Conserving the Historic City of Dera Ismail Khan: creating a broad definition of "historic urban landscape" and internationalizing public participation

Ref.: 186
Área temática: 02 Integridad funcional de los paisajes urbanos históricos
Fecha de recepción: 19/11/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

ZAIN, Nazia * (Pakistán) - NWFP University of Engineering and Technology

ABSTRACT

The historic city of Dera Ismail Khan is important for Pakistan and for South Asia, as it is located on a historic trade route and was the passageway for many travelers and warrior kings, and hosted many communities. It has a cultural heritage of several periods, including the pre-Islamic Hindu and Sikh heritage, the Muslim Mughal heritage, and the prehistoric Indus Valley Civilization. The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, however, caused the migration of non-Muslim residents.

The overall city represents diverse styles of architecture, as it contains Hindu, Sikh and British colonial styles of buildings. The Hindu heritage is the most significant; in fact this is important for Pakistan as the cultural remains of the only major Hindu kingdom in the country, the Hindu Shahi. The Hindu residential quarters still have the authentic facades depicting the Hindu architectural styles, there are nearby classic Hindu temples, and the entire city plan is also based on the traditional Mandala town planning which was strongly linked with the spiritual architecture of Hinduism. Other than these, there are some cultural activities which also reveal that this city was inhabited by these communities.

Another important theme is the traditional vernacular desert architecture which creates its own Indus River cultural landscape, and extends outside the city in the region. Materials and courtyards show a planning that fulfills the climatic as well as cultural needs of the region.

But most historic structures in the city critically need conservation and residents need to be educated about not replacing them with modern architecture. At the moment there are no economic incentives for locals to preserve these structures and no government guidelines either.

This paper will make an outline for a conservation master plan for Dera Ismail Khan that also links the city with the broader Indus River cultural landscape and archeological sites, identifying the latest approaches that could be used in conserving historic urban landscapes in Pakistan. Many history theme trails can be created and the city can be the centre of a multicultural celebration and resource centre for scholars, students and tourists. At the moment at both national and provincial levels officially sponsored conservation of historic urban landscapes has not been done. This paper will suggest ways of involving regulations, public participation, documentation of written and oral histories, conservation incentives, new design guidelines and addressing intangible heritage together with architectural conservation. Educating locals, especially children, about their heritage is important. One major aim of the conservation planning will be to link different histories and separated communities. People outside the country who had been residents of the area and those who are interested in the theme of Hindu history and architecture can become supporters of conservation and tourism, and should be contacted as stakeholders.

Currently tourism in the area is absent due to little knowledge among people about the area as well as security concerns. But documentation, legislation and conservation planning can be initiated at the moment and in the long term tourism can also be attracted.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA