THE WALLED CITY OF AHMEDABAD

PROPOSING A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR THE CONSERVATION AND MAINTENANCE OF POL

HOUSES THROUGH ANALYSIS OF THE ROLES OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS

Nilika Nipambhai Mistry

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

Master of Science in Historic Preservation

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Columbia University
May 2018
Nilika Mistry | [email protected]
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

To cite this publication:

Mistry, Nilika, “The Walled city of Ahmedabad: Proposing a new framework for the conservation and
maintenance of pol houses through analysis of the roles of different stakeholders” (Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, 2018).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Carol Clark, for her incredible
support and guidance throughout the entire process of this research. Your attention to detail and
insistence to keep going deeper has opened my mind to the wide range of possibilities that
historic preservation offers to the society. Most of all, your belief in me always kept me going
strong.

I am extremely grateful to my readers – Prof. Carolina Castellanos and Prof. Chris Neville. Your
comments and suggestions have broadened my view on the ways to use heritage as a tool for
the socio-economic development of the communities.

A special thanks to my friends and family who accompanied me in the interviews with the owners
in the Walled City of Ahmedabad. Together we were able to collect far more data than what I
could have gathered alone. Your support and patience are highly valued and appreciated.

I would also like to express my gratitude to my friends and classmates. Jalpa Patel, for proof-
reading my work. Cece, Adam and Erik, for talking to me about the challenges you were facing
along the way and being terrified with me. Justin, for being the goal to be as efficient as you.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family for giving me the opportunity to come and study in
Columbia University, and motivating me to always follow my dreams. A special thanks to my
partner, Adhish Patel, for always being there for me and giving me tips and tricks to save time.

I
TABLE OF CONTENTS

..................................................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Rationale ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.3 Research Objectives ........................................................................................................... 6
1.4 Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 6
....................................................................................................................9
2.1 Urban History of the Walled City of Ahmedabad ............................................................... 10
2.2 Pols and the Pol Houses: History ...................................................................................... 11
2.3 Pols and the Pol Houses: The Context and the Scenario ................................................. 12
2.4 Pols and the Pol Houses: The Culture and the Community .............................................. 17
2.5 Pols and the Pol Houses: Existing Governance ................................................................ 20
2.5.1 Ownership................................................................................................................................. 20
2.5.2 Existing Governance ................................................................................................................. 21
..............................................................................................................25
3.1 Literature study.................................................................................................................. 26
3.2 Field Visit ........................................................................................................................... 38
3.3 Identifying the Stakeholders .............................................................................................. 40
.......................................................................................................................45
4.1 Observations of the pols in a physical setting ................................................................... 46
4.1.1 Streetscape and context ........................................................................................................... 47
4.1.2 Issues in the planning of pol houses. ........................................................................................ 49
4.1.3 Destruction due to the nomination for World Heritage List ..................................................... 50
4.1.4 Deterioration in the pol houses ................................................................................................ 51
4.2 Interviews with different stakeholders ............................................................................... 53
4.2.2 Interview with Restoration Specialists ...................................................................................... 56
4.2.3 Interview with the City Officials ................................................................................................ 58
4.2.4 Interview with the Developers/Investors/NGOs ....................................................................... 59
.......................................................................................................................63
5.1 Pols and the Pol Houses: Assessing the significance of the values. ................................ 64
5.2 Factors affecting the pols .................................................................................................. 68

II
 5.2.1 Physical issues associated with the pol houses......................................................................... 69
5.2.2 Social Issues .............................................................................................................................. 71
5.2.3 Planning and Policy ................................................................................................................... 74
5.2.4 Infrastructure and Services ....................................................................................................... 77
5.2.5 Environmental Effects ............................................................................................................... 78
................................................................................................................81
6.1 Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn, Estonia ................................................................ 83
6.2 Hoi An Ancient town, Vietnam ........................................................................................ 88
6.3 Old City of Yangzhou, China ............................................................................................. 94
....................................................................................................................105
7.1 Vision............................................................................................................................... 112
7.1.1 Conservation Policy ................................................................................................................ 113
7.1.2 Socio-economic Development Policy ...................................................................................... 116
7.1.3 Integration and Educational Policy ......................................................................................... 117
7.1.4 Urban Planning and Heritage Policy ....................................................................................... 119
7.2 Proposed Governance Framework ................................................................................. 120
7.2.1 An Intermediary Agency ......................................................................................................... 121
7.2.2 Actions by Government .......................................................................................................... 127
7.3 Strategy Development ..................................................................................................... 129
................................................................................................................136

III
ABBREVIATIONS

CEPT: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology

AMC: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
ASI: Archaeological Survey of India
GOG: Government of Gujarat
TDO: Town Development Office/r
AUDA: Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority
CRUTA: Conservation and Research of Urban Traditional Architecture
HUDCO: Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd
GDCR: General Development Control Regulations
TDR: Tradable Development Rights
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
CHC: City Heritage Centre
MHT: Mahila Housing Trust
SEWA: Self-Employed Women’s Association
CER: Collegium Educationis Revaliae
GTZ: German Technical Cooperation
CAP: Community Action Planning
iYET: international Yangzhou Experts Team
YFCC: Yangzhou Famous City Company
OCO: Old City Office

IV
LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 8. WOMEN WASHING CLOTHES ON THE ENTRANCE PLINTH .............................................................................................16

FIGURE 9. A CLOTHES BUSINESS ON THE FIRST FLOOR AND HOME ON THE SECOND FLOOR................................................................16
FIGURE 10. THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE VALUE ASSESSMENT PROCESS BY GETTY INSTITUTE ...........................................................64
FIGURE 11. MAP OF DHAL NI POL WITH HERITAGE GRADE VALUE ...............................................................................................46
FIGURE 12. KEY MAP OF DHAL NI POL, AND LEGENT OF THE HERITAGE GRADE VALUE .....................................................................46
FIGURE 13. A TEAM OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS STANDING AT THE ENTRANCE OF DHAL NI POL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INTERVIEWS WITH THE
OWNERS.................................................................................................................................................................47
FIGURE 14. A SMALL PUBLIC SQUARE WITH TEMPLES SHOWING UNCLEAN STREETS ........................................................................47
FIGURE 15. POL STREETS SHOWING LACK OF PARKING SPACE .....................................................................................................48
FIGURE 16. UNCLEAN POL STREETS ......................................................................................................................................48
FIGURE 17. NO OPENINGS IN THE KITCHEN OF A POL HOUSE ......................................................................................................49
FIGURE 18. DINING SPACE WITH NO OPENINGS IN THE SPACE ....................................................................................................49
FIGURE 19. A HOUSE THAT HAD HERITAGE VALUE STRIPPED OFF OF ITS HISTORIC FACADE AFTER THE CITY WAS NOMINATED IN THE WORLD
HERITAGE LIST .........................................................................................................................................................50
FIGURE 20. ANOTHER HOUSE WHICH HAD A HERITAGE VALUE THAT WAS CONVERTED INTO AN APARTMENT BUILDING ..........................50
FIGURE 21. A SKEWED SECOND FLOOR FACADE OF A POL HOUSE ................................................................................................51
FIGURE 22. STRUCTURAL CRACK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BALCONY AND HEAVY SOILING .................................................................51
FIGURE 23. LOSS OF HISTORIC DOOR IN AN ABANDONED POL HOUSE...........................................................................................52
FIGURE 24. LOSS OF WINDOW PANELS ..................................................................................................................................52
FIGURE 25. INTERVIEWING THE TENANTS AND OWNERS OF A POL HOUSE WITH A HERITAGE GRADE VALUE..........................................53
FIGURE 26. INTERVIEWING AN OWNER .................................................................................................................................54
FIGURE 27. INTERVIEWING AN OWNER .................................................................................................................................54
FIGURE 28. OWNER OF THE POL HOUSE WITH HIGHEST HERITAGE VALUE TALKING ABOUT LACK OF TRAINED WORKERS FOR RESTORING THEIR
MOSAIC FLOORING ...................................................................................................................................................69
FIGURE 29. OLD TOWN OF TALLINN, ESTONIA........................................................................................................................83
FIGURE 30. STREETS OF OLD TOWN OF TAALLINN ...................................................................................................................83
FIGURE 31. LOCATION OF TALLINN ......................................................................................................................................84
FIGURE 32. LOCATION OF HOI ANCIENT TOWN, VIETNAM ........................................................................................................88
FIGURE 33. HOI AN TOWN .................................................................................................................................................88
FIGURE 34. STREET VIEW OF HOI AN ANCIENT TOWN ..............................................................................................................89
FIGURE 35. LOCATION OF YANGZHOU, CHINA ........................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 36. HISTORIC HOUSES OF THE OLD CITY OF YANGZHOU ..................................................................................................95
FIGURE 37. POSTER OF THE 4 DAY WORKSHOP WITH THE COMMUNITY .......................................................................................99
FIGURE 38. STAKEHOLDER MEETING.....................................................................................................................................99
FIGURE 39. DESIGN MODELS FOR THE OWNERS TO FOLLOW AS THEIR INCOME CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE .........................................100
FIGURE 40. RENOVATED COURTYARD .................................................................................................................................101
FIGURE 41. RENOVATED TOILET AND KITCHEN ......................................................................................................................102
FIGURE 42. RENOVATED FACADE OF THE HISTORIC HOUSES .....................................................................................................102
FIGURE 43. SCENARIO PLANNING AND BRAINSTORMING PROCESS FOR DESIGNING POLICIES ...........................................................111
FIGURE 44. SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT TO REACH THE VISION ...................................................................................................112
FIGURE 45. CONSERVATION AND INCENTIVES FOR CONSERVATION ARE INTERDEPENDENT .............................................................113

V
Abstract
The Walled city of Ahmedabad is the oldest portion of the Ahmedabad city in the state of Gujarat in India,
established in 1411 A.D. on the eastern bank of Sabarmati river. The Walled City of Ahmedabad comprises
of centuries-old vernacular houses constructed initially to withstand battles. The houses built in the city
were organized in dense neighborhoods consisting of a set of dead-end streets entered through a single
gateway. The gate into the neighborhood could be closed for security and each house could store its water
and grains. These neighborhoods are called pols, and the houses in these neighborhoods are called pol
houses. These houses are thriving today with day-to-day life and carry with them the history worth of six
centuries. These houses are the reflection of the city and should be preserved and maintained so that the
heritage of the city keeps living.

Over the years, the condition of these pol houses has deteriorated, and many of these historic houses are
dilapidated. The city is losing many of these houses because of changes in the economy, problems in
regulations and policies, social problems and lack of awareness. This thesis aims to study the different
factors and stakeholders responsible for the deteriorating conditions of the pol houses, and analyze the
obstacles hindering the conservation and maintenance of these houses. The research process includes a
site visit, examining a selected pilot project - Dhal ni pol, one of the 600 pols in the city, which has 80 pol
houses under the local government body’s protection. The site visit comprises of interviews of
stakeholders of the pol houses – owners, developers, restoration architects, and government entities, to
understand the complexity of the dynamics between these stakeholders, and the challenges and dangers
the pol houses are facing today. The thesis proposes policies that would contribute in addressing the
factors affecting the conditions of the pol houses. It also proposes a co-management public-private
framework and strategy for the better execution and monitoring of the policies.

VI
There is an urgency to develop a critical culture in which heritage is approached and
understood as a dialogue between past and present: heritage must belong to the
present in the same measure as it belongs to the past. Heritage is about the present,
it lives in the present and is received, practiced and consumed by people today.1

BEMIS, 2011

1.1 Introduction

The Walled City of Ahmedabad is the oldest portion of Ahmedabad, which was

established in 14th Century A.D in the state of Gujarat in India. Over the centuries, several rulers

invaded the city, influencing the city’s culture, history and architecture. The Walled city is

comprised of structures influenced by several dynasties, i.e. Sultanate rule, Mughal rule, Maratha

rule, and the British rule until the country gained its independence in 1947. The houses in the

Walled city were designed to protect the people during the battles between the different

dynasties. These houses were organized in dense neighborhoods consisting of a set of dead-end

streets entered through a single gateway. The gate into the neighborhood could be closed for

security and each house could store its water and grains. These neighborhoods are called pols,

and the houses in these neighborhoods are called pol houses. The Walled city carries with it the

evidence of all these prior rulers in the architecture of its monuments and the pol houses, and it

is of utmost importance that this unique heritage of the city is preserved. Based on these

1
New Perspectives On Heritage: A Route To Social Inclusion ..,
http://bemis.org.uk/docs/new_perspectives_on_heritage.pdf (accessed April 01, 2018).

2
attributes, the Walled City of Ahmedabad was inscribed on the World Heritage list in July 2017.

It was inscribed on the World Heritage List under criteria (ii) and (v).2 3

The significance of the city lies in the way it was planned to protect the people during

battles - the single-way entry and exit, secret passages in each pol leading to other pols for a

quick escape, and underground water tanks and storage space enough to store grains and water

during the battles. The pol houses are made of wooden posts and beams with an infill of bricks

and lime mortar. Some of the most noteworthy features of a typical pol house are the central

courtyard, carved doors and windows, ornamentations and the planning of the houses.

The pols and the pol houses have evolved through time by the changing needs of the

communities living there. The changes are in the form of new construction materials and

techniques, introduction of modern amenities like vehicles, WIFI, parking spaces and the

increasing need for privacy among the younger generations. These have adversely affected the

pol houses causing them to deteriorate with time. This continuous deterioration is not being

maintained regularly leading to devastating results on the pol houses today. Many pol houses are

in decaying state, while some have turned into ruins.

2
Criteria (ii) - to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of
the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.
Criteria (v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is
representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has
become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
3
Celebrating Ahmedabad’s World Heritage Inscription .., http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-
view/news/celebrating_ahmedab (accessed April 01, 2018).

3
 The lack of conservation and maintenance of these pol houses is due to the lack of action

by the stakeholders responsible for this heritage. The roles and the responsibilities of these

stakeholders, associated with the pol houses, are undefined and unidentified. This issue has

caused severe gaps in the communication between the stakeholders as well as the steps taken

towards the conservation of the Pol houses.

1.2 Rationale

Pols are the representation of the culture and traditions of the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

Pols are where the roots of the city lie. The significance of the pols is not just in its architecture,

but the culture, tradition and lifestyle it represents. Even today, the life in pols continues to thrive

as it always has throughout the centuries. Hence, it is imperative to preserve these structures

and neighborhoods.

“A values-based approach focuses on the values that society, consisting of various stakeholder
groups/interest groups, ascribes to heritage. A value can be defined as ‘a set of positive char-
acteristics or qualities,’ while a stakeholder group/interest group is ‘any group with a legitimate
interest in heritage.”

The approach of the preservation field is continuously evolving. The approach that once

used to be materials-based has now evolved into a values-based approach. 4 It is necessary to

understand that the responsibility towards the preservation of the pol houses is not just of the

4
Poulios, I 2014 The Past in the Present: A Living Heritage Approach – Meteora, Greece. London:
Ubiquity Press. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/bak

4
owners of the houses. It is of the several stakeholders associated with them. Identifying and

analyzing the gaps between the roles and the responsibilities of the stakeholders is the first step

towards devising a strategy for the preservation of the pol houses.

A values-based approach tries to engage the whole range of stakeholder groups early on and throughout
the conservation process, and resolve conflicts that inevitably arise between them assuring subjectivity
and equity of conflicting stakeholders and different values

Mason and Avrami 2002, 19−23; De la Torre 2005, 4−8; Demas 2002, 49

Understanding the type of values that the stakeholders ascribe to the pol houses can

contribute to an educational dialogue between the conflicting stakeholders. Today, more focus

is given to this value-based approach and promoting the use of heritage as a social, economic

and political tool. Despite that, there are many places where the process of conservation has

become stagnant and is not a priority.

The preservation approach in the Walled City of Ahmedabad is top-down. The policies,

incentives and regulations are laid down by the local government, and the owners of the Pol

houses are expected to abide by them for the benefit of the heritage. Because of the poor

economic condition of the people living in the pols, their priority is not the heritage of the city.

The communication gap between the communities of the Walled City and the local government

has led to the lack of understanding in the roles of stakeholders and the resulting lack of action

towards the conservation and maintenance of the heritage. This situation demands immediate

action towards finding solutions to solve the communication gap between the people and the

government which in turn could lead to proper conservation of the pols and pol houses.

5
1.3 Research Objectives

The primary objectives of the thesis are:

- Understanding the current scenario of the pol houses

- Identifying the stakeholders

- Observing pol houses in the Walled City of Ahmedabad

- Analyzing the role of various stakeholders affecting the situation about the pol

houses

- Providing proposal that facilitates the conservation and maintenance of the pol

houses.

1.4 Methodology

The thesis begins with the archival and historic research of the Walled City of Ahmedabad

to understand the urban history of the city, the past preservation efforts made towards the

conservation of the pol houses, the social history and the architecture of the pol houses. The

literature research includes the assessment of the significance of the values associated with the

Pol houses, the culture and the lifestyle of the pols and its importance in the life of communities.

The thesis further aims to understand the situation responsible for the lack of

conservation and maintenance of these houses by analyzing the roles of the stakeholders

6
through their interviews and site observations. The analysis breaks down the situation leading to

the deteriorating pols and the pol houses into factors organizing them into categories.

This analysis, in addition to different case-studies, would help in proposing a new

framework that would facilitate improvement in the preservation practice in the Walled City of

Ahmedabad. The proposal aims towards using the heritage as an invaluable resource for the

socio-economic development of the people of the pols.

7
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8
9
2.1 Urban History of the Walled City of Ahmedabad

The history of Ahmedabad begins in the eleventh century. The Solanki King Karandev I,

the ruler of Anhilwara (modern-day Patan) waged war against the Bhil King Ashaval. After his

victory, he established a city called Karnavati on the bank of Sabarmati river at the location of

the current city of Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat. The Solanki rule lasted until the thirteenth

century when Gujarat came under the control of the Vaghela dynasty of Dwarka.5 Ahmad Shah-I

laid the foundation of Bhadra Fort, the first bastion of the city in 1411. He also established the

first public square in the city, Manek Chowk. The grandson of Ahmed Shah, Mahmud Begada

fortified the city with an outer wall, 10 km in circumference, which consisted of twelve gates, 189

bastions and over 6000 battlements to protect it from foreign invasion.6 It was during this time

that the residential settlements were designed to protect the people of the city. The Mughal

emperor Akbar then conquered Gujarat in 1573.

During the Mughal reign, Ahmedabad became an important center of trade, mainly in

textiles, which were exported to as far as Europe. The city was later captured by Maratha

generals, Raghunath Rao and Damaji Geekwad, in the years 1753, and the city came under the

rule of Maratha dynasty. A famine in 1630 and the power struggle between the communities of

the two generals, eventually led to the destruction of many parts of the city. The British East India

5
"AHMEDABAD CITY GUIDE." History of Ahmedabad - Ahmedabad City Guide. Accessed April 02, 2018.
http://www.ahmedabadguide.com/History.aspx.

6
"Ahmedabad History." Ahmedabad History - Origin & History of Ahmedabad - History of Ahmedabad India.
Accessed April 02, 2018. http://www.ahmedabad.org.uk/history.html.

10
Company took over the city in 1818 as a part of the conquest of India. A military cantonment and

a municipal government were established in 1824 and 1858 respectively. In 1864, a railway link

was established between Ahmedabad and Bombay, making Ahmedabad a critical junction in the

traffic and trade between the northern and southern India. Many people migrated from rural

areas to work in textile mills, making Ahmedabad a commercial hub. India gained its

independence in 1947. Following the partition of India in 1947, the city was profoundly affected

by the communal violence that broke out between Hindu and Muslims, the effects of the which

are still prevalent in the Walled city today.7

2.2 Pols and the Pol Houses: History

The town planning of the city followed Islamic tenets during the foundation of the city

during the 15th century. The residential settlements were established in a very similar manner

so that the houses were close-packed, with common walls reducing the width of the internal

streets so that people could see each other’s faces in passing. Islamic tenets advocated such

planning to promote better community associations resulting in a harmonious culture. These

aspects of human relationships were also similar in local communities of Jain and Hindu, and so

the settlement pattern was extended in the similar pattern in other communities too. The

settlements were planned such that the mosques and temples were within walking distance of

7
"AHMEDABAD CITY GUIDE." History of Ahmedabad - Ahmedabad City Guide. Accessed April 02, 2018.
http://www.ahmedabadguide.com/History.aspx.

11
 the communities.8 The entire settlement of the Walled city

was divided into different neighborhoods consisting of

dead-end streets that could be entered through a single

gateway.

2.3 Pols and the Pol Houses: The Context and the Scenario

The pol houses are made of wooden posts and

beams with an infill of bricks and lime mortar. In the 16th

century, teak wood was imported from foreign countries by

Figure 1. A pol house
the merchants in the Walled City for the construction of

their houses.9 The houses are two to three story high. The

brick walls are not exposed to weather directly but are

plastered on the interior and exterior. The basic plan of a

pol house is linear, with a central courtyard. The pol houses

share a common wall with other pol houses on both the

sides along the longer walls. The entrance of the pol house

is on a platform, also known as otla, which is a plinth with a

row of columns that marks the limit of the house on the

street. This entrance porch is used as a place for

Figure 2. A typical interior circulation in a
pol house

8
Executive Summary, Nomination Dossier for inscription on the World Heritage list, Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation, January 2016.
9
This statement was a part of a conversation with the Commissioner of the Heritage department of the
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation during the field visit.

12
 communication with neighbors; washing dishes and

clothes wherever the water is supplied through a tap on

the street; and various religious activities.10

The planning of the house does not include

designation of rooms with labels like “living room,”

“bedroom” or “dining room,” but are flexible in use. The

furniture and beddings are shifted from one room to

another with the changing family composition or to find

comfort during the changing seasons. The only

Figure 4. Central Courtyard in a pol house
exceptions in the flexible planning are the reception

space right at the entrance, also known as bethak, which

is used for visitors, the kitchen, the storage rooms for

drinking-water and grains, and the prayer room. Because

of the dense urban fabric of the Walled City, the central

courtyards in the house are very important. All the other

rooms of the house are built around the courtyard so that

they receive maximum natural light and cross ventilation.

Figure 3. Central courtyard and the area
around it In most of the houses, the size of this courtyard is about

60 to 100 square feet.

10
Ubbelohde, Susan, and George Loisos. "The Ahmedabad Pol House : Courtyard Strategies in a Hot-Dry/HOt-
Humid Climate."

13
 The semi-open (verandah) space around the

courtyard is known as parasal and is one of the most

utilized spaces in the house. This space serves as a

connection between the private and semi-private spaces

of the house. It usually comprises of a traditional Gujarati

swing, a small washbasin and a sitting space. There are

many religious festivities celebrated in this space because

of its capacity to host a large number of people. The roof

of a pol house usually varies. The traditional pol houses

have sloped roof, made of wooden trusses and Mangalore

Figure 5. Ornamentations and details on the
facade of a pol house tiles, which sheds off the rain during monsoon season,

and provides a loft space for storage. Other pol houses

have flat roofs made of cement and masonry which are

used for drying clothes or sleeping during the summer

season.

The exterior of the pol house is made of a wooden

facade with brick masonry. The walls are made up of

bricks. The shutters of doors and windows are made of

wood; sometimes they are painted with different colors.

Many traditional houses have wooden elements such as

Figure 6. Details of the facade of a pol
house columns with ornate capitals, intricately carved bands

14
between two floors, colorful and carved railings of balconies, and brackets with detailed carvings

of flora and fauna.

The streets of the pols vary in their widths. They are usually about 15 feet wide at the

entrance of a pol. Moving along, the street opens up at a public square and disperses in different

directions. The public square usually comprises of small tea stalls, snack shops, a decorated bird-

Figure 7. A typical scenario in a pol with the birdfeeder, a temple, people on their entrance doing some chores

15
 feeder, and parking space for two-wheelers. The width of

the dispersed streets is narrower than the main street.

This network of streets also opens into smaller public

squares, which usually consists of a bird-feeder and a small

parking space.

“Birdfeeders - A saint traveling from Dakor to Dwarka sat by Bhadra

Kali temple to quench his thirst. The saint was sad to see there was
no provision to feed birds and other life forms. Moved by the saint’s
lament, Babulal Modi, a grocer, built the city’s first chabutra.

Soon, the Shroff or Mahajan took up the task of building chabutras

Figure 8. Women washing clothes on the (bird feeders), chaat patthars (hollow stones) and water troughs
entrance plinth throughout the Walled City. People living in pols would donate
money or food as a profound gesture of compassion for Jeevdaya
(respect for all life forms).

In the local lore, there is a belief that after death a person’s soul
assumes the form of birds and animals. So by caring for birds, they
also care for the souls of their departed ancestors.

Chabutras also reflect a rich synthesis of Hindu, Jain and Islamic

architecture.

Most bird feeders follow a similar design: a wooden or stone

platform covered by a dome and fixed atop a tall pole. Water and
food are kept on the platform for birds to feed. Some chabutras are
as tall as 15-20 feet.”11

Majority of the pols have blackboards for various

announcements, either at the entrance or in the public

squares. As the streets go deeper into the pols, they

Figure 9. A clothes business on the first
floor and home on the second floor
become pedestrian. Some of the animals found wandering

11
"Grocer Babulal Modi Built the First Chabutra in the City." Epaper.timesofindia.com. Accessed April 02, 2018.
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Layout/Includes/MIRRORNEW/ArtWin.asp?Source=Page&Skin=MIRRORN
EW&BaseHref=AMIR/2010/02/26&ViewMode=HTML&PageLabel=60&EntityId=Ar05800&DataChunk=Ar06000&Ap
pName=1.

16
in the streets of the pols are cats, dogs, cows, and monkeys. During the day, the streets are

occupied by women of all ages doing different chores likes washing the clothes, cutting

vegetables, sewing, or just talking to each other. In the evening, the streets are occupied by

children playing on the streets. In the late evenings or night, the men of the households gather

around at the public squares for talking.

2.4 Pols and the Pol Houses: The Culture and the Community

Historically, people living in a pol were usually of the same caste and religion. The pols

were often named based on the castes residing in the pols, and the castes were based on the

occupation of a group of people carried on through generations such as goldsmith, tailor,

merchants, etc. There was no segregation of the rich and the poor, and people lived in harmony.

There were very few pols which were occupied by people of different castes. Each pol had a

temple, birdfeeder, and a well. Each pol had its council, elected by the people of the pols, called

panch. The panch managed all the affairs of the pols which included solving any disputes between

the families, gathering common funds from the people, making arrangements for different

festivals, and doing necessary repairs in the pol. If a person in a pol wanted to sell his house, it

was necessary to offer it to the people of the pols first, and then offer it to someone of the same

caste.

“When a house was mortgaged or sold, the people of the pol had a right to claim an amount of 0.5 to 2
percent of the sale proceeds. On weddings and other ceremonial occasions, the pol residents were given a
feast by the householder. Even if not of the same caste, the members of the pol were expected to attend
a funeral whenever there was a death in the pol. If the pol rules were slighted, the offender was fined and

17
not allowed to light a lamp in the house or given a feast until the dues were paid. Money gathered from
gifts, fines and the percentage on house property sales constituted a common fund, which was managed
by the council or pol panch. It was used for repairing pol gates and privies or digging a pol well.”12

There seemed to be a successful system in place for the upkeep of the pols where people

lived by rules and regulations. Most of the panch systems in the pols are no longer in operation.

Today, what constitutes as a community has changed. Along the years, as the income of people

increased, they started moving out of the Walled city in the hopes of better facilities and lifestyle.

Over the years, this led to the incoming of people from the rural areas in search of better job

opportunities. Most of the people in the pols have their occupation in the commercial streets of

the Walled City. Some of the pol houses have been converted into warehouses or small-scale

businesses. Some people carry out their business on the first floor of the pol house, while they

live on the second floor.13

In the present day, the pols are occupied by people of different income groups, different

castes and different occupations. Despite this diverse group of people living in a pol, they form a

community based on their lifestyle, culture and traditions.14 People are very receptive to the new

members coming in to live in the pols. The bond between the people develops deeper as they

share different festivals such as Diwali, New Year, Holi, Navratri, etc with each other. Since the

pol houses are organized along the streets, there is no privacy between the houses. Everybody is

12
Ahmedabad : A society in Transition (1818-1914) Chp : Ahmedabad before the British, Pg 30-31
13
Nayak, Debashish . "Getting the City Back to the People Municipal Initiative in Heritage Conservation - The Case
of Ahmedabad."
14
"Amdavadi Pols: The Doors That Still Welcome You." GoUNESCO | Go UNESCO. September 21, 2017. Accessed
April 02, 2018. https://www.gounesco.com/pols-of-ahmedabad/.

18
aware of the happenings in the pol. As a result, people feel very secure living in the pols and

develop trust and mutual respect among one another. Their similar lifestyle and their context

make them a community. Because of their shared beliefs, the people in these communities can

influence each other’s way of thinking. This power of influencing each other can be a crucial

resource that can be utilized to involve people in creating and spreading awareness about the

importance of their heritage. Because of the poor economic conditions of many people in the

pols, heritage is neither their priority nor their concern today.

The Walled City does not have many essential services like hospitals, libraries, community

centers, provisions for tourists and other similar services. However, it has many vacant pol houses

that are in a deteriorated state. There is a need to use these pol houses as a resource to serve

the people of the Walled city. Most of the people in the pols would only be invested in valorizing

and respecting the heritage if they receive direct benefits through heritage. Active involvement

of people towards preserving and maintaining the heritage can be achieved by creating a sense

of ownership among them towards heritage. The high number of vacant heritage properties

provides the opportunity to use these properties as a tool to contribute to the socio-economic

development of the people in the Walled City.

Creating awareness about the value of the city’s heritage and the scope of opportunities

that it can bring into the city can motivate the people to engage themselves to gain maximum

benefits actively. The understanding of the significance of the different values associated with

19
the pols would facilitate in creating opportunities that would garner the most attention from

people and lead to maximum integration between the different stakeholders.

Today, the preservation of the pol houses and the values associated with them is under

the authority and management of the different stakeholders associated with them. The

ownership of the structures in the Walled City and the responsible agencies for their

management, protection and conservation needs to be understood to further analyze the factors

affecting the conditions of the pol houses today.

2.5 Pols and the Pol Houses: Existing Governance

2.5.1 Ownership

The Walled City of Ahmedabad covers an area of about 536ha which is divided into

approximately 65,000 parcels of land. The city comprises of residential structures called pols and

commercial properties that are owned by individuals or joint owners. The different institutions,

public spaces and other infrastructure facilities are owned by the Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation (AMC) and other State & Central Government departments.15 Many religious

institutions are owned and managed by different community and religious trusts like temple

trusts for Hindu and Jain temples, and the WAQF board is the Islamic trust.16

15
UNESCO, Historic City of Ahmadabad, Management Plan

16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Wakf_Council

20
Some listed heritage monuments are owned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) or

Government of Gujarat (GOG). Most of them are owned and managed by the community and

religious trusts.17

2.5.2 Existing Governance

The administrative authorities for the city on different levels are:

Central Government level

- Offices of Minister of Culture

- Secretary Culture

- Director General

- Archaeological Survey of India

State Government level

- Minister of Culture

- Directorate of Archaeology

- Chief Town Planner

17
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. "Historic City of Ahmadabad, Heritage Management Plan." UNESCO.
January 2016. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1551/documents/.

21
District level

- Collector

- Elected representative to the Legislative Assembly

- Member of Parliament

City level

- Mayor

- Commissioner

- Heritage Conservation Committee

- Town Development Officer (TDO)

- Commissioner of Police Traffic

Ward level

- Elected Municipal Councillor

Community level

- Mahajan

- Pol Panchayat

- Residents committee

The nominated properties and the buffer zone are under the administration of AMC, the urban

local body under the authority of the State Government. AMC works in cooperation with

22
Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) for the development of urban policies,

framing and implementation of Development Plan and other legislative measures under the

provisions of state and central government.18

AMC’s governance structure is divided into two parts - political wing and executive wing.

The political wing: It comprises of elected local representatives under the leadership of the

Mayor. This wing constitutes of boards and committees. They are the decision makers of the

policies regarding the city.

The executive wing: It is under the leadership of a Municipal Commissioner. This wing is

responsible for the execution of all plans and policies of local government including those of

public health, sanitation, infrastructure development and maintenance, city engineering, cultural

heritage conservation and overall management.

Heritage Department within AMC is the agency responsible for coordinating, planning and

executing all tasks regarding conservation and management of cultural heritage of the city. It

works in collaboration with other administrative authorities and management bodies as well as

various stakeholder groups associated with heritage conservation and management.19

18
Ibd.
19
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. "Historic City of Ahmadabad, Heritage Management Plan." UNESCO. January
2016. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1551/documents/.

23
 This governance framework has been responsible for the conservation and maintenance

of the pol houses in the Walled City. These stakeholders have done much for the protection of

the heritage of the Walled City. Today, the Walled City is losing the traditional pol houses that

have many values ascribed to it. This increasing loss can happen when there are problems in

the actions of these stakeholders, or when there is a lack of action for the protection of the pol

houses. Extensive research needs to be carried out to understand the root of this problem.

24
25
 The thesis aims to understand the problems associated with the ongoing loss of pol houses,

lack of conservation and irregular maintenance of the pol houses of the Walled city of

Ahmedabad. The reason behind these problems can be understood through a comprehensive

research process which includes:

1. Literature study

2. Field study and analysis

3. Scenario planning

The literature study includes the literature review of the history of the conservation practices

carried out so far. It focuses on the emphasis given to the conservation and maintenance of the

pols in comparison to that of the other monuments, the difference in the restoration process of

the pol houses, and its effects on them. The field study includes visiting the Walled city of

Ahmedabad - observing a site, identifying the stakeholders associated with the pols, interviewing

them, and attending seminars on the Walled city of Ahmedabad. The data collected from the

field is analyzed to define the factors affecting the conservation of the pol houses. These factors

and the roles of the stakeholders are the main entities on which the scenario planning is carried

out to propose the final recommendations.

3.1 Literature study

There is much research available on the pol houses- their construction, their significance,

the current scenario, and the steps taken by the government towards their conservation. This

26
literature review focuses on analyzing the current conservation practices of the pol houses, or

lack thereof, by various stakeholders in the city. The literature that is reviewed includes current

government policies, research papers on the problems in the Walled City of Ahmedabad, articles

on the types of conservation practices in India and the missions and practices of private NGOs.

Several agencies have made efforts for the conservation of the Walled City of Ahmedabad

over the years. The city has introduced conservation initiatives since 1885. The initiatives then

were inclined towards preserving the fort walls of the Walled city. The conservation process,

carried out by the merchants and traders of Ahmedabad, consisted of raising funds for the “City

Wall Restoration” movement. The movement was managed by a committee consisting of

Government officials and citizens, but it was not a success, and the fort walls were not preserved.

Today, it is only the gates of the fort walls that exist, and they are monumental landmarks

through which the different parts of the city are identified.20

Concerned with the rapid decline in the heritage resources, it was in 1984 that the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) with the help of the Ford Foundation, New Delhi,

undertook a study to initiate policies for the conservation and preservation efforts in the Walled

city.21 Ahmedabad, along with the cities of Jaipur and Hyderabad, were among the first that were

chosen for this study and were provided grant by the Ford Foundation. By 1995-96, the residents

20
Menon, Shailaja. "Urban Growth in a Colonial Framework: A Case Study of Ahmedabad, 1856-1919." June 17,
2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10603/19382.

21
Urban Heritage In Indian Cities - Slideshare, https://www.slideshare.net/priyankarajani50/urban-heritage-in-
indian-cities (accessed April 03, 2018).

27
of the Walled city of Ahmedabad had started to campaign to stop the reckless destruction of the

traditional havelis in the city. In 1996, AMC invited the Conservation and Research of Urban

Traditional Architecture (CRUTA) Foundation, Calcutta, for helping it to propose measures for

protecting the city’s heritage. AMC, with the assistance of CRUTA Foundation, established a

Heritage Cell within the Municipal Corporation in 1996. With this, the AMC became the first local

government body in India to devise a Heritage Program and a comprehensive plan for the

conservation and revitalization of the Walled city.22 Over the years, the different plans carried

out by the Heritage Cell are:

 Walled City Revitalization Plan in 1997, which emphasized the need for updating the old heritage
regulations for better control in the increasing density of the new construction in the old city.
 An advocacy was introduced for the restoration of pol houses, bird feeders, city walls and gates.
 Indo-French Cooperation
 AMC and the French Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding for rehabilitation of
the Historic Centre of Ahmedabad. They jointly worked to document and create a database for
12,502 heritage properties, which were listed in 2001.
 Heritage center planned to aid and guide the owners of the heritage properties.
 AMC and French government collaborated with the Housing & Urban Development Corporation
Ltd (HUDCO) to initiate a project called ‘Enabling Communities to Invest in Heritage”, which is
India’s one of the first models for a public-private partnership to enable historic city center
preservation. HUDCO, along with the support from French Government, provided loans to
heritage house owners at a subsidized rates interest, who otherwise were not eligible for housing
loans according to the RBI guidelines, which do not provide housing loans to properties more than
15-year-old. T The Heritage Cell managed the project regarding approaching the owners and
facilitating the loan procedure.
 A new clause has been added in the General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) prohibiting
any heritage property to be pulled down without prior permission from the Heritage Cell in 2001.

22
INTACH. "Urban Heritage in Indian Cities." 2015. https://pearl.niua.org/sites/default/files/books/GP-
IN4_HERITAGE.pdf.

28
  In 2007, a new amendment was introduced in the heritage regulations, which prohibited any
development or restoration of a listed heritage property without the permission of the Heritage
Cell.
 In 2010, the Government of Gujarat appointed a Heritage Conservation Committee for the
Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), which is now guiding AMC in the process of
heritage conservation.
 Other measures include a reduction in property tax for traditional buildings and reduction of FSI
(Floor Space Index) from 3 to 1.8 to prevent high density and unplanned new development in the
Walled City.23
 In 2013, AUDA initiated a Tradable Development Rights (TDR) policy under which owners of about
1200 heritage properties could sell, transfer or lease out additional floor space index to
developers in the form of TDR that can be utilized anywhere in the city. The funds generated
through the sale of additional TDR should be then utilized for the conservation of their property.24
 In 2015, Comprehensive Development Plan 2021 of General Development Control Regulations
was proposed. Chapter 10 of the plan focuses on the Core Walled city.

It was important to mention these different conservation efforts made by the city to reflect

on the limited number of regulations introduced towards the conservation of the pol houses up

until today. While the 1997 Walled City Revitalization Plan updated the old regulations, no

evidence proves that the plan succeeded in preserving the houses. The preservation effort made

by the collaboration with the French Government did achieve its goal in the documentation and

listing of 12,502 heritage properties. While the number of listed properties in each pol is available

to the public, the database of their documentation is not. The initiative of providing loans to the

23
Urban Heritage In Indian Cities - Slideshare, https://www.slideshare.net/priyankarajani50/urban-heritage-in-
indian-cities (accessed April 03, 2018).

24
Chauhan, Ekta. "How Ahmedabad Made It To The Elite List Of World Heritage Cities ." Swarajya Read India
Right ATOM. July 13, 2017. Accessed November 22, 2017. https://swarajyamag.com/culture/how-ahmedabad-
made-it-to-the-elite-list-of-world-heritage-cities.

29
historic property owners to restore their houses by HUDCO and some other local banks under

certain conditions was a seven-year program.25 No article or documentation states the number

of properties that were restored using this property loan in this period. There is an article

“Conserving Ahmedabad’s Heritage” by Samanth Subramaniam published in 2010, giving an

example of a pol house that was one of the first to receive the HUDCO loans. Mr. Nayak, who

pushed for the law to provide a loan to historic house owners, explained in the article that 50

lakh Rupees worth of public properties were being restored at that time. He also stated that if an

owner wanted to sell his property, he could acquire Rs 49 lakh for it, which makes it difficult to

convince the owner to restore his house instead of selling, when the restoration would give him

a tax concession of Rs 6000.26 When the two statements, regarding the 50 lakhs worth of

properties being restored and the cost of 1 property being 50 lakh, made by Mr. Nayak are

observed, it seems that only one property has used the HUDCO loans. There is no information

explicitly stating the number of properties that have used this loan facility.

The Walled City of Ahmedabad has about 16,000 pol houses. Not all the pol houses in a

dilapidated state have government funds or policies at their disposal. According to the “List of

Heritage Buildings within the Historic City of Ahmedabad” extracted from a survey of buildings

undertaken for UNESCO World Heritage City Inscription Dossier in 2013, some of the historic

25
Nayak, Debashish . "Revitalizing our Walled Cities." Accessed November 22, 2017. http://www.india-
seminar.com/2003/530/530%20debashish%20nayak.htm.

26
Subramaniam, Samanth. "Conserving Ahmedabad’s heritage." Livemint. July 13, 2010. Accessed November 22,
2017. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/9r3ABC99NKGITzVPVOuEuO/Conserving-Ahmedabad8217s-heritage.html

30
residential properties and the institutional properties in the pols have been classified separately

in three grades based on their heritage value:

 Grade II-A Highest

 Grade II-B High

 Grade III Moderate

The physical condition of all the houses are categorized into three types:

 Good

 Fair

 Poor

The total number of structures (Except institutions) with heritage value within the Walled City of

Ahmedabad is 2247, with 99 in Grade II-A, 552 in Grade II-B, and 1596 in Grade III. These

structures are spread around 13 wards. Out of the 16,000 houses in the pols, the listed pol houses

under these categories are the only ones which have heritage policies available to them.

According to that Dossier, some of the findings can be briefly mentioned as follows:-

- There are a total of 1573 residential houses mentioned as Listed Properties, out of which

453 are in Good condition, 696 in Fair condition, and 424 in Poor Condition.

- Of all the listed properties, there are a total of 99 properties in Grade II/A category

(Highest Heritage Value), of which 73 are residential. Of these 73 residential properties,

27 are in Good condition, 31 in Fair condition and 15 in Poor condition.

31
 - Of all the listed properties, there are a total of 552 properties in Grade II/B category (High

Heritage Value), of which 383 are residential. Of these 383 residential properties, 124 are

in Good condition, 164 in Fair condition and 95 in Poor condition.

- Of all the listed properties, there are a total of 1596 properties in Grade III category

(Moderate Heritage Value), of which 1117 are residential. Of these 1117 residential

properties, 302 are in Good condition, 501 in Fair condition and 314 is poor.

It can be seen from the above findings that majority of the houses are in Fair and Poor

conditions, and hence, in need of conservation and maintenance. The conservation of these

houses is entirely dependent on their owners. However, there is no mention of the occupants

and owners of these properties in the surveys conducted by the AMC or in the document of the

List of the Heritage houses. Finding the owners of many houses is a challenge in the Walled City

because some owners have moved out of the Walled City, some have moved out of the country,

and some owners do not care about the conditions of the pol houses in the city.27 This has led to

a severe lack of attention and maintenance of the pol houses and caused them to deteriorate.

Without any action taken by the owners or the government towards restoring the deteriorated

pol houses, the history and the foundation of the city of Ahmedabad is bound to fall apart.

