The Rawalpindi Historic
Urban Landscape Project
(RHULP)
Dr. Ayesha Pamela Rogers
Project Coordinator
National College of Arts,
Lahore Pakistan
A brief historical overview with
reference to “critical junctures”
in the development of the HUL of
Rawalpindi
Historic Core
of Rawalpindi
British Colonial
Military Cantonment
Old City of
Rawalpindi
Independence
Previous map of the old city
Phase I of the RHULP
The preparatory phase of the RHULP undertook the first
three steps of the HUL process in order to lay
groundwork for future applications of the HUL approach
in the historic city.
STEP 1
Undertaking comprehensive surveys and mapping
of the city’s natural, cultural and community
resources
STEP 2
Reaching a reasonable degree of consensus on
what values to protect and determining the
attributes that carry these values
STEP 3
Assessing the vulnerability of these
attributes to socio-economic pressures
with seed funding from
Netherlands Funds - in –Trust at
UNESCO
The RHULP Team, Rawalpindi 2013-14
STEP 1: Inventory and Mapping
2
3
1
5
4
Raja Bazaar
9
7
10
12
8
11
Iqbal Road
Muree Road
6
A Rapid Inventory of Built Heritage
Sample of historic structures was inventoried in each
of the zones of the study area.
It was found that there is a high frequency and
density of historic houses in the core study area,
with the vast majority still in use, and also many
mercantile buildings in bazaar areas
The bulk of the buildings date from early 19th
c. to early 20th c. and are notable for the great
variety of decorative and vulnerable detailing on
their facades.
One of the most striking features of the built
environment of the city is the large number of
religious buildings and complexes representing
Sikhs, Hindus, Parsis, Christians and Muslims.
Using a map from
pre-Partition, the
only reliable map
of the city, all
religious centers
were pinpointed
creating a visual
representation of
the cultural
diversity and
multi-faith nature
of the city in its
prime – important
aspects of the
significance of
the place
The domes and spires of
temples and the
minarets of mosques
stand high above the
relatively flat skyline
of Pindi, each
distinctive and acting
as a geographical
marker representing
its locale and
assisting the people of
the city to navigate
through the dense maze
at street level
The pattern of view –
lines and connectivity
of these markers is
being mapped and
analysed to find ways
to ensure its survival.
The old core of Rawalpindi is a densely packed area
of bazaars and mohollahs which have developed
organically creating an enduring and resilient
pattern of urban life. This pattern emerged in its
earliest formation and can still be clearly read in
contemporary Rawalpindi
Mapping the Street
Experience
Zone 1 Map
Rapid Inventory of Traditional Bazaar
Occupations
to gain an understanding of how much and what type of
traditional economic activity is still being carried
out within the study area.
Clusters of crafts and trades
can be found throughout the
bazaars making up a large part
of the bazaar activity within
the old city.
Some have adapted to modern trends while others
have maintained traditional methods and materials;
there are also new crafts or artisan work which has
developed to fill modern niches, such as the former
carriage painters that now decorate motorcycle
bodies.
Itinerant tradesmen still
function in the old city in
unknown but diminishing
numbers.
Environmental Conditions in the Core
of the Historic City
Zone 1 Rawalpindi Historic Center
Cumulative Environmental Degradation
Environmental Engineer
Sewerage + Drainage + Solid Waste + Electricity +
Traffic = Inadequate Service Provision
Mohollah Residents
Smell + Sickness + Noise + Heat/ Cold +
Electrocution + Rising Damp + Darkness + Emergency
Access and Escape = Dangerous Environment
Bazaar Merchants
Deliveries + Customer Access + Parking + Income
and Profits = Economic Loss
Green Spaces in the Historic City
Sample of Green Spaces located on Google Earth
v
“ All spaces small and large within the old city could
act as small oases for recreation and ecological
awareness. They could also be used in mitigating
unforeseen disasters and eventually would prevent the
city from becoming a concrete jungle. By developing
miniature gardens, we can transform presently dismal
city spaces and revamp them into living green spaces.
City planners have to regain control of these areas
and develop them by participatory planning
procedures to enable them to share remaining small
spaces in a way that is going to benefit everyone in
the old city.” (Amin Khan 2014)
Soundscape Documentation
Historical Photograph
Archive
Place Name Study
Traditional Food
Documentation
Core findings of the STEP 1
mapping exercise:
Fundamental nature of the city through time as
a bazaar complex
Extent of remaining historic fabric and spatial
structure
Surviving vibrancy and continuity of the living
heritage of bazaar and mohollah
Social capital as the cultural glue and primary
cultural asset
Stakeholders believe that the Social Capital of their
community is reflected directly in the network of linked
spaces that make up the pattern of the historic city.
STEP 2: Reaching Consensus
on Values and Attributes
Community Consensus
Mohollah
Residents
+
+
Bazaar
Merchants
Local Historians
+
School / Mosque
Leaders
Introduction to the Rawalpindi Historic Urban
Landscape Project
How I See My Mohollah – a 4-day art workshop
carried out by the RHULP and Hareep Pakistan – was
held at one of these schools which houses a Muslim
madressah and mosque and an old Hindu temple inside
an historic Sikh gurdawara
City Government Consensus
City District Government
Rawalpindi (DCO)
Tehsil Municipal
Administration (TMA)
+
+
Rawalpindi Development
Authority (RDA)
Rawalpindi Water and
Sanitation Authority
(RWASA)
The long term aim is to integrate HUL objectives with
the development related work of these departments
within the old city.
Federal and Provincial Planning Authority
Consensus
Policy Dialogue on Historic Urban Landscape:
Opportunities and Challenges in Urban Planning and
Local Governance
organized by Institute of Social and Policy Sciences
(I-SAPS) February 06, 2014 and Chaired by Mr. Arif
Anwar Baloch , Secretary Planning and Development,
Government of Punjab
NCA-PPMI Policy Seminar on Heritage, Planning and
Development
At the Planning Commission Auditorium, a policy
seminar on HUL approach and the Vision 2015
held 07.02.14 by the joint collaboration of NCA and
PPMI. The event was chaired by Federal Minister Prof
Ahsan Iqbal.
Significance and Values of the
Historic City of Rawalpindi
“ The old core of the city is a densely packed area of
bazaars and mohollahs which have developed organically
creating an enduring and resilient pattern of urban
life. This pattern emerged in its earliest formation
and can still be clearly read in contemporary
Rawalpindi.
It bears testimony to a
heritage and
tradition
where
Hindu,
Sikh,
Jain,
Muslim
and
Christian religions and cultures met and coexisted,
expressed in the great variety of religious buildings
of different faiths, the complex of traditional
bazaars, the many languages, worship and religious
festivals, art and music, food, and daily life.
The
old
city
retains
a
significant
amount
of
residential and commercial architecture from the 19th
and 20th centuries in which no two buildings seem to be
the same in design or decoration. They form a yet-tobe studied compendium of decorative forms, combining
western and oriental materials and design vocabulary.
The flat skyline of Rawalpindi is punctuated at
intervals with the domes and shikhar of Hindu temples
and the minarets of mosques. Each is distinctive and
acts as a geographical marker that represents its
locale and assists the people of the city to navigate
through the dense maze at street level. The pattern of
bazaars linked to adjacent residential mohollahs by
narrow
twisting
pathways
forms
the
unchanging
framework in which life has been lived in Rawalpindi
over the centuries.
Traditional trades thrive in the ancient bazaars of
the city. Day and night they produce, buy and sell
every conceivable product, creating the noise,
smells, energy and disorder that constitute the
intangible heritage of the city. Following the
narrow galis into the mohollas the clamor of the
marketplace is left behind and replaced by the
sounds of children playing in the streets and
neighbours chatting at their doorways, the smell of
meals cooking, the sight of the elderly sitting and
watching life go by and the constant passage of
residents on foot and motorcycle moving from home to
market, school and back.
The old city of Rawalpindi has never at any point in
its history been planned or designed or conserved.
The physical fabric and sense of place which has
passed down to us has survived instead because of
the desire of generations of residents to maintain
their traditional way of life.
This community cohesion or social capital has
preserved what remains of the past and acts as a
glue to ensure the continuing smooth functioning of
the city, despite pressures of density, poor
infrastructure and social tensions. It is this
intangible living heritage set within the built
heritage of the city that gives significance to
historic Rawalpindi.”
