RESIDENTS: THE HEART OF THE WALLED CITY

A LIVING CITY

The Walled City of Lahore is a living city. It’s a breathing being that grows and develops, inhales and exhales, wrinkles and ages, alongside its inhabitants.

RESIDENTS: THE HEART OF THE WALLED CITY

The residents of the Walled City grew up from playing hockey in their adolescence within the narrow alleyways to playing board games and smoking hookah on tharas (stoops on footpaths) of their neighborhoods. They found food, shelter, family, livelihood, romance, and an ethereal sense of community within these invisible walls of the Old Lahore.

Historically, the Walled City constituted essentially a largely residential land-use and was organized into administrative zones called guzars (the principal thoroughfares that led in from the entrance gates). Each guzar was informally organized into mohallas (neighborhoods), galis (streets), and kuchas (dead ends). These created a hierarchical network of circulation spaces, creating security, social privacy, and quietude. These residential neighborhoods, forming a unique urban ensemble, have housed some of the locals for generations and promoted a strong bond of brotherhood, culture, and a sense of community (AKCSP 2018).