In the entire document of the Comprehensive Development Plan 2021 by Ahmedabad Urban

Development Authority, the incentive to conserve the heritage buildings has only been provided

27
Nayak, Debashish . "Getting the City Back to the People Municipal Initiative in Heritage Conservation - The Case
of Ahmedabad."

32
in one page of TDR policy, which lists the criteria to use it. The nominated Pol houses have certain

tradable FSI available to them based on their Heritage Value:28

Highest Heritage Value – 50% of total utilized FSI

High and Moderate Heritage Value – 30% of total utilized FSI
Non Listed – Nil

This is the available FSI that can be used by an owner of a pol house of specific heritage

value to utilize the TDR policy. As mentioned in the findings of the listed properties, there are

only 99 properties with Highest Heritage Value, giving them the provision to sell 50% of their

total utilized FSI. The remaining 383 houses with High Heritage value and 1117 properties of

Moderate Heritage value have the provision to sell 30% of total utilized FSI. There is no indication

of whether the amount gained through this policy would cover the cost to restore or maintain

those pol houses.

As for the implementation and utilization of the TDR policy, there have not been many

properties that have used this policy. According to a few “Times of India”29 articles, there are six

properties which have been issued the TDR certificate. These properties were awarded the

certificate when the city was under the process of nomination for World Heritage City by

UNESCO.30 The TDR certificate can be issued to the owners who have already restored their

28
Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. "Comprehensive Development Plan 2021 (Second Revised) Part III,
General Development Control Regulations." January 21, 2015.
https://townplanning.gujarat.gov.in/monitoring/documents/dps-milestone
documents/08D2728415909D1Ejxxnknu5agx0.pdf.
29
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Times Group
30
Tnn. "First TDR sale sealed - Times of India." The Times of India. October 10, 2017. Accessed November 22, 2017.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/first-tdr-sale-sealed/articleshow/61027557.cms

33
houses or who would be restoring the house through the compensation provided by TDR.

However, after talking to Mr. Rajiv Patel, the co-founder of City Heritage Center and the person

that has helped these six owners apply for the TDR certificate, it was brought up that the owners

had already restored these six properties before the introduction of the TDR policy. They were

issued the TDR certificate by the local Government to set an example for the public and reassure

the owners that they would get the money to restore their houses and thereby motivate the

other owners to use this policy. It has been four years since the TDR policy has been introduced,

but no owner has applied for a TDR certificate with the intention to use the compensation for

the restoration of their house. More analysis on the lack of use is discussed in the analysis section.

Some of the other institutions have been involved in the conservation of the Pol houses and

their methodology can be explained below:

- City Heritage Centre – City Heritage Centre (CHC) is a community-based resource centre

in the Walled City of Ahmedabad that helps the community in preserving, sustaining and

promoting their architectural and cultural heritage. The centre provides “A single window

solution” for restoration expertise, assistance in legal and financial resources as well as to

draw up economic sustainability plans.31 Their goal is to create awareness (heritage walks

and festivals), capacity building (short courses on skill development, research and

Ahmedabad Mirror. "Now, FSI trading turns tout-free." Ahmedabad Mirror. October 22, 2015. Accessed November
22, 2017. http://ahmedabadmirror.indiatimes.com/ahmedabad/cover-story//articleshow/49486705.cms

31
"About CHC." City Heritage Centre - About CHC. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://www.cityhc.org/1/about-
us

34
 documentation, creating database), heritage restoration (technical & legal aspects,

commercialize supply chains for traditional materials, cost-effective alternative

methods), and capital-intensive ventures (support owners with TDR buy-outs , tourism-

driven home stays, eateries, cafe, spa, boutiques, attracting new economy business to

inner cities).32

- Hamari Virasat, the Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) promoted by SEWA – The MHT is trying

to gather around women from Dhal ni pol to conserve heritage houses and public spaces.

Under this project, MHT volunteers are training women of lower-income groups from

Dhal ni pol to protect and preserve monuments in the Walled City. MHT has identified

100 properties, which are 100-200 years old. Ruchi Mehta, a city-based architect and a

consultant with MHT, explained that the physical restoration mainly included conserving

stone and wood carvings on doors and jharokhas of the pol houses. Other measures

include restoring facades and cantilever structures, resolving water seepage problems

and repairing basic wear and tear. As a part of the Trust’s awareness programs, women

were educated about the policies of AMC by submitting proposals of TDR for undertaking

conservation projects. One part of the funding of their project was supposed to be

available through TDR approvals, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was supposed

32
"About CHC." City Heritage Centre - About CHC. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://www.cityhc.org/1/about-
us.

35
 to provide the remaining part of the funding. So far, three proposals have said to be

submitted and are awaiting approvals.33

` These are the only two organizations that were found to be working towards restoration

and maintenance of the pol houses. While the CHC is solely focused on the restoration of the pols

through community engagement, education, economic solutions, it is primarily focussed on pol

houses. For CHC, Pol house is the object. Their goal is to make the pol houses self-sustaining by

converting them into revenue-generating institutions. One of the concerns regarding their

conservation approach is that even though they involve and engage communities, most of their

acquired and restored properties have been converted into boutique hotels, cafes and other

revenue generating functions. This makes their effort put into community engagement

insubstantial since the pol houses being restored are not open to the local community for their

use, but a tourist spot. CHC has also been involved in creating awareness about the different

policies among the community in their pilot project, Dhal ni pol, and are in the process of

convincing the owners to use the different policies and tools available to them.

On the other hand, MHT promoted by SEWA is a non-profit organization whose mission

is to build sound housing and living environment for poor women in the informal sector. Their

programs address basic civic and housing infrastructure needs, including water, sanitation, and

33
"Pol women to turn conservationists - Times of India." The Times of India. September 25, 2016. Accessed
November 22, 2017. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Pol-women-to-turn-
conservationists/articleshow/54504434.cms.

36
secured land tenure.34 For their program in restoring the pol houses, they have used the pol

houses as a resource to generate employment for women. While this program may have limited

funds, it is an example in which pol houses become a source of education, skill training,

employment opportunities and utilization of policies. This project can garner more care towards

the pol houses because the local community has a direct benefit by restoring these houses.

Because of the severe lack of institutions working towards the preservation of the pol houses,

they are in danger of becoming extinct.

To conclude, it can be said that while there are steps taken for the conservation and

maintenance of heritage monuments in the city, there are insufficient steps initiated in the

direction of the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses by the various stakeholders.

There is also a need for incentives that would cause the stakeholders to act together towards a

common goal. As can be seen in the review above, all the policies and steps taken by the different

agencies have had a very singular approach. The policies and incentives need to be addressing

different socio-economic issues impacting the people living in the Walled City. There is a critical

need to address this lack of knowledge on how the pol houses can be utilized for public benefit

before this precious heritage gets destroyed permanently.

The above claims are based on the literature research. These claims would be verified

through the field visit and analysis of the site and the interviews with the various stakeholders.

34
"Self Employed Women's Association." Self Employed Women's Association. Accessed April 03, 2018.
http://www.sewa.org/.

37
3.2 Field Visit

The initial hypothesis on the causes of the lack of conservation and maintenance of the pol

houses was the lack of awareness about the values associated with the pol houses among the

people living there, lack of awareness about the policies available to them, and lack of action by

the people living in the pols. However, it was necessary to consider that there were many factors

and stakeholders responsible for the pols. The field visit aimed to observe the current scenario

of the Walled City and understand the roles of the stakeholders through interviews to test the

initial hypothesis. The field visit included:

- Choosing a pilot pol

- Observations made in the pol to determine the conditions of the pol houses

- Identifying the stakeholders associated with the pols

- Interviewing the stakeholders

- Analysis of the site and the interviews

It was essential to choose a pol that would be representative of all the other pols of the

Walled City. However, there are 600 pols in the Walled City. A single pol could represent all 600

pols. Therefore, a pol which could provide the maximum knowledge about the current scenario

of the Walled city was chosen. The pol that was chosen as a pilot pol was Dhal ni pol. Dhal ni pol

is the second largest pol of the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

38
 According to the “List of heritage buildings (Except Institutions) within the Historic City of

Ahmedabad,” the total number of structures (Except institutions) with heritage value within the

Walled City of Ahmedabad is 2247, with 99 in Grade II-A, 552 in Grade II-B, and 1596 in Grade III.

The pol houses listed under these categories are the only ones which are found to have evidence

of the historic elements on their facade or a historic facade, as observed from the streets before

they were nominated by the municipal government. As for Dhal ni pol, the total residential

structures listed as having heritage value are 168. Out of these 168 residential structures, two

properties are nominated as having highest heritage value, 27 as high heritage value, and 139

houses as having moderate heritage value. From the above data, it can be said that Dhal ni pol

consists of houses of all the three types of heritage value. Secondly, Dhal ni pol has been a pilot

project for different stakeholder agencies to carry out their projects - a. Restoration of individual

pol houses, and converting them into bed and breakfast, museum and homestays, b. Mahila

Housing Trust (MHT) carried out surveys in Dhal ni pol to find out about the income group of

people and provide them with housing loans, carrying out different interventions to preserve the

heritage of the pol such as restoring the community well, tanka (water tank) system, etc. c. SEWA

ni haveli is a center for design for the women of lower income group in Dhal ni pol.

To sum it up, since Dhal ni pol has several residential structures with all the types of heritage

value in addition to the different interventions carried out by several stakeholders, it can serve

as the site to study during the field visit. It has the potential to provide a vast knowledge on the

current scenario in the pols, not only in the sense of observation of the pol houses but also

39
regarding the initiatives carried out by the stakeholders in the pol. Dhal ni pol also has the

potential to provide an insight into how a pol would look like if it consisted of residential

structures of all types of heritage values and the lifestyle of people in such a pol. The study of

Dhal ni pol would provide an opportunity to understand the response of people towards the

different interventions carried out in the pol and can serve as a case to learn from for the possible

future interventions.

The field visit also included a seminar and a lecture series on the Walled City of

Ahmedabad. The lecture series on heritage was part of the celebration of the city getting

inscribed in World Heritage City list. The lectures in the series included - a) Approach toward the

revitalization of old cities, b) Influence of Jainism on Heritage, Art & Culture of Ahmedabad, c)

Medieval Architecture, d) Contribution of Parsi Community for development of Ahmedabad. The

seminar that was attended was “ ’What do we do next?’: Building on Ahmedabad’s UNESCO

World Heritage Award” by Howard Spodek.

3.3 Identifying the Stakeholders

It is necessary to identify and understand the roles of the stakeholders, and how that has

affected the conditions of the pol houses to understand the problems associated with the Walled

City. The stakeholders associated with the conservation and maintenance of the pols are

identified as:

40
1. Residents
- Owners – Owners have the authority to make changes to the pol houses. They are
the ones who have the power to use the conservation policies made available by
the Government.
- Tenants – Tenants constitute a significant population of the pols. While they do
not hold power to sell the property or utilize the conservation policies provided
by the government, they are the occupants of the houses. Their use of the
property would directly affect the physical condition of the houses.
2. Government Officials
- Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation – This is the local governing body which
regulates the properties nominated in the “Listed Heritage Property” document.
This body consists of the Heritage cell which guides the owners and carries out
heritage awareness programs like heritage walks, festivals, street dramas, etc.
- Heritage Conservation Committee – This is the state-appointed committee that
assists the AMC and the heritage cell.
3. Developers, Investors, Public-Private partnerships and NGOs
4. Restoration Specialist
- Architects
- Conservation Architects
- Contractor
- Project manager

These stakeholders were interviewed as a part of the field visit. They were asked different

questions to understand their take on the condition of the pol houses and the challenges that

they face in their role. The questions in the interview were open-ended such that they would

elicit discussions and stories from the stakeholders. The interview questions for each stakeholder

were:

41
Owners and Tenants

A team of a few friends and family members were present to help conduct the interviews of

the people living in the pol houses. Only the occupants of the listed pol houses were approached

and interviewed. Of the 168 listed properties, people from 72 houses were interviewed. The goal

of the interview was to understand the methods of conservation and maintenance that the

owners of the pol houses adopted, and if they used the TDR policy that could help them

financially in the restoration of their house. The owners and the tenants were asked the following

questions:

1. Are you the owner or a tenant?

If Owner

2. How often do you need to maintain/repair your house?

3. What are the challenges you face in maintaining/repairing your house?

4. Have you considered using the TDR policy?

5. What are the positive and negative aspects of living in the pols?

6. What additional incentives do you think would help in conservation of pol house?

If Tenant

2. What are the positive and negative aspects of living in the pols?

Government Officials

Two committee members of the heritage department in the Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation and the chairman of the committee were interviewed. The questions for them

42
were:

1. How do you view the deteriorated conditions of the pol houses in the Walled city?

2. How do you believe that issue should be addressed?

3. How do you think could the TDR policy be used more efficiently?

Developers

A private developer, City Heritage Centre (CHC) and a not for profit, Mahila Housing Trust

(MHT) were interviewed to understand what their goals were, what motivated them to invest

in the pols, and the challenges that they faced while working in the pols. The questions for the

developers were:

1. What factors do you consider while making business decisions regarding investing in
properties?

2. What are your views on the pol houses as an investment?

3. How was your experience working on a pol house?

4. What are the additional incentives needed for the conservation of the pol houses?

Restoration Specialist

The restoration specialists include an architect, conservation architect, contractor and

project manager who have worked on the restoration of the pol houses. The questions for the

restoration specialists were mostly based on the challenges faced by them while working on a

43
restoration project, which were:

1. What are the physical issues that make the restoration of the pol houses challenging?

2. Are you aware of the TDR policy? How often is it used?

3. Are the available policies like TDR enough to cover the cost of the restoration?

4. What are the challenges you face while dealing with the owners of the pol houses?

5. What other incentives can be proposed for the better practice for the conservation of
the pol houses?

During the field visit, many observations were made in Dhal ni pol. Many conversations took

place with all the stakeholders. The findings from these were analyzed to determine the factors

affecting the conservation of the pol houses.

44
45
 Findings of the field visit include the observations made on the physical setting of the

pols, the opinions and answers provided by the stakeholders during their interviews and the

topics raised on the Walled City of Ahmedabad during the seminar and lecture series.

4.1 Observations of the pols in a physical setting

During the field visit, observations were made on how the pols work, the streetscape, the

context of the pol houses, the issues associated with the planning of the pol houses, and the

deterioration observed in the pol houses. These observations were made in Dhal ni pol. Dhal ni

pol is on the outer edge of the Walled City and is the second largest pol of the city.

