Environment and Urbanization 2009 Ezdi 477 500
Environment and Urbanization 2009 Ezdi 477 500
Environment and Urbanization 2009 Ezdi 477 500
com/
The dynamics of land use in Lahore inner city: the case of Mochi Gate
Rabia Ezdi Environment and Urbanization 2009 21: 477 DOI: 10.1177/0956247809342776 The online version of this article can be found at: http://eau.sagepub.com/content/21/2/477
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The dynamics of land use in Lahore inner city: the case of Mochi Gate
RABIA EZDI
Rabia Ezdi holds a BA in Architecture from the National College of Arts, Lahore, an MSc in Urban Management and Development from the Institute for Housing & Urban Development Studies (IHS), Rotterdam, and a diploma in Land Management and Informal Settlement Regularization, also from IHS. She has been a research associate with the Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Institute and the Urban Resource Centre, Karachi, since 2002, and has been a freelance journalist in Pakistan since 2000. She currently works as an independent researcher in the eld of urban development, with a particular interest in equitable development and the needs of lowincome communities, and also teaches urban design and sustainability at the National College of Arts, Lahore. Address: 72-DD, DHA, Phase-4, Lahore, Pakistan; e-mail: [email protected] 1. Lynch, Kevin (1984), Good City Form, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 455 pages.
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the dynamics of land use in the inner city of Lahore, based on a study of the Mochi Gate locality in particular. This includes a description of the evolution and transformation of the area over time and its development into a successful centre for wholesale, small-scale manufacturing and support services, much of which is based in informal enterprises. Principles of land use organization that lead to the successful commercial functioning of the area include strategic location, close physical proximity between rms, and a clustering of similar trades. Paradoxically, while the area is an important pillar in the city economy, it also suffers from symptoms typical of inner-city decay such as acute trafc congestion, dilapidated infrastructure, out-migration and a general deterioration of the built fabric. To date, attempts to address causes of decay have been fragmented and have failed to understand and incorporate key local actors, systems and processes. In so doing, this has also risked disrupting a major economic node in the city that provides livelihoods for a large low-income population. The paper argues that any attempt towards a successful upgrading of the area must be rooted in an understanding of these existing local systems of operation and organization. KEYWORDS actors / existing system / function / inner-city decay / land use / successful upgrading
I. INTRODUCTION
Cities can be celebrated as a manifestation of civilization and a stage for revolution, emancipation and culture. But they are also a ground for conict, injustice and strife or, in the words of Lynch a great place, a release, a new world and also a new oppression.(1) When governments are unable to provide equitably, people are left with no choice but to fend for themselves. Needless to say, it is the poor who are rendered most vulnerable in this scenario, typical of the worlds low-income nations. And so it is that by default, low-income groups with relatively little power organize for themselves systems of survival within existing land and labour markets, and in the end not only live and work in the city but also make a great and largely unacknowledged contribution to it economically, spatially and socially. Pakistan is a federation of four provinces. Lahore is Pakistans second largest city and is the capital of the countrys most populous province, Punjab. Most cities have an older nucleus from which the city has originated
Environment & Urbanization Copyright 2009 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Vol 21(2): 477500. DOI: 10.1177/0956247809342776 www.sagepublications.comMay 11, 2012 Downloaded from eau.sagepub.com by guest on
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and grown spatially. In Lahore, this nucleus is the eleventh century Walled City surrounded by the areas that developed in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and that today form the inner-city core. Over the past several decades, the Walled City, along with developments on its surrounding Circular Road, has emerged as the major commercial centre for Punjab.(2) While traditionally, the Walled City was an organized mix of largely residential and related uses, there has been a major transformation of its urban and social fabric through intensifying commercial activity over time. The area now shows symptoms typical of inner-city decay, such as a deteriorating infrastructure, residential out-migration, a dilapidation of the built fabric and commercial congestion. Paradoxically, however, while there is apparent decay in the area, an invisible order is in place. It may not be ideal or just, but its existence cannot be denied,(3) as the area not only plays a central role in the daily functioning of Lahore(4) but is also critical to provincial and national markets. While both government and citizens generally acknowledge that Lahore inner city is suffering from decay, interventions and upgrading approaches in the past have been unable to arrest the process of deterioration. One reason for this is that government approaches to solving the Walled Citys problems have been fragmented and have lacked a holistic view of issues, local systems and operating processes, and of the relationships of the area with the wider city. Major government studies and programmes for the Walled City include the Lahore Urban Development and Trafc Study (19791981), the Walled City Conservation Plan (1986) and the Sustainable Walled City Project (2006). As Vandal(5) pointed out, a major shortfall of the Walled City Conservation Plan (WCCP) was that it focused on physical and architectural solutions, but lacked local participation and an understanding of local socioeconomic processes both in its conception and implementation. According to Kron,(6) the WCCP also began restoration work prematurely, before active degradation was slowed down or stopped. The more recent Sustainable Walled City Project again views the city primarily as an historical and architectural artifact, and overlooks its integral urban and commercial functions. In recent years, the Punjab Department of Archeology has also spoken of plans(7) to shift the general bus stand, remove industrial units and close off a section of Circular Road in response to damage being caused to heritage sites by air pollution. These plans exemplify a heritage conservation approach criticized by some as museumication.(8) Furthermore, despite the absence of in-depth research, discussions within the bureaucracy about the relocation of the Walled CityCircular Road wholesale market are commonplace. A current prospect considers the relocation of the market to a newly constructed trade centre at Jauhar Town.(9) In 2004, the government announcement of plans to relocate the Walled Citys Akbari market(10) to a faraway location was met with major resistance by traders, which led to the plan being cancelled. The governments failed attempt in 1988 to shift the areas freight terminals(11) to Bund Road, three kilometres from the Walled City, was another demonstration of shortsightedness; faced with a highly impractical separation from the wholesale market, transporters shifted back to original locations on Circular Road within a few months.(12) Despite government investment in studies and projects over the past ve decades, the inner citys continuing state of decay signals the need for the establishment of a new approach, aimed at a holistic development
2. The market serves not only the province of Punjab but also locations across all of Pakistan.
3. Qadeer, Muhammad (1980), Lahore: Urban Development in the Third World, Vanguard Books Ltd, Lahore. 4. Kron, Zachary M (1996), Conservation of the urban fabric: Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan, accessible at http://web.mit.edu/akpia/www/ AKPsite/4.239/lahore/lahore. html. a 5. Vandal, Pervaiz (1988), The Walled City conservation plan: an analysis, Pakistan Times, Times Group of Publications, September, 5 pages.
