire process of designing the MCRP included the baseline physical and social surveys, plot and building heritage survey, strategic planning framework, development of pilot projects of Shahi Guzargah and Gali Surjan Singh, formulation of building bylaws, consultation with citizens, stakeholders and building control authorities and formulation of heritage property rules. The MCRP was also presented before the Heritage Conservation Board of WCLA in May 2018 and all the members had approved it and as per the WCLA Act 2012 the MCRP was to be finally approved by the authority members. Now after the principle approval it will be executed in the designed phases and manner,” Saqib said.

AKCSP Senior Consultant & Architect Rashid Makhdoom said, “The MCRP was much needed to control and regulate development, preserve cultural heritage and historic urban fabric, exercise building control and approval of plans and maps, develop and maintain open spaces and public areas, introduce best practices in infrastructure service provision, improve the quality of life of residents and to promote tourism as part of economic development.”

Published in Daily Times, July 12^th 2018.