Planning for the historic built in developing countries: Challenges and opportunities through the case study of Multan (Pakistan)

Abstract

Since 2010 the Authors have been involved, on behalf of your department, in different tasks of the multidisciplinary project “Sustainable Social Economic and Environmental Revitalization of the historic core Multan City”, financed by funds from the Pakistani-Italian Debt for Development Swap Agreement and governed by a Consultancy Services Agreement signed between the Foundation Polytechnic of Milan and the Ministry of Housing and Works of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Multan, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the Asian subcontinent and the sixth largest within the boundaries of Pakistan, is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District with a population of over 3.8 million. The general objective of the project is the promotion of the old town of Multan by valorizing its historical, architectural and cultural heritage. The proposed program aims to develop a pilot model in conservation by urban renewal and infrastructure improvement accepting culture and history as common human heritage and as tool to development based on approach of global and local citizen participation and public and private partnerships. Specifically, the Authors have worked on the tasks of the guidelines for the preservation of historic buildings within the walled city and Musafar Khana Complex at the Musa Pak Complex preservation project, including the Pakistan Italia Resource Centre design. The experiment, with complex objectives and focused on an urban scale and not on single buildings, in fact allowed to make some reflections about the preservation of cultural heritage in developing countries, despite the differences of cultural contexts.