6. See reference 4. 7. Ezdi, Rabia (2006), In defense of the fort, The News, Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan, 12 March. 8. Sedky, Ahmed and Dina K Shehayeb (2002), Heritage protection: against what?, Paper presented at the First International Conference of the WPAHR-V, Alexandria, Egypt, 24 March 2002. 9. Lahores Jauhar Town is located approximately 14 kilometres from the Walled City. 10. Akbari mandi (market) is located at the Walled Citys Akbari Gate and specializes in the sale of spices, grain, lentils, sugar and oils. 11. Goods-forwarding terminals. 12. Interview with the chief urban transport planner, Punjab Department of Transport.
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13. See reference 3. 14. Mochi Gate is a locality of the Walled City, named after the original gate leading to it. 15. Finance Division, Government of Pakistan (2007), Pakistan economic performance 20062007: an update, Government of Pakistan, Lahore. 16. UNDP (2008), Human Development Report 2007/2008, Country Fact Sheet, UNDP, page 27. 17. In the previous population census of 1998, Lahores population was 5.4 million with an annual growth rate of 3.32 per cent. 18. Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (1993), Monograph of the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (PEPAC), Lahore. N.B. However, according to the 1998 census, the Walled Citys residential population was 160,734. 19. The average gure for the Walled City is approximately six times the average for Lahore (180 persons per hectare). Inter-zonal variations in densities within the Walled City exist, with the southern sectors being denser at 1,500 persons per hectare. See reference 18.
of the area and grounded in an analysis of the causes and processes of decay as opposed to merely its symptoms. In order to be successful, such a concept must be based on an understanding of the existing intricate system of land use dynamics that in fact enables the area to make its pivotal contribution to the city. Qadeer(13) argues that, in order to predict and direct any improvement, the rst task is to uncover the structure of the local social order. Needless to say, it is principally through the appropriation of land and space that people achieve their desired ends, whether livelihood related or shelter related. This paper is based on exploratory case study research, the objective of which was to formulate a conceptual basis for the upgrading of Lahore inner city. Taking inner-city Mochi GateCircular Road(14) as a sample area, the study aimed to understand the existing system by exploring the land use dynamics and operational mechanisms and identifying the gaps. Primary research began with an overview of existing land use through rapid survey, based on which actors within the system were identied and interviewed in depth. Secondary sources included archival maps and records, research papers, books and newspaper reports.
II. CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND a. The Walled CityCircular Road complex and Mochi Gate
Pakistan has a current estimated population of 165 million and an annual per capita income of US$ 925.(15) It also has a low Human Development Index ranking (136 out of 177 countries).(16) Pakistans larger cities, such as Lahore, are run as city districts and are sub-divided into administrative towns, which are further sub-divided into union councils. Lahore city district has a mayor, nine administrative towns, each with a deputy mayor, and 150 union councils with union council mayors. Lahores current estimated population is approximately 8 million.(17) The Walled City, Lahores historic core, dates back to the eleventh century according to the earliest records, is shaped like an irregular parallelogram and covers an area of 2.5 square kilometres (Figure 1). The Walled City has a current population of roughly 200,000(18) and a density of 1,100 persons per hectare, which is high relative to the Lahore average.(19) The Circular Road forms a ring around the Walled City and is one of Lahores most congested roads. Although the two localities one within and the other immediately outside the wall are distinct spatial forms, in functional terms they form a single deeply interwoven entity. The combined area is the major sales and distribution centre not only for the region but also for the country, with a mix of residential use and retail, wholesale(20) and small-scale industrial and manufacturing activity.(21) The primary area of study is located within the south and southeastern belt of the Walled CityCircular Road complex, where the wholesale market is concentrated in approximately 20 distinct clusters. In conjunction with the railway station on one side and the areas north of Mall Road on the other, this area forms an intense commercial triangle (Figure 2). The case study of Mochi Gate a locality within the Walled City known by the name of the original gate leading to it was selected from within this southern belt because of its location within the commercial
20. Wholesale and retail goods include dry fruits, grain, spices, textiles, toys, reworks, kites, polythene, paper, electric goods, household goods, etc. 21. This includes the production of both industrially and traditionally manufactured goods such as steel, metals, paper, leather, fabrics, shoes, oils and perfumes, jewelry, brasswork, etc., employing mainly manual labour.
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FIGURE 1
Walled CityCircular Road area Google Map 2009
hub.(22) Administratively, Mochi Gate falls within Lahores Data Gunj Buksh Town.
22. Other than its commercial importance, historically Mochi Gates Mochi Bagh (Mochi Garden) was the venue for pivotal public meetings and rallies until the early 1990s. Culturally, the Mochi Gate area is known for its age-old traditional sweet markets and shops and is also a religious centre for the Shiite community. 23. Mughal rule in the South Asian sub-continent lasted more than three centuries, 15261857. 24. 1947 was the year of Pakistans independence, when British-administered India was partitioned into the independent states of India and Pakistan.
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FIGURE 2
Lahore central commercial area
SOURCE: Adapted from Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (1993), Monograph of the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (PEPAC), Lahore, page 20, Figure 35.