Figure 11. Key map of Dhal

ni pol, and Legent of the
heritage grade value

Figure 10. Map of Dhal ni pol with heritage grade value

46
4.1.1 Streetscape and context
The entrance of Dhal ni pol is at the corner of one of the

busiest roads of the city. An ornate canopy of a light brown

stone marks the entrance to the pol. The entrance of the

pol opens to the main street. The main street subdivides

into branches along the way such that all the streets have a

dead end. The pol houses are aligned on both the sides of

the streets. The different local streets open up to public

squares every once in a while. These streets are wide

Figure 12. A team of family and friends enough to let two motorcycles to pass at the same time. As
standing at the entrance of Dhal ni pol to
participate in the interviews with the one moves deeper into the pols, the streets get more
owners
pedestrian.

During the day, the streets are occupied by women

of all ages doing different chores likes washing the clothes,

cutting vegetables, sewing, or just talking to each other. In

the evening, the streets are occupied by children playing

along the streets and in the late evenings or night, the men

of the households gather around at the public squares. The

Figure 13. A small public square with
temples showing unclean streets
public squares usually have bird feeders, sometimes in the

corners and sometimes in the center of the squares. The

public squares are usually busy with some people hustling

47
 by, some hanging out around the birdfeeders and vendors

selling tea and a variety of snacks. These activities during

the different times of day are a depiction of the continuity

of the culture, lifestyle and traditions carried on through the

history of the Walled City. The evolution of the streetscape

is evident in the dichotomy between the historic planning

of the city and the modern amenities such as vehicles,

modern construction, and wire cables inserted into the

Figure 14. Pol streets showing lack of streetscape.

parking space

Some of the main issues found on the streets of Dhal

ni pol were lack of parking space, the absence of sidewalks

on the streets, potholes and dirty streets. The increasing

population, and the resulting lack of parking space has led

to many vehicles being parked around the birdfeeders,

which has profoundly affected the artistic value of the

heritage structure. The visual impact of the bird feeders in

a public square has also been severely compromised. The

Figure 15. Unclean pol streets absence of sidewalks on the streets has created a

dangerous situation for the pedestrians. Since the streets

are very narrow, the chances of a small vehicle accidentally

touching the pedestrians while they are walking on the

48
 street are very high. Moreover, the streets are too narrow to

incorporate sidewalks. While this is not a big issue for the

locals, the situation is of high concern for providing safer

roads for national and international tourists. The

uncomfortable and inconvenient travel path would attract

fewer tourists, which would impact the economy of the

Walled City. Moreover, the high number of potholes and the

dirty streets could lead to an unfavorable opinion of the

Walled City. These minor issues can become significant

Figure 16. No openings in the kitchen of a
pol house
when they overpower the heritage and prevent people from

enjoying their time in the Walled City.

4.1.2 Issues in the planning of pol houses.

There are a few observations that could be made

regarding the planning of a pol house. The toilet of the

house is at the entrance, which causes a lack of privacy for

women. The toilets were planned at the entrance to deal

with plumbing lines during the earlier times efficiently.

Secondly, the kitchen in most of the houses are at the rear

end of the pol house, and hence there are no windows in

Figure 17. Dining space with no openings the kitchen. This creates significant problems in getting the
in the space
hot air out while cooking as well as technical issues

49
associated with the installation of modern appliances. These two issues are causing the younger

generation to move out of the Walled city for better facilities.

4.1.3 Destruction due to the nomination for World Heritage List

Before the Walled City of Ahmedabad sent the

documents for the nomination process in UNESCO’s World

Heritage list, the city prepared a set of documents to

explain the significance of the Walled City. One of the

documents was a map which marked all the buildings that

were historic and had historic elements on its façade.

These were marked in three categories based on their

heritage value (Highest, High and Moderate). The map was

produced in 2013.
Figure 18. A house that had heritage value
stripped off of its historic facade after the
city was nominated in the World Heritage
list
The site visit observed all the buildings that were

marked as a historic building in Dhal ni pol. Out of all the

168 historic residential properties, two buildings were

destroyed in the last four years. One house, with moderate

heritage value, was completely torn down and converted

into an apartment building. Another house, with high

heritage value, was stripped off from its historic façade and

converted into a cement building with a modern façade.

Figure 19. Another house which had a
heritage value that was converted into an
Two houses were destroyed in just one pol. If similar
apartment building

50
situation prevails in all 600 pols, the number of pol houses that could have been destroyed is

astoundingly high.

4.1.4 Deterioration in the pol houses

A general theme was observed in most of the

deteriorated pol houses. The common deteriorations found

in the pol houses were:

- Structural Failure causing the elevation to skew;

- Replacement of the historic facade with the brick

and cement façade;

- Loss of masonry wall;

Figure 20. A skewed second floor facade
- Failure in the load carrying capacity of the first floor;
of a pol house

- Structural cracks above the columns on the first

floor;

- Rotten wood in the structure system as well as

columns on the entrance plinth;

- Deteriorated conditions and loss of materials of

windows and doors;

- Soiling on the ornamentations;

Even though the list of the deterioration conditions

Figure 21. Structural crack at the bottom
seems small, the damage to the pol houses was extensive. of the balcony and heavy soiling

51
 One of the most severe issues that were found was the

skewed main elevation of the houses. Even though the

houses were visibly tilted, they were still occupied. It is a

very critical case of a safety issue that needs immediate

attention by the local authorities and the owners. Most of

the damage in vacant pol houses was structural failure.

The loss of masonry on the façade of the vacant pol houses

not only affected the visual impact of the heritage

Figure 22. Loss of historic door in an structure but also put the house in danger of being
abandoned pol house
severely affected by the outside environment. This, in

addition to the loss of shutters in doors and windows,

could further damage the house and destroy the heritage

property. The deterioration and soiling in the

ornamentations made it impossible to truly understand and

appreciate the details of the traditional historic art. This

heavy soiling and the loss of materials on the facade

severely affects the visual impact and the architectural

value of the traditional historic construction of the Walled

City of Ahmedabad.

Figure 23. Loss of window panels These were the visual observations made during the

visit to Dhal ni pol. To conclude, the primary issue is the

52
severe lack of maintenance of the pol houses and the streets. It is imperative to have the

necessary visual stimuli to feel connected to the heritage of the city, which is drastically missing

today. If these problems persist in the coming years, the pol houses are in danger of being

uprooted.

4.2 Interviews with different stakeholders

This section describes the opinions that were provided by the stakeholders in the

interviews regarding the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses, their roles and

responsibilities and the challenges that they face in the same. These are solely the opinions and

answers of the interviewees. No personal opinion is included in these sections.

4.2.1 Interviews with the Owners and Tenants

Figure 24. Interviewing the tenants and owners of a pol house with a heritage grade value

53
 The residence of 72 listed pol houses were visited

for the interviews. Out of these, ten residents were

tenants. One house was occupied by both tenant and the

owner where the owner lived on the second floor and the

tenant lived on the first floor. Six owners were not present

during the interviews. Nine houses were vacant, and two

were destroyed. Two of the oldest houses in this pol was

200 yrs old and 150 yrs old, both of which were occupied

Figure 25. Interviewing an owner by the owners of the house. The longest that a family of a

tenant has lived in a pol house is for 125 years, which

constitutes of five generations of their family.

“We enjoy living in the city. It is very safe and the neighbors are very

helpful”

“ Business is established in the city, and it is at a walkable distance.

Living here is not expensive, the neighbors are very helpful, and the

neighborhood is extremely safe”

“We have properties in the new city, but we enjoy living in the pols. We

love the lifestyle, it is great for the kids, all the festivals are celebrated

here, and the rooms in our houses are much bigger than those in the
Figure 26. Interviewing an owner
new city”

54
 It is important to note that every owner and tenant in the pols were pleased to live there.

They enjoyed living in the pols because of the close-knit relations that they formed with not only

their neighbors but the majority of the people in the pols. People felt very secure living in the

pols. They felt secure enough to leave their houses open to get something from the stores nearby.

They trusted their neighbors to keep a watch on their houses. Additionally, since there was

always someone sitting on the porch of their houses, it left no scope for theft in the pols. This

applies to all the people living in the pols, irrespective of the fact that their house might not be a

historic structure. Moreover, people living in the pols are very proud that the Walled City still

stands as the primary place of attraction during the time of festivals. People valued pols and the

pol houses for the kind of a space that it created in bringing them together and providing them a

platform to share their life, cultures, festivals and joy with each other. It is because of this space

and camaraderie between the people that the Walled City has sustained as a living heritage for

six hundred years. This space that contributes in the sharing of culture is the most valuable asset

of the pol houses.

“We last did repairing in the house in 2001”

When asked if and how often did they need to maintain their house; the answers were

varied. A few owners did the maintenance of their houses as and when they could afford it. Some

owners did the maintenance every 2-3 years. The maintenance was limited to re-plastering the

walls, painting the interior and roof repairs. Most of the pol houses have not been maintained at

all, or have been worked on twice in 20 years. The reason behind this was said to be the lack of

55
resources and affordability. Moreover, not a single owner knew about the TDR policy available

to them. They also didn’t know the meaning of “air rights.” This is not to put the blame and

ignorance on the part of the owners, but this lack of knowledge is the reflection of the level of

information provided to the people.

The owners were also asked if they could think about any additional incentives that could be

proposed for the conservation of the pol houses. In response to that, only one out of 72

interviewees answered the question. The owner suggested that the Government should pay half

of the maintenance cost. Except for that, not a single owner had any suggestion for any sort of

incentive. This indicates the lack of an educational dialogue between the owners and the

governing stakeholder responsible for the conservation of the pol houses. People had no opinion

whatsoever towards the condition of the houses and its conservation.

4.2.2 Interview with Restoration Specialists

Restoration specialists were mainly asked about the challenges that they faced during the

restoration of pol houses. According to restoration specialists, there is a lack of availability of the

natural materials like wood. This has led to an increase in the price of wood and the people living

in pols cannot afford to buy it. The new construction technology is shifting from brick and timber

to brick and steel contributing to an increasing loss of pol houses with historic structure.

56
 One of the planning issues that most restoration specialists face often is the shared walls

between the pol houses. During any restoration project in a particular pol house, there is always

a need for proper shoring system. Additionally, there are times when a house is subdivided into

different sections to accommodate more than two families. This leads to putting up more walls

than what the structural system can handle which leads to cracks and structural failure in the

house. Lastly, there are times when just a small segment out of the entire house is a listed

property of heritage value. That situation makes it difficult to restore the house because the

heritage property cannot be damaged or changed without prior consent from the local

government. Since the process of consent takes time, the owners are unwilling to go through the

process to save the historic fabric. These partial historic fabrics in a pol house end up getting

destroyed. No actual count to the total number of destroyed houses exist.

One of the major problems faced by the restoration specialists is the lack of affordability

of the owners. In addition to the high cost of restoration, the fee of the restoration specialists

makes the entire process too expensive for some owners. Moreover, according to the restoration

specialists, the TDR policy provided to the owners is not enough to cover the cost of a restoration

project. Because of these reasons, the owners of the pol houses do not consult a restoration

specialist. It is usually the other way around. The restoration specialists are the ones who

approach the owners requesting them not to sell or tear down their house and offer to provide

them the necessary consultation and designs in affordable price to preserve the historic property.

It is evident from the interviews that the stake of the condition of the pol houses is entirely

57
dependent on the owners, and their willingness to put an effort in their preservation is low on

their list of priority.

4.2.3 Interview with the City Officials

Two committee members and the Chairman of the Heritage Department in the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation were interviewed for their opinions on the current condition

of the pol houses, their thoughts on the current TDR policy in place and their opinions on what

needs to be done for better conservation and maintenance of the pol houses.

Starting with the condition of the pol houses in the Walled city, the priority for the city

officials is the issue of the lack of privacy because of the poor placement of the toilets and the

kitchen. According to the officials, if the bathroom and kitchen facilities are improved, people,

especially the younger generation, would enjoy living in the pols. In addition to the housing fabric,

the streets of the pols were historically designed for pedestrian activities and were never

designed for the current population and the vehicular traffic. The total housing stock in the

Walled City is 16,000, and the officials still face a demand for affordable housing because of the

people migrating into the city from the rural areas. While the provision for affordable housing is

made through new construction, these incoming groups of people do not know the rich history

of the Walled City. The increasing demand for the affordable housing and the lack of available

land in the dense fabric of the city has left no other option but to consider using the pol houses

as a resource. Moreover, the need for cleanliness in the pols was also emphasized by the

Commissioner.

58
 According to the officials too, the current TDR policy is not enough to cover the cost of

the maintenance or restoration. The amount provided through TDR is minimal. According to the

City Officials, there needs to be some policy where if a person has 100 sqm, the person would be

entitled to a TDR amount for 200sqm. For the maximum utilization of the TDR policy, the officials

also think that making it mandatory for the developers to buy TDR from heritage properties

would bring in more people to use the policy.

One of the critical issues that threaten the use of any financial policy or incentives is that if an

owner sells his historic property, he will gain about 50-60 lakhs (INR), which is significantly high

compared to any amount received through loans, subsidies or TDR policy.35 There is a need for a

policy or incentive that can compete with these odds.

4.2.4 Interview with the Developers/Investors/NGOs

Two different types of agencies were interviewed:

a. City Heritage Centre: community-based resource centre which is a private agency

b. Mahila Housing Trust (MHT): An autonomous organization promoted by Self Employed

Women’s Association (SEWA)

There are a few challenges faced by the private developers who are interested in buying the

TDR from a heritage property. Firstly, one of the significant challenges is the joint ownership

35
1 USD = 63.85 INR

59
issue. Most of the heritage properties are owned by more than one person because of the large

number of family members. If a private developer is interested in buying the air rights from a

particular house, he would need the signatures from all the owners of the house. This becomes

challenging especially when some of the owners have left town or country. There are times when

the developer gets caught up in between family disputes which delay his entire project. Secondly,

the area acquired from one pol house is not enough for a developer to build an additional floor

in an apartment building outside the Walled city. The developer would need to buy areas from

many pol houses to acquire the area which is sufficient to build more floors outside the city.

There are also private investors in the Walled city who are interested in the heritage of the

city. They prefer to purchase the historic properties with the goal to find solutions that would

preserve the historic buildings along with making them a successful business investment. These

investors approach the owners of a vacant or dilapidated pol house, negotiate with the multiple

owners to buy the property from them, and carry out the adaptive re-use of these properties.

Most of these properties are converted into museums, bed & breakfasts, cafes or hotels. The

goal of these investors is not just monetizing the heritage property, but to protect and restore

the heritage property and provide examples of design solutions where the pol houses are

restored with all the modern amenities. However, investing and restoring a damaged pol house

is very expensive. A private investor can invest only in a limited the number of houses. These

private investments are not enough to bring about significant changes in the current scenario of

the pols today.