Consensus on the Values and
Attributes to Protect
Densely packed organic
pattern of streets and
spaces:
Juxtaposition of
bazaars and
mohallahs:
- Formal network of spaces
and links which reflects
social structure and
relations; not random and
rich with meaning
- as a network, its strength
relies on maintenance of all
its constituent parts
- Contrast of noise and
activity of bazaar with
hum of the neighbourhood;
- concealed entry points
and invisible spatial
divisions
- shared meaning of
traditional transitions
from market to
residential areas
Variety and number of
religious buildings:
- pattern of temples and
gurdwaras over the city
- relationships to bazaars
and mohollahs
Large number of
historic residential
properties:
- historic building stock
found in residential
clusters
- wide range of styles and
decorative forms combining
cultures
Constant and varied
bazaar activity of
every kind
throughout the
commercial areas:
- large number of
traditional occupations,
crafts and skills
- fixed in groups in
bazaars
- mobile itinerant trades
- traditional activities
adapted for modern
markets
- development of new
trades based on old
skills
Social Capital that
preserves what
remains of the past
and acts as a glue
to ensure the
continuing smooth
functioning of the
city:
- the network of
spatial links and
patterning that
characterizes the city
are seen by residents
as the physical
reflections or
embodiment of their
Social Capital.
Sense of place experienced by
those living, working and
visiting the old city:
- identification with the place where
they live and associated feelings of
security, familiarity and belonging
-Constant movement of young and old
through the mohallas, smells and
sounds
- residents cite their own homes,
shops and the nearby monuments as
special and part of their Sense of
Place; particularly high value placed
on old and traditional shops and
businesses
STEP 3 Assessing the vulnerability
of these attributes to socioeconomic pressures
Legislative and Administrative Context
• No heritage building within the historic city is
protected by either federal or provincial
antiquities legislation
• at City District level no District Officer has
responsibility for any aspects of the historic
environment;
• local administrative bodies which are responsible
for many factors that affect heritage, such as
sewage, drainage, roads and open spaces, do not
include heritage or consideration of impacts on
heritage in their agenda.
1.
Historic Built Environment
VULNERABILITY
Historic built fabric is old, fragile and undermaintained due to lack of funds and knowledge of
how to preserve
THREAT
Physical degradation until it is declared unsafe
and is forcibly demolished and then replaced with
inappropriate in-fill
2.Traditional Bazaar Structure
VULNERABILITY
Traditional bazaar structure is dependent on large
numbers of small outlets grouped by trade and
offering direct interaction with shoppers at street
level; based on traditional trades and occupations
including itinerant and mobile traders
THREAT
Aggressive land acquisition and construction of
inappropriate “shopping plazas” and malls which
destroy traditional bazaar structure
3. Cultural Diversity
VULNERABILITY
Numerous historic religious buildings and spaces
of minority faiths have been “desacralized” and
although theoretically in the care of the EPT are
in fact rented for commercial or residential use,
leaving religious communities alienated
THREAT
Loss of the valuable multifaith and cultural diversity
that characterized Rawalpindi
until Partition in 1947
4. Religious Landscape
VULNERABILITY
The spires of religious buildings traditionally
serve as waypoints to identify areas and navigate
through the density of the city – a form of
intangible heritage
THREAT
Overshadowing of these vistas and markers because
of by new high rise “shopping plazas”; loss of
religious buildings to degradation and collapse
5. Traditional Occupations
VULNERABILITY
Traditional trades and occupations are based on a
system of master and apprentice that too often passes
on skills without reference to change
THREAT
Young artisans leave the trade because they cannot
make a proper living in the face of increasing
modernity and failure to maximize traditional products
for new markets
6. Social Capital and Management of Change
VULNERABILITY
The pattern of spatial links throughout the historic
city create a sense of place which embodies the social
capital binding communities and managing change in the
city
THREAT
Spatial changes due to unsympathetic planning
decisions can irrevocably alter the social relations
of the old city which underpin its values; imposed
“blanket” development or selective renewal initiatives
that will alter the incremental way the community has
successfully managed change for centuries
Core findings of the STEP 2 Values
and Vulnerability exercise:
Rawalpindi is different from many historic urban
landscapes, yet typical of hundreds of such urban
centers in Pakistan.
Like Rawalpindi, these are a different kind of historic
city: one without landmark spaces or iconic buildings,
without historic district renovation, resulting
gentrification, mass tourism or globalization
Not perceived as “heritage” at official levels but
beloved by its residents as the physical embodiment of
the resilient social capital that is their true
heritage.
Levels of “heritage awareness” are low in Pakistan, a
country with limited heritage protection and little
experience in safeguarding historic cities
However, the basic premises of HUL are fully grasped
and automatically accepted by all partners
From historic homeowners and bazaar merchants to
federal planning authorities.
Discussions move quickly from what HUL is to what are
the best ways to implement the approach.