25. The inward-looking pattern of urban spaces and street systems, punctuated by open squares and gardens, was similar to that in other traditional cities in the Middle East and South Asia. 26. The British had annexed India by the mid-nineteenth century. 27. Talbot, Ian (2006), Divided Cities: Partition and its Aftermath in Lahore and Amritsar, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 350 pages. 28. Lahore railway station is located approximately one kilometre east of the Walled City periphery.
developed around its 12 gates. Although these markets have evolved and expanded over the centuries, they are still known by their original Mughalperiod names and many continue to specialize in their original trades. In the years following the British annexation of India,(26) Lahore and Amritsar formed the administrative, commercial, educational and industrial heart of British Punjab.(27) This brought large-scale urban changes to Lahore in general and to the Walled City in particular. Its walled fortication was demolished, the Circular Gardens were laid in its place, and a circular road, forming a ring, was constructed around this. Trading activity in Lahore grew again from the 1870s onwards, when Lahore was made the trading node of Punjab. The development with perhaps the greatest impact was the establishment of Lahores railway station,(28) which set up a whole new network of functional relationships with the Walled City and created the impetus for the dense commercial triangle of which the southern Walled CityCircular Road entity are today a part.(29)
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The partition of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 brought physical, social and demographic changes as a result of the large number of migrant refugees from India.(30) Housing densities peaked in the Walled City, where vacated residences of richer Hindus and Sikhs who had ed to India were taken over and sub-divided by poor Muslim refugee families. Partition saw large-scale riots, and the Shah Alami and Delhi Gate areas in particular suffered much destruction. From 1956 onwards, the redevelopment of these areas as low density commercial strips by the then Lahore Improvement Trust was a post-partition intervention in the Walled City that had particular impact. This institutionalization of commercial activity complemented the already existing markets and set the momentum for the intensication of wholesale and retail trades. It is important to note that this commercial expansion created the demand for inter-city freight services, which mushroomed in the form of goods transport terminals in the area.(31) Gradually, other commerce-related facilities such as warehousing space, solid waste recycling services and inter-zonal goods cart operators began to locate themselves here through an organic process, leading to the conversion of residential land for use in commerce, warehousing, small-scale manufacturing and other trade-related services. By the early 1980s, the Walled CityCircular Road area had become a well-established wholesale and retail centre serving regional and national markets.(32) Weak or non-existent government regulation facilitated the proliferation of commercial interests. From the mid-1980s onwards, unfavourable living conditions, resulting from acute commercial congestion and a degradation of the Walled Citys built fabric, caused those who were nancially able to do so to shift to newer locations outside.(33) Residential space was sub-divided by emigrating owners and rented to both commercial interests(34) and poor rural migrants seeking affordable housing. Despite one-off government efforts at controlling or streamlining these land use changes, organic and incremental commercial growth has taken place within the Walled City and expanded along its periphery. According to Kron,(35) the readily available cheap labour force, business centrality of the Walled City, multiple and complex links with surrounding metropolitan commerce, as well as the relative anonymity that facilitates the evasion of much of local and national taxation, have been the main advantages for commercial interests to be situated here. In recent decades, the decline in residency and the growth of commerce have only intensied.
36. The union council has its own head or mayor who works under the town mayor, and the town mayor under the citydistrict mayor. 37. Through the Water and Sanitation Agency Lahore (WASA). 38. Through the Trafc Engineering and Planning Authority (TEPA). 39. This includes the approval and regulation of housing schemes, private construction and commercial construction.
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FIGURE 3
Mochi GateCircular Road area Google Map 2009 Development is another provincial government department with relative authority in the planning of and decision-making for the citys development projects.(40) Furthermore, a range of government departments at the provincial level (for example, the Punjab Transport Department and the Lahore trafc police) provide, regulate and manage specic urban functions. Within the Walled City, the majority of buildings are up to three storeys high. The primary or main streets of inner Mochi Gate house specialized retail outlets for toys, reworks and kite-ying equipment(41) and sweet shops. Secondary or collector streets that form the inner neighbourhoods are a mixture of upper oor residential and ground oor warehousing and small-scale manufacturing. The segment of Circular Road in the immediate vicinity of Mochi Gate has specialized clusters of polythene and dry fruit trades. The area epitomizes the dynamism and vibrancy of urban localities, where an intense mix of interwoven land uses, activities and actors is evident (Figure 4). Each land use in turn generates a chain of activities, actors and relationships, all of which are managed through a largely ad hoc but functional system. Broad land uses include commerce, residential, services and circulation each with diverse sub-uses (Figure 5). The actors with the greatest impact on land use, the areas functions and its physical
40. Sustainable Development of the Walled City Project (2006) is a proposal from the Department of Planning and Development. 41. The sale of reworks and kite-ying equipment was recently banned by the city government due to the incidence of accidents; however they continue to be sold in the area through a system of bribes (discussed later).
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PHOTO 1
Mochi Bazaar
Rabia Ezdi Shakeel Ahmed has been the owner of a wholesale/retail outlet selling toffees, candles and decoration items in Mochi Bazaar for 3540 years. The warehouse for his goods is situated in the street behind the market, with only samples displayed in the shop. He is a resident of Baghbanpura, where the manufacturing unit for his goods is also located, employing 1516 workers. Most of these goods are exported to cities of Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP). These days, a major influx of Chinese products in the market is replacing locally manufactured goods, says Shakeel Ahmed.
conditions include individuals, groups and institutions operating both formally and informally. Commerce. As a result of commercially lucrative wholesale and retail trades in the Walled CityCircular Road markets, businessmen operating here belong to upper- and upper-middle income groups. Their employees are middle- and lower-middle income shop assistants and low-income staff. Commercial land use for trade and business includes space for shops, banks, warehouses, small-scale manufacturing units, road space used for parking, road space used for the loading and off-loading of goods, and major and minor arteries used for the circulation and transport of goods. On the northbound shoulder of Circular Road, commercial units are sub-standard structures up to two storeys high and are in fact encroachments along the Circular Gardens, while commercial outlets along the southbound shoulder are mostly three- to four-storey plazas.(42) The Lahore Development Authority is responsible for the approval of all new schemes and building plans within the areas of Lahore that it controls. Although a great number of new commercial constructions on both
42. A commercial plaza is the local term for any multi-storey commercial building.
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Commerce Residence & Warehousing Informally Supplied Services Urban Amenity Recreation Circulation Parking Mosque Other Traffic Median Drain
Bank
oad
Circu
lar R
1. 2. 3. 4.
Wholesale/retail small shops Neighbourhood shop Wholesale/retail plaza a) Informal parking b) Formal parking 5. Kabari adda (waste segregation) 6. Motorcycle rental adda
Rai
lwa
yR
oad
Animal shed Hand-cart adda Rickshaw adda Loader adda Food hawker Tea stall Local eatery Mosque
15. Training institute 16. Police station a) Rang Mahal area b) Mochi Gate area 17. Mochi Bagh (Mochi Gardens) 18. Mochi Ground 19. New Mochi Park 20. Vacant plot 21. Water fountain
FIGURE 4
Land use map of the Mochi Gate research area
Circular Road and inside the Walled City are illegal, as they have not passed the Lahore Development Authoritys codes and standards, the practice of under-the-table approvals by the agencys staff in exchange for bribes is commonplace and is one cause of sub-standard design and construction. The occupancy of commercial property exists in three forms: renteroccupied, owner-occupied and puggri. The majority of land and property
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FIGURE 5
Basic land use and sub-uses in the Mochi Gate research area
owners within Mochi Gate are partition and pre-partition settlers, many of whom have moved out of the Walled City and sub-divided and rented their homes for housing and commercial use. Hence, shops and warehouses within the Walled City are mostly owner-occupied or renteroccupied. Along Circular Road, on the other hand, inuential builders with informal contacts and sociopolitical ties have constructed and rented out illegal or encroaching structures in the form of puggri. This form of ownership exists for the majority of illegal or encroached structures and is an informal system of long lease between owner and occupant, whereby the lessee pays a major part of the value of the property initially and a minor part is paid as monthly rent. The puggri system is based on trust, or word of mouth, rather than written records, and generally pertains to illegal constructions where the interests of both owner(43) and occupant(44) are conveniently met. Residency. In the residential neighbourhoods of Mochi Gate, buildings that were originally 34 storey homes have been sub-divided over the years and rented out as residential and warehouse space. Roughly 40 per cent of current land use in inner Mochi Gate is residential, while the remaining 60 per cent is commercially used space. There are a small number of families with kinship and business ties that are settled here since before partition (in 1947), while the majority are recent migrants. The latter include poor rural families and labourers(45) who have moved to the Walled City from Punjabs smaller towns and villages in search of work and cheap housing. Owner-occupied units within the area exist but are fewer, as the majority of owner-occupiers have shifted out of the Walled City, as discussed earlier. Services. A large and diverse service sector operates in the area and caters to both the commercial and residential sectors, employing a range of income groups with a majority of low-income workers While formal or state-supplied services include electricity, water supply, drainage, solid waste collection and parks, informal services that require the unofcial use of land or infrastructure also form a major land use in the area. These cater largely to the commercial sector and have developed in response to the demands of commerce and out of the enterprise and livelihood
43. The owner has constructed the illegal structure, recovered his investment and made a substantial prot through down payment and rent; thus, in case of eviction he loses little nancially. 44. The occupant or lessee has paid a large sum to the owner but, in relation to income earned through business sales, still makes a large prot. 45. Labourers have moved to the city in search of work while their families reside in their home towns and villages.
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PHOTO 2
Polythene wholesale business on Circular Road
Rabia Ezdi Faisal is in his late twenties and runs his familys polythene wholesale business at Mochi Gate on Circular Road. His father started the trade in 1987, and the shop was obtained on puggri. He is a resident of Defense, one of Lahores upper-income residential areas, and commutes to work by car. On average his daily sales amount to Rs. 300,000. Although his father previously also owned a polythene manufacturing unit, they now purchase polythene from a small factory at Bund road. Most clients are from cities outside Lahore, such as Hyderabad and even Kabul (Afghanistan). Orders are placed via telephone or in person, and payments are made online, by credit card or, occasionally, by hand. Material is transported to goods transport terminals by donkey cart, from where it is booked in the name of the client and transported to its destination.
46. An adda (literally meaning station or point) is usually an open space at a road or junction from where a service is made available. 47. A kabari adda is a junkyard used for waste sorting and the storage of recyclable waste prior to its sale. 48. From interviews with Mochi Gate residents. 49. Open drains run along the streets of the Walled City and are built of brick. Due to the porosity of the material, the foundations of buildings that run parallel are weakened through seepage. 50. A kabari buys recyclables and sorts them at the adda before selling them.
needs of the informal sector. Informal services are provided at addas,(46) and range from those providing urban transport, e.g. rickshaws and chingchis, to addas for handcarts transporting inter-zonal goods, kabari addas,(47) motorcycle rental addas and goods-forwarding truck addas. In general, residents are satised with the supply of formal or statesupplied basic urban services and social amenities(48) but are dissatised with their quality. Problems include the open-drain sewerage network that weakens buildings foundations as a result of seepage,(49) and visual clutter caused by disorganized infrastructure design and a lack of maintenance. The most pivotal informal sector service providers of the system are kabaris,(50) handcart operators and goods-forwarding agencies. Solid waste management is among the most critical services in the area, both because of the volume of waste produced by residents and the commercial
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PHOTO 3
Barkat Plaza (in the background)
Rabia Ezdi The commercial building of Barkat Plaza, on main Circular Road, is constructed on land belonging to the Auqaf Department. The owner is a member of a political party and pays rent to the department. In turn, he has given this property on puggri to traders and businessmen who occupy shops within the plaza.
sector and the complexity of its management, which involves a chain of both formal and informal sector actors (Figure 6). Within this chain, the kabari adda is an essential component an informally allocated area with an open transformable structure, coupled with rented room space for the storage of sorted recyclables. The main kabari addas of Mochi Gate are located along the areas main drain (Figure 4). While low-income workers in the informal private sector collect, separate and sell recyclables, the Lahore city district government is responsible for the cleanliness of roads and garbage containers and transports remaining waste to Lahores dumping sites. The magnitude of waste-related activity makes the Walled CityCircular Road area a major centre for recycling for the city, where recyclable materials ranging from paper and plastics to glass bottles and metals are collected from shops, homes and garbage dumps,(51) segregated and stored at kabari addas, and from there bought by middlemen and transported to Lahores recycling factories.(52) Together, the solid waste management and recycling sectors are responsible for providing income and employment to a large urban poor population. Both goods-forwarding agencies(53) and handcart operators distribute goods and hence are the two most critical actors in the functioning of the wholesale and retail trades. Hand-pushed cart services are provided
51. Waste is collected by poor informal sector workers. 52. Some recyclable waste is also transported to cities outside Lahore. 53. Goods-forwarding agencies transport goods by truck and own a minimum of 910 trucks.
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PHOTO 4
Haji Raque
Rabia Ezdi Haji Rafique is a native of Mochi Gate and the owner of the areas well known traditional sweet (mithai) chain. Senior inhabitants like Haji Rafique hold the Walled Citys unique living culture and its bhai-chara (brotherhood) in great esteem. Despite being a successful businessman and having a house in Lahores Jauhar Town locality, Haji Rafique chooses to spend much of his time at his ancestral home in Mochi Gate.
54. Other than handcarts, goods are also transported between zones by hand, animal-driven carts and rickshaws. 55. Handcarts distribute goods arriving at goods transport terminals to shops and warehouses, and goods from wholesale and manufacturing units to goods transport terminals. 56. Some destinations for goods bought at the market are as far reaching as Afghanistan.
at nominal cost by operators and are available at the informally allocated handcart adda at Mochi Gate(54) (Figure 4). While these are used for the distribution of goods within the Walled CityCircular Road complex,(55) and are operated by low-income labourers, goods-forwarding trucks distribute goods to and from across Pakistan(56) and constitute a lucrative business for goods-forwarding agency owners and a substantial income base for their employees. Handcarts ply the streets of Mochi Gate and Circular Road, forming the major bulk of trafc. Goods-forwarding trucks deliver goods purchased at the wholesale market by out-of-city traders to their respective retail markets throughout the country (Figure 7). They also transport goods arriving at Lahore railway station and dry port to the inner-city wholesale and retail markets for sale. The primary locational need of goods transport terminals is proximity to wholesale and retail shops and warehouses, as well as vehicle service stations and workshops for truck maintenance. The vast majority of goods transport terminals are clustered on the southeastern belt of Circular Road, their spatial needs being parking, ofce space and space for the loading and off-loading of goods. A major means of segregating and organizing incoming and outgoing commercial trucks from other forms of trafc on Circular Road
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PHOTO 5
Lahore city district government sanitary staff
Rabia Ezdi Siddiq and Saeen are sanitary workers for Lahore City district government. Both are residents of the nearby Sanda locality. They work every morning except Sundays and are responsible for transporting solid waste by wheelbarrow from the inner streets of Mochi Gate to the main CDGL bin on Circular Road. Once the bin is full, a CDGL truck driver is informed by wireless telephone, who then picks up the waste and transports it to the landfill site at Saggian Pull.
is time slotting, whereby their circulation is limited to between 10pm and 6am when commercial markets are closed. Both resident families and labourers need recreation. Local eateries in Mochi Gate largely serve the labour population and act as places for socializing. People take part in outdoor community games that traditionally have been played in the streets of the Walled City. A major asset is Mochi Bagh (Mochi Garden), originally an area forming the Circular Gardens and now divided into a park and playground on each side of Mochi Gate (Figure 4). These are vibrant urban spaces, frequented by people throughout the day resident families in the early morning, resting labourers and the unemployed during working hours, and children in the evening. Circulation. According to the area mayor,(57) 70 per cent of trafc volume on Circular Road and in the inner Walled City relates to the wholesale market, and trafc congestion is a grave concern. Within the narrow streets of Mochi Gate there exists a chaotic mix of commercial and residential trafc pedestrians, motorcycles, handcarts and some rickshaws. The composition of trafc on Circular Road is also broad, and includes a mix of modes,(58) speeds and destinations.
57. Interview with the mayor of Data Gunj Buksh Town. 58. Trafc modes include pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, rickshaw, handcart, animaldriven cart, cars, lorries and trucks of various sizes.
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FIGURE 6
Solid waste streams in the Mochi Gate research area Only a portion of the actual road width(59) of Mochi Gate and on Circular Road is effectively circulation space, as roads and streets serve the triple functions of circulation, parking and the loading and off-loading of goods into shops and goods transport terminals. Encroachments in the form of shop extensions onto streets and footpaths are also common.