60
 The Mahila Housing Trust(MHT) is an autonomous organization, promoted by SEWA, whose

mission was to build sound housing and living environments for poor women in the informal

sectors. Their programs mainly address basic civic and housing infrastructure needs, including

water, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management, roads, electricity/energy, low-income

housing and secured land tenure. MHT thought that the people in the pols would benefit from

the TDR policy. So, they surveyed to understand the different income groups in the pols. All of

them were a low-income group. 84% earned less than 15k per month. They needed help

regarding policy, and also in creating awareness about it. 36 MHT works with a goal to improve

the living environment for the people in the pols. According to them, the people should not be

deprived of using air-conditioners, television, toilets, etc. They aim to use heritage to improve

the living conditions of the people. One of the challenges that they faced was that if the people

did not see themselves benefitting out of something, they did not bother with it. There were

issues regarding documentation of houses, joint ownership issues, family disputes, women being

timider than men, and men not allowing women to speak up. These issues have restricted and

delayed actions for the MHT.

To conclude, every stakeholder has their issues and challenges preventing them from

protecting the heritage of the Walled City. Observing the physical condition of the pols and the

pol houses, and talking to the stakeholders, it is evident that the situation in the pols is alarming

and it would be very complicated to deal with it. The pol houses are severely affected and will

continue to deteriorate because of the complexity of the problems and lack of action by the

36
Bansal, Prachi. "Conservation of Urban Areas with Heritage Value in Indian Cities : Case of Ahmedabad."

61
stakeholders due to several reasons. The situation cannot be solved unless the roots of the

problems are identified and analyzed, and the issues affecting the heritage of the city are

understood objectively and adequately.

62
63
 The analysis includes the identification and the assessment of the values associated with

the pol houses as identified by the different stakeholders, and the categorization of the issues

affecting the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses. The values associated with the

pol houses are based on the interviews with the different stakeholders. The issues related to the

lack of conservation of the pol houses, are categorized into the different factors affecting the pol

houses. The assessment of the factors is based on the conclusions derived from the opinions of

the stakeholders regarding their roles and responsibilities, and the observations made during the

interviews in the field visit.

5.1 Pols and the Pol Houses: Assessing the significance of the values.
“Value assessment presents a threefold challenge: identifying all the values of the heritage in
question; describing them; and integrating and ranking the different, sometimes conflicting
values, so that they can inform the resolution of different, often conflicting stakeholder
interests.”37

Figure 27. The cultural significance value assessment process by Getty Institute

37
Torre, Marta de la. Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage. The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles,
2002.https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/assessing.pdf

64
 The significance of heritage can be determined by the assessment of the values that the

different stakeholders ascribe to it. These values can be historic, aesthetic, cultural, social,

economic, age, use, and many more. The type of value that can be ascribed to the heritage

depends on the person ascribing the value to it. Each stakeholder can assess his own set of values

that are significant to them. Integration of these assessments can lead to the prioritization of the

values that need to be preserved. In the case of the Walled City, the values ascribed to the pol

houses by the various stakeholders can be recognized by studying the interviews with them.

These values can be categorized as:

- Social value: The continuity of the pols in the form of an urban settlement is because of

the occupants maintaining the culture and traditions. It is because of the culture, lifestyle

and the shared spaces between the communities that the people enjoy living in the pols.

People value the pols because of the inherent sense of belonging they feel in the space

where people look out for each other as if they were their own family. These cultures,

traditions and festivities are represented in their purest form in the pols, and people from

all over the place come together to celebrate these cultures and traditions. This social

value is the primary reason that the Walled City has thrived as a settlement and will

continue to do so as far as the communities live in social cohesion and shared values.

- Historic value: The settlement of the pols has been established in the Walled City since

the 15th century. The footprint of the settlement pattern and the plotting of the houses

in the pols is an important attribute that has been more or less preserved in its character.

65
 There are certain aspects in the pols that have seen changes and decay over time because

of the influences of western culture and the needs for modern amenities. However, the

character of the pols, the circulation patterns, the culture, traditions and the lifestyle of

the pols have remained the same. The history of the pol houses is evident in the

architectural style, carvings, ornamentations and details.

- Aesthetic value: The aesthetic value of the pols lies in the architectural beauty of the Pol

Houses and the surrounding context. The pol houses are a representation of the wooden

architecture with its wooden post and beam construction, intricately carved wooden

doors and windows, ornamentations, brackets and the details carved in the beams of the

courtyards. The influence of various rulers and their architectural style can be found in

the pol houses and is a representation of the journey of the Walled City towards

independence.

- Scientific value: The scientific value of the pol houses lies in the construction technology.

The structural system of the post and beam structure of the pol houses was strong enough

to withhold the massive earthquake that caused extensive destruction across the city in

2001. The pol houses sustained much less damage than the modern buildings because of

the way the houses are clustered, the proportion of mass and the construction method

employed. Some of the features that highlight the science and technology behind the

resistance to an earthquake can be understood from a study done by the Centre for

Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University:

66
 - Wood: Wood, being a light-weight material, was beneficial since the impact of an

earthquake is directly proportional to the weight of the structure. Wood is a

ductile material and its cellulose fibers increase its capacity to undertake tensile

stress.

- Flat bricks: The flat bricks used in the construction of the pol houses are resistant

to earthquakes because they are stable against overturning. The bonding material

used for the masonry is a mixture of mud and cow-dung or lime. This mortar allows

a certain degree of movement and adds to the plasticity of the walls.38

- Stone: Stones were used to form a base in the columns and the doorframes. It

allowed for them to move to and fro during the earthquakes reducing the impact

of the lateral forces.39

The construction technology of the Pol houses makes them a highly valuable source of

knowledge for the current and future generation. It is essential to learn, remember and pass on

this construction and materials skill for the continuity of the heritage, and an invaluable source

of inspiration for the new construction technology.

38
Yumlembam, Dayananda. "Pol Houses More Quake Resistant than Modern Buildings: Study - Times of India."
The Times of India. October 24, 2011. Accessed March 23, 2018.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Pol-houses-more-quake-resistant-than-modern-buildings-
Study/articleshow/10481028.cms
39
Yumlembam, Dayananda. "Pol Houses More Quake Resistant than Modern Buildings: Study - Times of India." The
Times of India. October 24, 2011. Accessed March 23, 2018.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Pol-houses-more-quake-resistant-than-modern-buildings-
Study/articleshow/10481028.cms.

67
 These four values listed above are the fundamental values out of which different values

can be interpreted and integrated for the benefit of the communities and the heritage.

Prioritizing these values based on their significance would result in the resolution of varied

stakeholder interests in the conservation of the pol houses. The social value of the pol house can

be the most significant value because it is the driver of the continued use of the Walled City as

an urban settlement. Without the continuity of the social attributes of the Walled City, the pols

would not continue its historic function. It is the people of the pol houses that are responsible

for the continuous use of the pol houses, and what they value the most in the pols is the social

cohesion and the spaces that provide them a platform to share their culture, traditions and

lifestyle. The historic value and the aesthetic value are interdependent and are equally important.

The architecture of the pol houses is the representation of the historical events that the city has

faced and overcome. The scientific value of the pol houses is essential for the continuity of

knowledge and inspiration for the construction technology that has proven to be successful in

the face of earthquakes. It is crucial to preserve all the four values because their simultaneous

prevalence in the Walled City has resulted into the pols persisting as an urban settlement even

after six centuries.

5.2 Factors affecting the pols

Many factors are responsible for the deteriorating condition of the pols in the Walled city.

These factors affect the current conditions of the pol houses directly and indirectly. They can be

categorized as:

68
 1. Physical issues associated with the pol houses

2. Social issues

3. Policy and Planning

4. Lack of infrastructure and services

5. Environmental effects

5.2.1 Physical issues associated with the pol houses

Some physical factors have resulted in the deteriorated condition of the pol houses. The

irregular maintenance of the houses by the owners is one of them as determined from the

interviews. This, in addition to the natural aging of the building, has severely affected the

condition of the materials and the structure of the pol houses. Over the years, the population has

increased in the pols, and the resulting number of occupants in each house has increased. This

has led to an increase in the live load on the structural system of the building. As a result, many

pol houses are under the threat of

structural failure caused by tilted

wooden slabs of the second floor and

bending of the wooden beams.

Secondly, there is a significant lack of

the availability of the traditional

materials. The size of the historic

Figure 28. Owner of the pol house with highest heritage value talking
bricks was smaller than the
about lack of trained workers for restoring their mosaic flooring

69
standard bricks today (19cm X 9cm X 9cm). Today, the standard bricks are cut using a machine

that cuts one brick at a time and is then given a shape to resemble a historic brick, by the laborers

manually. This manual construction process significantly affects the completion period of a

project, and hence increases the resulting cost of a project. Similarly, the wood is available

scarcely, and therefore its cost is very high. According to the restoration architects, even the

quality of the new wood is usually not as good as the historic wood. The low-quality new wood

sometimes causes the damage to the historic wood. Lastly, there is a lack of trained and skilled

workers. Some pols have patterned mosaic floors, while some pols have intricate wooden

carvings. One of the pols with the highest heritage value had a mosaic flooring with colorful

patterns. When the owner was asked if it was convenient to find people to repair and maintain

the flooring since some of the mosaics was chipping off, the owner claimed to have kept the

repairing on hold since they could not find anyone with the skill set to repair the flooring.

To summarize, there is a severe lack of workers who are skilled and trained in the

conservation and repairs of the pol houses. There are no standards or protocols that regulate the

materials to be used and the repair techniques that need to be employed for the proper

conservation of the pol houses. Lastly, there is a lack of availability of the historic materials, and

no research on alternative solutions has been done. There is a need to explore more sustainable

options for the traditional historic buildings.

70
5.2.2 Social Issues

One of the most critical issues that the Walled City faces today is the lack of integration

of the different stakeholders. No two stakeholders are aware of what the other is doing and what

they define as their concern. World Heritage inscription requires pre-approved permissions from

the owners of the site that is nominated. The government in the Walled city of Ahmedabad did

not undertake this step. This may have been because the total population of the Walled city is

about 400,000 people. Reaching out to that many people would have delayed the nomination

process for a long time. The people in the Walled City have not been provided the knowledge

about the regulations about the World Heritage inscription. This is leading to people tearing

down their historic houses in the fear that they would not be able to change the facade or sell

their house because of the nomination. This profound misunderstanding has led to devastating

results on the pol houses. The document of the listed property was prepared in 2013 for the

submission for the nomination of the Walled City for World Heritage nomination. Within four

years of this nomination process, two pols in Dhal ni pol itself have been uprooted. One of them

is converted into an apartment building, while the other pol house has undergone a complete

transformation in its historic fabric. There is an urgent need for stopping this destruction which

would eventually ruin the heritage of the city.

The pol houses were not planned considering the needs of the current times. The current

planning neither provides privacy to people while using toilets nor does the kitchen facilitate

71
modern appliances and proper ventilation. This lack of services has facilitated the younger

generation to move out of the Walled city for houses that provide modern amenities. Today,

there are nine vacant pol houses just in Dhal ni pol. Two of those are in danger of falling apart.

Another reason that is leading the younger generation to move out of the pols with their

families is that many men in the Walled City are not able to find a woman to marry who is willing

to live with them in the pols after marriage.40 The reasons for that could be the lack of cleanliness

of the streets of the pols and the lack of maintenance and conservation of the pol houses.

According to the Commissioner during his interview, if the problem of cleanliness were solved,

going into the pols would become more appealing.

A number of siblings usually own a pol house. This joint ownership of the pol houses

creates many obstacles while applying for different policies. It even creates problems when one

of the many owners is interested in restoring their house, but if the other owners do not agree

to pay for their part, the project comes to a halt.

There has also been no communication between the city officials and the owners of the

pol houses for the promotion and the education regarding new policies that are introduced in

the city. Moreover, the owners do not approach restoration specialists for either guidance or to

appoint them for a restoration project. It takes months for private investors to navigate and

negotiate with the owners to invest in a project. One of the fruitful stakeholder relations was

40
In India, a woman moves into the husband’s house, usually with his family, after marriage.

72
found between restoration specialists and the city officials. Because of the limited number of

experts working in the pols, there has been continuous positive relations and interactions

between some of these stakeholders. This suggests that the governance framework in the Walled

City is very top-down and there is a need for better integration of all the stakeholders.

However, people in the pols are very united among each other. They value and approve

of each other’s opinions much more than that of the government. Before making difficult choices,

people usually take the opinions of their neighbors. As mentioned before, men and women

socialize with each other during different times of day. It is during these social gatherings every

day that people discuss issues that bother them or an experience that they were pleased of.

These social gatherings have the potential to shed light on the importance of the conservation

and maintenance of the pol houses. Inciting educational dialogue regarding the heritage in these

daily gatherings can make a huge impact in the general opinion of the people for the pol houses.

To summarize the social issues, without the sharing of information and integration

between the stakeholders, the pol houses are in great danger of being wiped out from the city.

However, there are scopes within the city itself that can contribute in addressing this issue. The

lack of modern amenities is facilitating the younger generations to move out in search of modern

apartments. The vacant pol houses have no purpose in the Walled City today and no one to care

for them. Lastly, without benefiting directly from the pol houses, the people in the Walled City

are not inclined to invest their time and resources in the conservation of the pol houses.

73
5.2.3 Planning and Policy

One of the main problems affecting the development in the Walled City is that the

government has not laid out the short term and long term goals for the city. This lack of vision

gives the city no aim to achieve and no direction to follow. The lack of vision has a critical impact

not only on the conditions of the pol houses but also on the socio-economic development of the

Walled City. Without these goals, the city becomes stagnant. It is essential for the stakeholders

to come together to develop a short term and long term vision for the city to preserve the

heritage of the Walled City.

A huge limitation in the planning and policy department of the city is the absence of

documentation of the heritage buildings. No documents or drawings of the pol houses could be

found online. Without documentation of pol houses, the destroyed buildings are forever lost.

Moreover, the land use map of the pol houses in the Walled was not available too. This map is

the basis for understanding the scope of development and utilization of the heritage resource for

the communities of the city. Without such a map, there is no way to understand and analyze the

requirements of the people of the city.

