Like a precious old treasure, lost and almost forgotten, Lahore’s medieval walled city, a labyrinth of alleyways and bazaars, has suffered so much neglect that decay has nearly consumed it.
Now the first serious conservation project is about to begin, to restore a tiny portion of a once grandiose metropolis and seat of power, where Mughal princes, poets and courtesans mingled in the shadow of the royal fort and colossal Badshahi mosque just beyond its walls.
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Masood Khan, of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, advising on the restoration, said that truck and bus terminals on the edge of the old city were choking it with pollution and traffic to serve the factories, warehouses and markets within. Those transport hubs would have to be moved as part of any serious attempt to save the old city.
“There has been a complete abdication of municipal responsibility,” said Khan. “Commerce has expanded like a cancer and eaten into the historic fabric.”