59. Street widths in the Walled City are generally 810 feet.
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PHOTO 6
Kabari adda
Rabia Ezdi Mohammad Latif and his family are kabaris and kabari addas have existed here for well over 25 years. Kabaris buy recyclables from Mochi Gate and nearby localities, sort them at the adda and, when enough has been collected, sell them to the adda owner by weight. The owner then stores these in his warehouse and sells them to a middleman when a substantial amount has been collected, who then transports these recyclables to recycling factories on Lahores Bund Road and in neighbouring cities. Metals and paper are mostly sent to Gujranwala, bread is purchased by gujjars (animal keepers) to feed buffaloes, while plastics are sent to factories in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala. The main services required for this work are water and electricity, obtained from connections on the street, while meals are obtained from the neighbouring hotel (local roadside restaurant).
demands of market activity. As a result, conditions for residential use deteriorate. The system functions like a factory assembly line, whereby an efcient input of all parts is necessary for a functioning of the whole. Need is the mother of invention. While residential needs are supported by state-supplied facilities and infrastructure, the state plays a negligible role in the wholesale and retail trades, neither providing facilities to the commercial sector nor regulating its activities. Actors related to commerce and its support services such as businessmen and informal service workers and operators have organized themselves according to demand and business potential, and cater to their needs through selfcreated mechanisms (see below). Need is the mother of invention, and all basic needs relating to trade have been met through a creative use of available resources, land being the most pivotal of these. Examples are
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FIGURE 7
Principal ow of goods into and out of the Walled CityCircular Road area
PHOTO 7
Handcart operator
Rabia Ezdi Originally from Sialkot, where his wife and ve children reside, Mohammad Shaukat came to Lahore almost 16 years ago, purchased a handcart and began to work as a handcart operator in Mochi Gate. His work hours stretch from 8 am until 10 pm. Ours is hawai rozi (insecure livelihood). Currently a resident of Mochi Gate, he shares a quarter with six other labourers, paying a collective rent of Rs. 1,800, and visits his family once every month. Like other handcart operators, he locks his handcart at the adda every night. Occasionally, the corporation people take away our handcarts and return them only after the payment of a ne. His biggest problem is the increasing prices of basic commodities such as food.
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kabari addas, motorcycle rental addas, teashops, goods transport terminals, banks, etc. The economy of the physical propinquity of parts. The basic ordering principle of the system is the organization of land use through physical proximity.(60) Lahore inner city is a typical economy of small rms(61) in which interdependent parts are linked through current transactions, and linkages require physical propinquity with reference to the mode by which goods are being transported.(62) For example, a small manufacturing unit manufactures parts for toys and transports these manually or by rented handcart to another small rm located nearby, which assembles them. Finished toys are then transported by rented handcarts to either the areas wholesale/retail shops for sale, or to goodsforwarding terminals for out-of-zone distribution. It is also for this reason that inner-city areas such as the Walled CityCircular Road complex demonstrate dense mixed land use patterns, where competition for land and space is great.(63) Strategic location. Locational advantage, or strategic location,(64) is one of the main determinants of land use in the inner city. All commercial and related land uses are based on strategic choices vis--vis, rst, economic advantage for the enterprise and, second, the requirements of appropriate space and infrastructure for its operation. An example of this is the location of kabari addas at Mochi Gate (Figure 4), which are central with respect to the catchment area of waste collection.(65) Also, their location along the main street enables the circulation of animal-driven carts used for the transportation of segregated waste to recycling factories. Similarly, goods-forwarding agencies have located themselves strategically within close proximity of the wholesale and retail markets. With respect to strategic location for residential purposes, low-income labourers employed within the Walled CityCircular Road area prefer to reside here, as proximity to the workplace saves commuting costs. Locational advantage is of two kinds: within zone (the need for proximity between goods manufacturing units, wholesale/retail shops, goods-forwarding agencies and kabari addas, etc.); and at citywide level (the need for proximity between the Walled CityCircular Road area and the Lahore dry port, railway station, major inter-city roads and recycling factories). While within-zone proximity enables the system to function as an economic machine of sorts, propinquity of the system with strategic components on the citywide scale has enabled Lahore inner city to develop and thrive as a major trading node. Cluster organization. A related phenomenon is the clustering of land uses. Commercial land uses tend to group together for reasons of economic advantage.(66) This practice is more widespread in the smallrm economy of cities in low-income nations. Like attracts like. Similar types of wholesale, retail, manufacturing and even services such as goods transport terminals and kabari addas have located themselves collectively in groups or clusters. Not only does physical clustering support common economic and infrastructural needs but it is also necessary for informal space and service use, as consolidation through clustering protects the groups common interests. Informality and the institution of collusion. A major enabler of the informal use of land is the practice of collusion, whereby regular bribes are taken by authorities such as police and government
60. Verma, Gita Dewan (1990), Inner-city decay and renewal in India: a framework for addressing the problem, Urban Research Working Papers, Centre for Asian Studies, Amsterdam, 81 pages. 61. The small-rm economy as opposed to the corporate economy. See reference 60. 62. Because goods (prior and post sale) are being transported between these locations within the inner city via manually pushed handcarts, distances between these various locations have to be kept short, keeping in mind the physical limitation of manual strength as opposed to motor-driven modes of transport. 63. See reference 60. 64. Porter, Michael E (1995), The competitive advantage of the inner city, Harvard Business Review MayJune, page 57. 65. Mochi Gate, Circular Road and adjoining localities such as Gawal mandi (market)
66. FAO (2007), Retail markets planning guide, Agriculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations.
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67. Interview with goodsforwarding agency manager, who is also a member of the Goods Transporters Association. 68. For electricity that is not otherwise supplied through the ofcial electricity network.