The only regulations and incentives that the Walled City currently has for the conservation

and maintenance of the pol houses are:

74
 ➢ Other measure includes a reduction in property tax for traditional buildings and reduction of FSI
(Floor Space Index) from 3 to 1.8 to prevent high density and unplanned new development in the
Walled City.41
➢ Comprehensive Development plan 2021, General Development Control Regulations, Chapter
10.42 In 2013, AUDA initiated a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) policy under which owners
of about 1200 heritage properties could sell, transfer or lease out additional floor space index to
developers in the form of TDR that can be utilized anywhere in the city. The funds generated
through the sale of extra TDR should be then utilized for the conservation of their property

The tax structure of Ahmedabad has a few critical issues. In the Walled City, the bird-feeders

are considered commercial buildings and are taxed accordingly. This is a serious issue since they

are public properties and no revenue is generated through them. Moreover, the vacant

properties are taxed less, which causes many owners to keep their properties vacant. The

condition of such vacant heritage properties is severely affected because of the lack of use and

no maintenance.

Secondly, there are a limited number of policies and regulations that control the use of the

pol houses and the changes that can be made to the pol houses. No clear agenda defines the

limits of the extent to which a pol house can be reformed. Moreover, there are no consequences

for the people who do not follow any regulations or who tear down the historic fabric. This could

41
Soni, Miral. "Conservation Planning in France &Urban Conservation of Ahmedabad." LinkedIn SlideShare. March
16, 2017. Accessed April 04, 2018. https://www.slideshare.net/Soni3010/conservation-planning-in-france-urban-
conservation-of-ahmedabad.

42
Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority. "Comprehensive Development Plan 2021 (Second Revised) Part III,
General Development Controls Regulations." January 21,
2015.https://townplanning.gujarat.gov.in/monitoring/documents/dps-milestone-
documents/08D2728415909D1Ejxxnknu5agx0.pdf

75
be because of three reasons - a. The consequences of not following the regulations have not been

defined, b. Lack of regular monitoring by the city officials and hence, the lack of knowledge

regarding the actions taken illegally, c. The owners of the pol houses are not aware of any policies

and the regulations that the government has introduced.

Moreover, the people have shown distrust towards the government. The general attitude of

the people towards the government is that they do not do anything for the benefit of the people,

they unnecessarily drag the process of the implementation of any policy process which takes

years to provide any beneficial services and they do not approve of any documents quickly. For

instance, during the interview with one of the committee members of the Heritage department

in AMC, the committee member gave an explanation on the process of TDR for heritage

properties. The Heritage department does not deal with the TDR policy. AMC has another

department specifically for TDR. 43 This department is responsible for handling the paperwork

and the document approvals. However, if the TDR is applied to a heritage property, the

documents of the pol house would need to be approved by the heritage department as well as

the TDO department.44 This requirement of getting documents approved and signed already

takes twice the time it would take to use TDR from other parts of the city. Moreover, the meetings

for approving TDR in the heritage department are held once a month. If the owner does not

submit all the documents and paperwork correctly, he would have to return the next month and

43
The TDR policy is available to everyone in the city. There are TDR policies for slum rehabilitation, heritage
properties, and so on. https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/corp_department.jsp.

44
"Town Development Department." Departments :: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Accessed April 04, 2018.
https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/corp_department.jsp.

76
repeat the process till he gets the approval. According to the commissioner, the TDR application

usually takes eight to ten months to get approved. In today’s generation of online transactions

and quick pays, people do not have the patience to go back and forth for the meetings every

month for the amount of money that would not be enough to cover the cost of restoration at the

end.

5.2.4 Infrastructure and Services

The Walled City was not designed for the population that occupies it now. Hence, it is not

equipped to accommodate the different infrastructure and services. The city was designed when

there were no vehicles available to the people. Today, every household has at least one two-

wheeler. As cars are becoming more common and affordable, people are easily able to buy it.

However, the Walled City does not have the space to accommodate car parking. As the streets

go deeper into the pols, they become too narrow for a car to pass through. People are eligible to

buy cars, but they do not have the facilities to park them. A family of four can be seen traveling

in one two-wheeler because their urban fabric does not allow them to get a car. This is extremely

unfair to the people living in the pols. This is causing them to leave the Walled City for better

infrastructure and services. Moreover, with the increasing population and the relative increase

in people setting up offices in the Walled City, the traffic congestion has increased exponentially

in the narrow streets of the city. This has severely contributed to the air pollution and noise

pollution in the city, and this is adversely affecting the historic fabric of the pol houses and the

monuments in the city.

77
 Currently, many pol houses are not equipped to handle air-conditioners, and with the

weather in Ahmedabad, this adds on to the discomforts in the lives of people. Up until about 20

years ago, the pol houses did not have toilets inside the house. . It is in the recent years that

people have installed toilets at the entrance of their house for comfort and because the newly

married women coming into the family living in the pol house was not comfortable using the

public toilets. The Walled city, therefore, wasn’t designed to accommodate plumbing lines

throughout the city. As a result, the pol houses do not have running water for 24 hours. They get

running water for 2 hours in the morning during which people fill up their vessels and water tanks

to use throughout the day. As opposed to that, a majority of the houses in the new city have 24

hours running water facility. This lack of running water significantly adds to the discomforts in

the lives of the people and negatively affects their perception towards the value of the heritage

property.

5.2.5 Environmental Effects

Ahmedabad experiences three main seasons - Summer (March to June), Monsoon (July -

September) and Winter (November to February). The summer season has hot and dry climate

with an average temperature range from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to 117 degrees Fahrenheit. The

south-west monsoon winds bring humid climate to Ahmedabad from mid-June to mid-

September. The average temperature in monsoon ranges from 90 F to 75 F, and the average

78
rainfall is 93cm. The winter season is cold and dry with the temperature ranging from 80 F to mid

50s F.45 It can be said that each season affects the pols differently because of its diverse climate.

The pols have been designed well to protect the people from the high temperatures of summer.

Because of the wider facade being shared, and the narrow facade being exposed, relatively less

heat enters into the house. Moreover, the streets along the pol houses are usually shaded by the

pol houses throughout the day. Not much damage to the materials is seen during this season.

Monsoons are particularly damaging to the pol houses. Because of the heavy rains, most of the

owners usually cover their courtyards with tarps, making the house resemble a tent. The terrace

and the ceilings are made of wood. Because of the regular rains for three to four months, the

wood is continually exposed to water without giving it a chance to completely dry. This causes

the wood to rot, and the ceilings to leak. The people living in the pol house usually put up vessels

to collect the dripping water from the ceilings. The rains even affect the plaster on the interior

walls. Though the plaster is not a historic feature, the deteriorated plaster in the interior ruins

the aesthetic of the house. The re-application of plaster is also expensive. Moreover, the climate

during the monsoon season is humid. With the courtyards covered, and the entrance plinth

inaccessible for the protection from rains, and with the openings closed to prevent the rain from

entering the house, the houses have no cross ventilation. The rain also brings in insects and

increases the rate of diseases in addition to flooding and uncleanliness on the streets of the pols.

It can be said that the monsoon season is the harshest on the people as well as the urban fabric.

45
"Average Weather in Ahmedabad, India, Year Round - Weather Spark." Accessed April 04, 2018.
https://weatherspark.com/y/107349/Average-Weather-in-Ahmedabad-India-Year-Round.

79
 During the winter season, the people take down the tarps, and the cross ventilation in the

house begins again. The houses do not have a heating system, so the temperature in mid 50 F

feels cold. The wooden structure system and the thick walls help in keeping the house relatively

warm. The courtyard plays a vital role in heating up the interior of the pol house during the mid-

day.

To conclude, it can be said that the monsoon season is a challenge.46

To sum it all up, without addressing these five factors, the conservation and regular

maintenance of the pol houses is not possible. These factors are not unique to just the Walled

City of Ahmedabad. There are other towns and cities that have been plagued by similar issues

severely affecting their heritage. Some have successfully addressed these issues and protected

their heritage. A lot can be learned from their actions to understand if similar steps could make

positive contribution in the situation of the pol houses in the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

46
Ubbelohde, Susan, and George Loisos. "The Ahmedabad Pol House : Courtyard Strategies in a Hot-Dry/HOt-
Humid Climate."

80
81
 Conservation of a heritage monument or a heritage city is not a single entity’s

responsibility. A large group of stakeholders is responsible for the outcome of the conservation

of a project. It is the decisions made by the different stakeholders that cause the success or failure

of a project. The pol houses are in the deteriorated state because of several factors. Different

towns have faced similar challenges and have been successful in achieving a balance between

the stakeholders and gaining a positive outcome in their conservation project. The different cases

are studied to understand how the role of stakeholders plays in a conservation project, and how

the city could gain maximum benefit when all the stakeholders work together towards a common

goal.These cases will be compared to the case of the Walled City of Ahmedabad, which is facing

similar problems.

Some of the common factors that were considered for the case studies are:

- Living Heritage Site – A historic old city where people carry on their day-to-day lives;

- Deteriorating houses because of people moving out for better facilities and other socio-

cultural and economic aspects;

- Involvement of stakeholders in their proposals and policies;

- Innovative action towards the integration of stakeholders;

The three case studies that are studied are:-

1. Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn, Estonia

2. Hoi, an ancient town in Vietnam

3. Old City of Yangzhou, China

82
 Each case study begins with the problems faced by the city and its heritage. It is followed

by their conservation approach and analysis on how the case-study is similar and different from

the Walled City of Ahmedabad. It also analyzes if their conservation approach can be applied to

the case of the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

6.1 Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn, Estonia

Tallinn is the capital and the largest city of Estonia.47

“The origins of Tallinn date back to the 13th century when a

castle was built there by the crusading knights of the Teutonic
Order. It developed as a major center of the Hanseatic League
and its wealth is demonstrated by the opulence of the public
buildings (the churches in particular) and the domestic
architecture of the merchants' houses, which have survived to
a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the
intervening centuries.”48

Figure 29. Old town of Tallinn, Estonia

The Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn was

inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1997. The

inscribed area covers the Old Town situated within

the medieval walls and some of the bastions and

entrenchments from the 16th century.49

Figure 30. Streets of Old Town of Taallinn

47
Tallinn Tourism | Tallinn Travel Guide & Tips: Triphobo, https://www.triphobo.com/places/tallinn-estonia
(accessed April 04, 2018).
48
Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn." Documents - UNESCO World Heritage
Centre. Accessed April 04, 2018. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/822/documents/.
49
Ibid.

83
 The other historic structures from the 19th century, such as bastions, re-building of the

fortifications and the historic urban centers are in the buffer zone.50

Figure 31. Location of Tallinn

This case study focuses on the rich history of Tallinn Old Town and its protection and

presents some good examples of community involvement in safeguarding the site’s outstanding

value and shaping a living environment that is enjoyable for all. Tallinn confronts the tensions

between heritage conservation needs and the aspirations of the local communities that co-exist.

“Only when the Old Town has meaning and value to local people, will it be a source of information

50
Ibid.

84
and inspiration to visitors.” It talks about the constant engagement needed for the beneficial co-

operation of authorities and communities. A breakthrough towards the sustainable development

of Estonian heritage started when the heritage authorities made a severe about-turn in their

attitude towards publicity, themselves contributing to the voluntary work promoting heritage,

explaining and teaching.51

Tallinn World heritage site is the heart of the capital of Estonia. Tallinn is a significant meeting

and interchange point of different cultures – religions, lifestyles, building traditions and

nationalities. Estonia is a multinational and multicultural society.52 The Old Town of Tallinn is

similar to the Walled City of Ahmedabad in the sense that both of them are inscribed on the

World Heritage list and are living town of multicultural societies. Like the Walled City of

Ahmedabad, Tallinn was faced with the market economy when the people cared more for the

modernizing society, were more involved with personal careers and new challenges, and hence

the historic environment and community values had dropped into the background.53 However,

Tallinn was successful in getting the society stabilized and back to caring within a decade and is

now a successful example of beneficial cooperation between the authorities and communities.

One of the significant difference between the Old city of Tallinn and the Walled City of

Ahmedabad is the scale and population of the cities. While Tallinn has a population of 4000

people, the Walled city of Ahmedabad has a population of about 400,000 people. It is important

to acknowledge this massive difference and understand that any measures taken in the direction

51
Galla. World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
52
Ibid
53
Ibid

85
of community engagement and integration between the community and government officials in

Tallinn, would be far more challenging to implement in the case of Ahmedabad. Although, this

case study does provide a successful example in dealing with 4000 people, and there are many

opportunities in the Walled City of Ahmedabad to experiment with a similar group as a pilot

project.

Riin Alatalu, the author of the article on “Responsible local communities in historic inner city

areas: Historic Centre of Tallinn, Estonia,” defines stakeholder community as a group of

interacting people living in a shared location and having some shared values. In Tallinn, there are

several different communities – local societies, non-governmental organization, cultural and

educational centre and the city authorities. In Tallinn, it is believed that the World Heritage

conservation is, first of all, a responsibility of the local community.54

When the heritage policies in the city faced the crisis under the increasing influence of

modernization and people getting more focused on their careers, the city regained control

through support and social control of the community. “Heritage is about people. The cultural

value of any World Heritage site will only be maintained if citizens are ready, able and willing to

inherit it and if they consider this inheritance to be of value.” 55 It is important to note that the

people in this city valued their heritage and felt immense pride and responsibility towards it.

Some of the essential takeaways in the form of steps taken by the city and the community are:

54
Ibid
55
Ibid

86
 - Local societies were formed to participate in the preservation of values of the living

environment. People gathered to know each other, take care of surroundings, organized

meetings with the representatives of the city government, informed the authorities of

any abandoned houses and even kept an eye and intervened on the planning policies.56

- The importance is given to Educating people about the Heritage – Collegium Educationis

Revaliae (CER) is a school in Tallinn started by the parents. The school aimed to be an

innovative, cultural and social center that functioned as a community space. Every

member of community – children, parents, grandparents, teachers and friends

participated actively in educational and cultural life.57 Such institutions in a heritage

building are successful and cared for by people because the buildings care for them in

return. It is a mutual beneficiary function where the object (heritage building) becomes a

tool to provide for the community. This, in turn, makes the community care for the

building in return because it forms an integral part of their lives and becomes a valuable

asset to them.

- Fund-raising activities – Traditional charity fairs twice a year, celebrating Heritage Month,

European Heritage days Middle Age days, etc.

56
Ibid
57
Ibid

87
 These steps in the direction of valorizing the heritage can be a significant contribution in the

case of the Walled City of Ahmedabad. There is a need to think about how the Pol houses can

become an actor in benefitting the community.

