The old city is coming back |
LAHORE has always known what it is.The question, for a long time, was whether its institutions knew it too. The Lahore Heritage Areas Revival, known as LAHAR, offers a clear answer. Under Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the program commits an estimated Rs 50 billion across phased interventions, treating the old city not as a relic behind glass but as living infrastructure to be revitalized.
The precedents are instructive. Bologna restored its historic centre in the 1970s by treating residents as stakeholders rather than obstacles, a model the UN later held as a global standard. Medellín invested in public space and cultural infrastructure in neglected districts, winning the Urban Land Institute’s award for the world’s most innovative city in 2013. Istanbul’s Beyoğlu corridor was transformed through pedestrianization, anchoring Turkiye’s $46 billion heritage tourism economy. George Town in Penang, earning UNESCO........