69. Bribe money, once collected, is pocketed not only by junior staff but is also passed onto senior ofcials.
71. Interviews with residents and shopkeepers. 72. As such, shopkeepers are able to leave their shops unlocked when, for example, taking prayer breaks at the local mosque.
staff in exchange for allowing the otherwise unofcial trade, service or use of space. In the Mochi GateCircular Road area, bribes are paid(67) by shopkeepers to the police in exchange for allowing them to continue selling reworks and kites despite the ban by government; by owners of passenger and commercial vehicles such as rickshaws, tongas and trucks, in exchange for the use of road space for parking; by hawkers to shopkeepers for allowing them to locate their stalls in front of their shops; and by the kabari adda owner to the local authority for the use of electricity,(68) water, land, etc. These bribes, locally known as bhatta, are paid on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, depending on the nature of the service, and form a sizeable income for the authority staff that pocket them.(69) Collusion in the form of bribes is also common for tax evasion purposes and for getting ofcial approval from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for otherwise illegal construction. In the former case, ofcials declare misinformation on tax papers after payment of a sum of money; in the latter case, LDA staff ofcially approve buildings that do not meet LDA building codes and regulations. Associations and sociopolitical organization. Organization for the protection of traders common interests exists in the form of welldeveloped associations such as the National Traders Association(70) and the Goods Transporters Association. These are highly effective as semipolitical platforms for putting pressure on government to secure desired ends and negotiate common issues, and are in fact a powerful interest group in the system. Informal partnerships, networks and social support. A high degree of social monitoring exists in the area, especially within the connes of the Walled City, whereby people look out for each others security needs.(71) For example, co-monitoring of shops creates a secure environment in the marketplace, whereby a shopkeeper can entrust other shopkeepers with the task of guarding his wares.(72) Organized managerial support includes minor provisions such as the placement of water coolers outside shops for the use of all passers-by, as well as the security needs of shopkeepers such as the collective employing of a night watchman both in Mochi Bazaar and on Circular Road. Also, consolidated networks of informal service sector workers exist out of their need to protect each others common interests.
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the areas original infrastructure is in need of replacement. Sectors such as roads and trafc engineering clearly require physical and managerial upgrading. While some recent improvements, such as the upgrading of the park at Mochi Bagh and the citywide introduction of trafc wardens, are welcome initiatives by local government, the rate of physical decay in general is more rapid than the rate of physical improvements. Out-migration. Although historically, residential and commercial usage have co-existed in the area, the decline in residential use over the last two to three decades has been the result of the disproportionate growth in commercial activity as discussed above. While for migrant labourers subdivided residential units close to the workplace is convenient, the majority of resident families are either in the process of or intend to relocate to residential localities outside the Walled City.(73) The institution of collusion. Some organizational and enabling mechanisms are strengths as well as weaknesses within the system. In the absence of adequate state-supplied support and services, the institution of collusion, or bhatta, is one such case, striking a balance of convenience between informal sector workers who require the use of space or services to meet livelihood needs, and state authorities who prot from bribes. The practice subjects poor informal sector workers to a high level of harassment by police and ofcials on whose mercy they depend. Furthermore, in the view of state authorities and the formal sector in general, they are seen as an illegal community and a nuisance to the city. For the state exchequer on the other hand, not regularizing the informal sector also translates into a potential tax loss. Property ownership structures. The puggri system of property ownership, which caters largely to illegal commercial property, is convenient for both owner and lessee as it ensures benets for both. This owneroccupant relationship, however, discourages both stakeholders from investing in the upkeep and maintenance of such property, and can be seen as one of the causes of physical and infrastructural dilapidation of the areas built fabric. Loss of historic building stock. The Walled Citys historic building stock has been substantially reduced over the past three to four decades. Although in the Mochi Gate area more historic buildings remain than in other localities, only approximately 30 per cent of the existing built fabric consists of these. Increasingly, older buildings are being demolished and replaced by new structures, a major reason for which is the weakening of older structures. This is also resulting in the conversion of residential property into new commercial buildings. Shortcomings of the bureaucracy. A rich knowledge base exists within government agencies in the form of experience, research and a number of competent professionals. Unfortunately, however, the administrative climate, structure and bureaucratic processes are not conducive to using this knowledge base to nd adequate and creative solutions. Other shortcomings of the state system include a lack of coordination between government departments at the city, provincial and even central tiers, and the added drawback referred to by some government ofcials as inter-departmental rivalry. Furthermore, although ofcials may have a desire to improve environmental conditions in the Walled City-Circular Road area, an appreciation of the fundamental functional inter-linkages between sectors is lacking. This leads to awed intervention plans for the area as has been demonstrated variously in the past.
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PHOTO 8
Congestion at Mochi Gate Street
Rabia Ezdi
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processes behind those symptoms.(74) By making basic improvements that can counter decay in the area, successful upgrading and regeneration can be achieved. Successful upgrading hence involves: accepting the commercialization of the area as a natural evolutionary process, originating from the initial zonal uses and gradual interventions that have taken place in the Walled City, as well as nationally and regionally; re-organizing existing land use with reference to the integrated functions of the system at the macro level; arresting the causes and processes of decay as opposed to the conventional approach of merely eliminating the symptoms; and introducing appropriate governance and regulatory systems that secure the needs of all stakeholders.