Vision for Moving Forward
Recommended steps of the HUL process:
4. integrating urban heritage values and their
vulnerability status into a wider framework of city
development
5. prioritizing policies and actions for conservation
and development;
6. establishing the appropriate partnerships and
local management frameworks and developing
mechanisms for the coordination of different actors,
public, private and civic.
Future initiatives should be seen in the
context of two achievements of the project
to date.
1. Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between the
City District Government Rawalpindi, National
College of Arts Rawalpindi and WHITRAP for the
revitalization of the historic core of
Rawalpindi
2. The RHULP was requested to write input on the HUL
approach in sustainable urban planning and development
as part of the recent Pakistan 2025: One Nation – One
Vision document formulated at the national level
(Government of Pakistan 2014)
“Pakistan 2025
recognizes culture as
a vibrant potential
sector of national
integration and
development”
Cultural Heritage is for
the first time formally
declared as an integral
component of the national
planning agenda.
New Initiatives for Phase 2
of the RHULP
Design, Development & Promotion
of Living Heritage Trails
Aim of the trails is to support community
appreciation of traditional trades and skills
and to make them accessible to a wider audience
• young entrepreneurs pursuing small- and
medium-sized businesses in cultural
industries, arts & crafts, and local cuisine
• a “Traditional Trade” certification system
with seal of authenticity by independent
(civic sector) party
• training of local guides
Adaptive Reuse Project
•
in close collaboration with the Chief Architect /
Planner of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA)
•
a review and adaptation of existing official
legislation and byelaws regarding conservation and
adaptation of historic properties
•
development of Guidelines for Adaptive Reuse
of Historic Buildings by public and private
owners in the inner city to be inserted into
existing Punjab PUDA Building Bye Laws
•
the design and drafting of an illustrated
Adaptive Reuse Manual for owners of historic
properties
•
A particular focus on adaptive reuse of
historic commercial buildings which are under
pressure of redevelopment into modern plazas
Neighborhood Upgrading by Greening
and Tree Planting
• project executed by local schools to improve the
direct surroundings of heritage spaces.
• Government Christian Secondary School which was
the first colonial school built in Rawalpindi in
1856.
• In cooperation with Pakistan
Botanical
Garden
Network
Secretariat
to
promote
HUL
concepts
such
as
community
sense of place, environmental
awareness and safeguarding of
urban
heritage
among
young
people of the old city
Art/Artists for Heritage
• to build on the success of their initial joint art and
heritage workshop with Hareep Pakistan
• target low income, inner city public schools, many of
which are religious institutions and many housed in
historic buildings.
• Children are introduced
to an array of art
materials for mapping
their neighbourhoods,
urban heritage and the
cultural diversity of
the city.
Promotion of Two Tools to Raise the
Level of Protection for the Historic
Urban Landscape
Listing of Built & Living Heritage
a draft proposal will be prepared for creation
of a listing procedure for tangible and
intangible heritage at the level of City
District Government
Introduction of Heritage Impact Assessment
(HIA)
with the International Union for Conservation
of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) to press
for the inclusion of cultural and natural
heritage into Pakistan’s environmental impact
assessment (EIA) system
Training for HUL
• design and development of large-scale
training exercises for decision makers and
government professionals in Pakistan on the
interface between planning, heritage
preservation, local livelihoods, and
sustainable urban development
• At the Pakistan Planning and Management
Institute (PPMI), Islamabad
The three stated HUL objectives:
1. Managing change or maintaining continuity
2. Improving living conditions of local
communities
3. Generating a “virtuous cycle” in urban
conservation (van Oers & Roders 2011).
Neighbourhood
Upgrade Project /
Greening for
Schools
Living Heritage
Trails
MC / ILC /VC
Adaptive Reuse of
Historic
Buildings
MC / ILC /VC
ILC / VC
HUL
HUL Tool: Listing
of Built & Living
Heritage
MC / VC
HUL Tool:
Heritage Impact
Assessment
Training in HUL
for Decisionmakers
MC / VC
School Art
Workshops
MC / ILC /VC
MC / VC
Missing critical layers of the
Historic Urban Landscape
• Archaeology – Urban Rescue Archaeology
and HIA
• Women’s experience of their Historic
City – “The Girl Team”
The Long – Term Vision for the RHULP
For Pakistan
Change how such vernacular and culturally diverse
bazaar centers are viewed and treated in Pakistan by
heritage professionals, preservation authorities and
the public
For HUL
Example of an historic town whose values lie in
living bazaar heritage and social capital reflected in
spatial patterning
Test the approach in a “difficult” situation, showing
its usefulness across a wide spectrum of historic
urban landscapes