CONSERVATION IN THE WALLED CITY OF LAHORE: HOW STATE EFFORTS AFFECT THE URBAN FABRIC OF HERITAGE CORES

One of the main arguments for conservation of historic cores and heritage sites is the improvement of social and economic lives of the local community. However, most often this process of conservation embarks on an alternate discourse that focuses more heavily on tourism instead of habitation. As such, the state deploys policies and initiatives that overlook the persisting threats to the urban fabric of the place. This paper will argue that the state intervention for conservation should necessarily direct attention on the inhabitants, who are the living heritage and constituents of the urban fabric, as the primary beneficiaries and equal partners. I focus on the Walled City of Lahore as a case study, where the recent collaboration by the Pakistan Government, World Bank, and Aga Khan Foundation initiated a series of conservation actions. The primary method of investigation are interviews conducted with the Walled City of Lahore Authority (government officials), Aga Khan Foundation, residents and civil society actors, along with ethnographic studies. An analysis of the discrepancies in promises, visions, and expectations reveals new grounds to explore how conservations should work effectively for development and rehabilitation.