The bureaucracy often sees the relocation of the wholesale market as a solution to symptoms of decay in the Walled CityCircular Road area. However, given the intricate web of land uses and the organizational basis of strategic locational advantage, a relocation of the wholesale market, without the collective relocation of all allied land uses,(75) would fail. Failure would imply not only severe economic disruption but also would be analogous to the components of a machine in which a dislocation or elimination of any one part results in the breakdown of the whole. On the other hand, if relocation involved the complete web of inter-linked land uses, the task would be an immense administrative and managerial challenge, and would also bear heavy nancial costs. It is therefore strongly recommended that upgrading of the area is by far the better option than relocation. As discussed above, inter-zonal trafc congestion and out-migration are symptoms of an inappropriate mix of commercial and residential land use. The diverse modes of transport choke the narrow streets of the Walled City, and a majority of vehicles are handcarts and rickshaws carrying goods in and out of the inner-Mochi Gate area. A reorganization of land use, in which warehouses currently distributed within residential areas are relocated to peripheral areas along the Circular Road, would substantially reduce the need for commercial trafc to penetrate the Walled City. The remaining proportion of goods coming into the Walled Citys retail outlets, or being transported from manufacturing units, would be less. To reduce their volume, time slotting could be introduced, whereby handcarts would only be allowed to ply the streets of the Walled City during hours when the use of streets by residents is at its lowest ebb. On Circular Road, trafc congestion is a result of a lack of parking and loading/off-loading space for goods, necessitating their encroachment onto Circular Road; also inadequate trafc planning and design, whereby local and through and fast and slow modes of trafc mix and create congestion. This problem could be solved by creating some loading and off-loading space for shops on Circular Road, for instance in the form of a service lane, introducing additional parking space in the vicinity, and effectively segregating fast and slow modes of trafc on Circular Road. On the other hand, symptoms of decay such as the dilapidation of infrastructure and the historic building stock are rooted both in the puggri system of property ownership, in which neither owner nor occupier has a stake in maintaining the buildings or their infrastructure, as well as in
75. Manufacturing, distribution, waste sorting, recycling, affordable housing for labour, etc.
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76. Studies have shown that the poor are more willing to pay taxes and are more regular in their payments than upper- or middle-income citizens. (From discussions with Arif Hasan.)
practices of collusion. It would be a political challenge for government to make any substantial effort in the maintenance, management or revamping of the area, in particular its wholesale market and its allied services, since such a step would require an acknowledgement of informality and an exposure of government involvement in the system of bribes. Despite the markets major contribution to the national and local economy, a majority of the systems functions are based on the informal use of space and services. This points to the fact that informality is merely the peoples effort to ll the gap left by the states inability to meet their needs. The state both acknowledges the system, by colluding with the informal sector, while simultaneously denying it through an unwillingness to formally accept its legitimacy. Informally supplied space and services should be legally licensed and regularized by the state. This would protect the livelihood interests of poor informal sector workers, prevent their harassment by colluding authorities, and form a large tax net(76) for the state as bribe money that is currently going into the pockets of a few would enter the state accounts and serve the many. The system provides income and employment to a large population consisting mainly of the urban poor, who are, by and large, left to their own resources in economically sustaining themselves. The safeguarding of livelihood and shelter needs of the poor must be one of the key concerns of upgrading. Furthermore, the areas living heritage is rooted in the indigenous markets of the area, the Walled Citys unique urban form, and traditional social and cultural patterns that act as social glue. These must also be sustained, as they are the true cultural heritage of the Walled City. It becomes evident that successful upgrading for the inner city requires an urban plan and development process that is based on an understanding of the dynamics of the systems land use organization (from management-related to infrastructure-related issues), incorporates the areas existing land uses with essential city-wide linkages, and is representative of the needs of the broad range of actors and stakeholders. However, more importantly, the complete success of any upgrading effort will depend on its fundamental orientation and not on management and physical interventions alone. This requires a shift in paradigm, to a new people-centred development vision that sees local actors as the key to success and engages them in all stages of development, from knowledge-sharing and the identication of issues to planning and decision-making. A transparent and inclusive development process that seeks to openly debate issues and solutions put forward by stakeholders and involves the participation of both the powerful as well as those with relatively less power in the local land and labour market, must be established. Such a process can be designed by creating systems and platforms for dialogue between local actors, planners and decision makers. Also, broad-based (as opposed to selective) regulatory and decision-making bodies can be created to ensure transparency and the representation of all interests, particularly those that are typically marginalized such as the low-income informal sector. Interest groups involved in planning and decision-making must include members of the city government, concerned departments of provincial government, and the areas actors, such as low-income workers, traders, transporters and residents. It is only by bridging the gap between those who conventionally make development decisions and those who are subject to them that equitable development can be achieved.
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REFERENCES
Ali, Reza H (1990), Urban conservation in Pakistan: a case study of the Walled City of Lahore, in Abu H Imamuddin and Karen R Longeteig (editors), Architectural and Urban Conservation in the Islamic World, The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva, accessible at www.archnet.org/library/ documents. Ezdi, Rabia (2006), In defense of the fort, The News, Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan, 12 March. FAO (2007), Retail markets planning guide, Agriculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations. Finance Division, Government of Pakistan (2007), Pakistan economic performance 20062007: an update, Government of Pakistan, Lahore. Geddes, Patrick (1918), Urban Improvements: A Strategy for Urban Works, Planning Commission Study No PP&H 21, Government of Pakistan, 51 pages. Kron, Zachary M (1996), Conservation of the urban fabric: Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan, accessible at http://web.mit.edu/akpia/www/AKPsite/4.239/ lahore/lahore.html. Lynch, Kevin (1984), Good City Form, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, 455 pages. Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (1993), Monograph of the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Ltd. (PEPAC), Lahore. Porter, Michael E (1995), The competitive advantage of the inner city, Harvard Business Review May June, page 57. Qadeer, Muhammad (1980), Lahore: Urban Development in the Third World, Vanguard Books Ltd, Lahore. Sedky, Ahmed and Dina K Shehayeb (2002), Heritage protection: against what?, Paper presented at the First International Conference of the WPAHR-V, Alexandria, Egypt, 24 March 2002. Talbot, Ian (2006), Divided Cities: Partition and its Aftermath in Lahore and Amritsar, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 350 pages. UNDP (2008), Human Development Report 2007/2008, Country Fact Sheet, UNDP, page 27. Vandal, Pervaiz (1988), The Walled City conservation plan: an analysis, Pakistan Times, Times Group of Publications, September, 5 pages. Verma, Gita Dewan (1990), Inner-city decay and renewal in India: a framework for addressing the problem, Urban Research Working Papers, Centre for Asian Studies, Amsterdam, 81 pages.
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