Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Challenges in Historically Significant Marketplaces: A Case Study of Lahore

Abstract

Marketplace (Bazaar) are key places in the existing landscape of old and traditional cities in Pakistan. But currently these bazaars are facing many problems such as encroachment, congestion and more. Baghbanpura bazaar is one of these places, it is a famous and historically significant bazaar in North-East side of the center of Lahore. This bazaar lies in Baghbanpura (living place of gardeners) which is an old place in Lahore developed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to provide the people assigned as Baghbans (gardeners) of the famous Shalamar Garden for their accommodation in the vicinity of this garden. It is full of history and culture of the people living in this area at that time which is near the rich culture of the whole area around river Ravi. The objective of this research is to identify the problems of Baghbanpura bazaar and propose the solutions taken away from different existing case studies. The crucial problems faced by bazaar is the congestion, pollution and low maintenance of things like buildings, electricity lines, sewerage, drainage system, etc. Which has its own significance as can be seen in the historical writings. The problems being facing in the bazaar are now fading the traditional and historical fabric of this bazaar which once corelate with the rich culture of this region. This research studies these problems and propose solutions for the conservation of this bazaar so that it can be saved from further erosion of its rich culture and history.