Evolving morphologies: Public squares of the Walled City of Lahore
Abstract
AbstractHistoric cities are repositories of design knowledge [1], knowledge of their built environment and culture might contain many lessons that could make future design decisions more relevant. The culture of a city has a strong connection with its built environment and one can only be understood in the context of the other.
Lahore is one of the oldest cities of the Subcontinent, yet it is not explored in terms of its urban evolution. There is a need for an in-depth scholarship on the topic of urban evolution of Lahore in order to construct a meaningful discourse. In terms of urban historiography of the Walled City of Lahore in particular and greater Lahore in general, we observe inconsistent efforts. There are voids in the recorded history of the city and few historians have discussed the physical form of the city. Most of the Pre Colonial literature is based upon the accounts of the court historians in which the physical form of the city seldom appear. Books commissioned on the topic of Lahore during the British Period lack any focus on the urban form and they are mere compilations of various aspects of culture and buildings lacking any critical focus. Things did not get any better after independence as most of the literature produced is a reworking and extension of the British Period projects. It is only very recent that we see a growing interest regarding the city and its heritage amongst scholars and educated people of the city. Some of the literature produced on the city during the last decade is a more focused attempt at urban historiography from various critical perspectives. There is a need to develop a critical discourse on the evolution of the historic cities of this region based upon systematic research to develop a comprehension of the sensibilities that have shaped our built environment.
This research paper looks at the public squares of the Walled City of Lahore in terms of their emergence and evolution. The Walled city is the oldest part of Lahore that is still surviving despite having changed much over time. A broad based comparative analysis is also presented to theorise the pattern of emergence of public squares and the idea of public space in the Walled City of Lahore. The analysis part is mainly based upon cartographic study and historical evidences available from various sources and draws on historical morphology, physical context and location of the public squares within the Walled City of Lahore. This morphological study is analysed in the light of available historical references and accounts to establish the historical evolution, character and significance of these public squares.
Keywords: urban archaeology, urban morphology, urban historiography, urban conservation, cartography, mapping
References
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