6.2 Hoi An Ancient town, Vietnam

Hoi An Town is located in the Quang Nam Province in

the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Hoi An is a traditional market

port in South East Asia. Most of the buildings settled along

narrow traditional roads in the town have traditional

architectural style between 18th to 20th century.58 It has more

than 1390 architectural remains representing ten architectural

forms – residential house, place of worship, village communal

houses, pagoda, temples, tombs, bridges, water wells,

markets, and assembly halls. The residents of Hoi An have been

Figure 32. Location of Hoi Ancient living and working in the same houses through many
town, Vietnam
generations.59

“Vietnam is one of the few developing countries with

impressive achievements in poverty reduction. Diversification

Figure 33. Hoi An town

58
"The Documentation to UNESCO for Inscription on World Cultural Heritage List, Hoi An Ancient Town." WHC
Nomination Documentation. https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/948.pdf.

59
Galla. World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

88
of the resource base for local communities, active infrastructure development and expanding

choices for the poor have been critical in the Doi Moi economic reform and poverty eradication

program.”60

Figure 34. Street view of Hoi An Ancient town

Some of the similarities between Hoi An and the Walled City of Ahmedabad are:

- Inscribed as a World Heritage City

- Lived-in heritage

- Different types of architectural forms

- Local traditional arts and crafts were not given much importance

- A large group of people living below the poverty line

60
Hoi An Or The Ancient Amaravathi In Vietnam, http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2018/feb/17/hoi-
an-or-the-ancient-amara (accessed April 04, 2018).

89
 This case study is especially important because Vietnam has been successful in alleviating

the poverty in Hoi An town with the help of stakeholders’ engagement. This case study describes

how the government drafted their action plan for poverty alleviation – their key challenges, their

action plan, their goals, their priorities. The most interesting part of this study is the different

government strategies in building a sense of ownership among local communities through

projects that demonstrate direct community benefits.

`The local authorities had identified four keys challenges to safeguard the outstanding universal

value in a five-year plan drafted in 200261:

- Conserving the authenticity and integrity of the Ancient Town;

- Meeting the needs of the present residents who live in the heritage buildings;

- Promoting and safeguarding the outstanding universal value in tourism development;

- Improving the income and standard of living of the people without compromising the

site’s values;

They proposed a ten-point sustainable Action Plan that was adopted by the Hoi An District

and Quang Nam Governments, some of the most relevant to the Walled City of Ahmedabad are62:

- Addressing the organic historical linkages and relationships between Hoi An Ancient town

and the surrounding stakeholder communities and villages as a priority;

61
Galla, Amareswar. "Hoi An or the Ancient Amaravathi in Vietnam." The New Indian Express. February 17, 2018.
Accessed April 04, 2018. http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2018/feb/17/hoi-an-or-the-ancient-
amaravathi-in-vietnam-1774771.html.
62
Galla. World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

90
 - Implementing affirmative action programs to ensure the participation of disadvantaged

women and young people from surrounding villages;

- Investing more resources from tourism revenue to assist with further restoration of

monuments and heritage houses and urban infrastructure;

- Integrated local area planning, both short term and long term, by the local government

to continue to enhance the urban infrastructure to cope with development pressures;

All the ten principles were embedded into the budgetary process of the governments

concerned. The Home Owners Association, Women’s Union and Youth Union provided the civil

society participation in drafting the Action Plan.63

The most important takeaways from this case study are the different methods to enable

stakeholder benefits that the city adopted to alleviate the poverty using the heritage properties

of the city. Some of them are64:

- In the first decade after the World Heritage inscription, approx. 200 government-owned

and 1125 privately owned heritage buildings were repaired. Because of the high

restoration cost compared to the income of the owners, the municipal government

provided a partial subsidy for several private projects. The municipal government

provided three-year loans without interest. In some cases, the government purchased the

63
Galla. World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
64
Ibid

91
 privately-owned properties from the families who have economic difficulties and wanted

to sell their houses. The government restored those houses and the previous owners

could live in the same place at a reasonable rent. This prevented outside interests from

purchasing the properties and enabled the residents to remain in their homes.

- Because of wars and famine in the last century, and the introduction of plastic and other

mass-produced goods, centuries-old traditional craft villages were disappearing. The

revitalization of these villages, the use of their skills in the conservation and restoration

projects of the Ancient Town, and initiatives to alleviate poverty around the World

Heritage site was prioritized. These actions brought in employment and regular income

to the people in these villages as well as increased the research and value of these

traditional crafts. Some of the villages that benefitted from these initiatives are:

- Thanh Ha – A Ceramic Village

- Kim Boong - Woodcraft Village

- Tra Que – Horticultural Village

- Vong Nhi – Fishing Village

- Improving the infrastructure that included underground systems of electricity, telephone,

cable TV, water supply, fire control, roads and sidewalks.

- Repairing the Hoi An Market helped the local communities and suppliers from other

villages to continue using the two centuries old historic space.

92
 “In order to effectively manage, conserve and promote a heritage site, it is essential to have comprehensive

and long-term strategies based on conservation principles and community interests and benefits through

strategic stakeholder cooperation, including governments, scientists and researchers, the heritage house

owners, business operators and other local people.”

One example that shows this is Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Lijiang Ancient Town in China. In

2000, the visitor services in two streets, Tran Phu and Le Loi, was relatively higher than any other

streets in the town. This led to a significant gap in the income between the homeowners in those

two streets and the remaining streets. A revitalization program focusing on the development of

tourism services along Nguyen Thai Hoc Street was initiated to bridge this gap. The government

mobilized funds to restore 26 properties. Homeowners in the street were granted a license for

businesses such as tailoring shops, art galleries and souvenir shops, which were previously

restricted to Tran Phu and Le Loi streets. Improved equality in income distribution between

homeowners provided the property owners with incentives and resources to maintain their

heritage buildings.65

These different approaches are instrumental in developing scenarios on what could be

helpful for the Walled City of Ahmedabad. One of the common factor that could be observed in

the conservation practices in developing countries is that the communities in the developing

countries would not take a stand if there is no direct financial benefit. There is a need to come

up with solutions which could serve the community economically. Even when serving the cultural

65
UNESCO. Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific. "LEAP: Integrated Community Development and
Cultural Heritage Site Preservation in Asia and the Pacific Through Local Effort." 1999.

93
heritage of the community is considered, the cultural traditions are not practiced until the

community is given a solution or an initiative to monetize on them. The Ancient town of Hou

found solutions to monetize on many social and cultural heritage for the benefits of community

and succeeded.

This case study helps us understand the delicate balance between the different stakeholders.

The community would not have benefitted without the government officials and other civic

officials devising an Action Plan. The Action Plan could not have been a success without the

different businesses and investors investing in the direct and indirect funding for the

conservation and restoration of the heritage properties. Moreover, it was the trust between the

different stakeholders and the community that incentivized the communities to adopt the

different policies and subsidies that the government provided and use them for their benefit –

economical and historical.

6.3 Old City of Yangzhou, China

Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu province, is

located on the lower reaches of the Yangti River and

the Huaihe River. The history of the city dates back

to 486 BC. It was a major ancient economic and

cultural center in eastern China. The Old city has

many historical sites including the 1,500-years-old

Figure 35. Location of Yangzhou, China
Daming Temple; the Fajin Temple built partly to

94
commemorate the monk, Jianzhen, and ruins of temporary palaces used by several emperors for

some 3,000 years.66

Figure 36. Historic houses of the old city of Yangzhou

Today, the city’s heritage continues to thrive in the narrow, cobbled stone lanes sprawling

outward from the center of the old town historic area. These lanes intersect each other to form

overlapping patterns which contribute connect the historic houses.67 A vast portion of this

historic area with the historic houses is characterized by one to two-story courtyard houses,

occupying a population of about 110,000 residents.68

66
Yangzhou, City Information of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. Accessed April 04, 2018.
http://www.chinatoday.com/city/yangzhou.htm.
67
Ibid.
68
Galla. World Heritage: Benefits Beyond Borders. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

95
 As in other Chinese cities, the area was deteriorating and threatened by rapid economic

development and urbanization. There was high risk from the unfortunate customary

redevelopment model of demolition and relocation. Because of the deteriorated housing, poor

municipal infrastructure and lack of proper sanitary facilities, many of the higher-income and

younger generation were moving to new city areas lured by the modern living standards. The

Walled City of Ahmedabad faces similar challenges, with its traditional neighborhood, pols,

getting affected by the economic development and urbanization. Like the traditional

neighborhood of Yangzhou, the Walled City of Ahmedabad is also facing migration of higher-

income and the younger generation to move to new cities because of the deteriorating

properties, lack of services and poor infrastructure.

The Yangzhou Municipal Government, GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) and Cities

Alliance collaborated to introduce a sustainable urban conservation concept which linked

heritage preservation to the improvement of living conditions of residents, by upgrading the

historic neighborhoods and supporting self-help initiatives. A long-term strategy following a

participatory and process-oriented approach had been developed and tested. In a pilot block,

residents were involved in Community Action Planning (CAP), resulting in agreement on

appropriate housing standards and self-help modernization of houses and facades. Living

conditions were remarkably improved through this mobilization of the community. Based on the

96
successful experience, it is now being adopted for use throughout the old city in Yangzhou and

viewed as a potential model for use throughout China.69

The program elaborated a comprehensive upgrading strategy for the whole inner city of

Yangzhou, which focused not only on the preservation of listed historic buildings, but also on the

residents, particularly the lower-income groups, in improving their living conditions, and

modernization of their houses. In 2006, a pilot neighborhood was identified by the iYET

(international Yangzhou Experts Team) which covered an area of 1.4 hectares including 147

households. The pilot neighborhood was representative of the problems that were typical of

traditional neighborhoods in the Old City.70

The conservation approach was involving the residents in the improvement of the area as

opposed to the demolition of the traditional structures. The opportunity for Yangzhou was to link

the upgrading of houses with historical rehabilitation and develop a model for conservation

applicable throughout China. In this approach, a parallel focus was placed on families and history,

with neither being dominant. ‘Community Action Planning’ (CAP) was introduced to improve the

awareness of residents and encourage the active involvement of the communities. By the active

participation of the community, the CAP methodology brought in the community as a

development partner with the city. 71 It should be noted that the motivation of the CAP project

69
Zhu, Dr Ing Lonbin, and Dr Ing Reinhard Goethert. "Historic Neighbourhood Upgrading with Community
Participation ." http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/issues-tools/tools/pdfs/CHINA-HERITAGE.pdf.
70
Zhu, Dr Ing Lonbin, and Dr Ing Reinhard Goethert. "Historic Neighbourhood Upgrading with Community
Participation ." http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/issues-tools/tools/pdfs/CHINA-HERITAGE.pdf.
71
Ibid

97
in involving the residents was not to put all the responsibilities for the conservation on the

residents, but including them as one of the crucial stakeholders who have the power to initiate

change in the houses.

CAP included an initial workshop, organized by iYET and YFCC (Yangzhou Famous City

Company), focused on testing Community Action Planning and developing strategies and a

development timeline for the pilot block. Established by GTZ experts and representatives from

local authorities, iYET was composed of both local and foreign professionals. A unique

government institution ‘Old City Office’ (OCO) was established as a primary partner representing

the city and was the critical counterpart of the iYET team. The implementing partner was the

YFCC, a technical organization. Several other city agencies also participated in a supporting role:

mainly the Cultural Bureau, Planning Bureau, Construction Bureau, House Management Bureau,

and Environmental Protection Bureau.

A three-level framework was developed to structure the issues to be explored with the

community – Lane/street, Façade and House. The framework was focused on identifying the

elements in the neighborhood that were considered historically significant by the residents and

providing solutions in partnership with the government to facilitate their conservation. It also

included identifying the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders for the

conservation of the different sections:

98
 - Lane/Street: Maintenance and improvement of the streets were considered the

responsibility of the city. Quick and low maintenance interventions were to be proposed

for improving the conditions of the streets to reinforce the street community.

- “Façade: Responsibility of multiple actors in the conservation. The strategy explored was

to involve the homeowner by offering a cost-sharing arrangement. A 30/70% split in costs

was tested and exceeded expectations.

- “House”: It relates to an improvement of the interior of the

house. A strategy of improving one house per lane initially

served as a model for residents to follow, while also

providing educational opportunities, for example, skill

training and a focus on training visits.

The implementation of the CAP included72:

Figure 37. Poster of the 4 day
workshop with the community

- A 4-day workshop with the community to identify the

historic elements valuable to the community, the capacity

of the owners to fund the restoration of their house,

devising a matrix that provided a template for upgrading

standards of the identified historic elements, which also

determined associated costs.

Figure 38. Stakeholder meeting

72
Ibid

99
 - The long-term benefit was that the community would have models to follow as their

income circumstances changed and their desire and capacity to renovate further their

houses increased.

Figure 39. Design models for the owners to follow as their income circumstances change

The “Community Action Planning” approach succeeded in achieving the following73:

- Residents were very active in expressing their opinions and provided a direct reference

for community improvement

- Communities became more aware of the issues of planning and implementation and

recognized the different improvement issues of the lane, facade and house;

73
Historic Neighbourhood Upgrading With Community Participation,
http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/upgrading/issues-tools/tools/pdfs/CHINA-HERITA (accessed April 05, 2018).

100
 - A common understanding was achieved among the various actors;

- Residents were able to make better-informed decisions in choosing among alternatives

and structuring ideas;

- Residents prepared an action plan to organize short and medium-term improvements in

their housing environment, to help organize their scarce resources for maximum benefit;

The pilot project was further presented to the municipal government, who accepted the

outcomes of the workshop and made further changes in the master plan of the pilot project

according to the suggestions by the residents. In the months following the CAP workshop, 40

houses had been renovated. The renovated interior in the traditional houses provided better

kitchen and toilet services. The public spaces were improved and the exterior of the traditional

facades was renovated.

Figure 40. Renovated Courtyard

101
 Figure 41. Renovated toilet and kitchen

Figure 42. Renovated facade of the historic houses

The major takeaways from this case study are:

- There is a need for interventions in the traditional houses to include modern sanitary

and kitchen facilities. Without those, the old cities of many developing countries are

facing migration and abandonment of the traditional houses outwards.

- It is of utmost importance that the owners of the traditional houses are included in

determining the historic significance of their houses, for they are the ones who have the

authority to implement and adapt the different policies available to them. Including the

102
 community in identifying the issues in the neighborhood makes them more aware of the

problems and helps them develop trust with the other stakeholders.

- The involvement of the different stakeholder for a common project helps them identify

their roles and responsibilities towards the project. This clarity of the responsibilities is

of utmost importance for the execution of a project.

This case study and the case of the Walled City of Ahmedabad are similar regarding the social

and economic problems faced by the city. Even though the Old city of Yangzhou covers almost

the same area as the Walled City of Ahmedabad, the population in Ahmedabad is four times the

population of the Old city of Yangzhou. Still, the possibility of a similar CAP approach could be

tried in a pilot neighborhood of the Walled City of Ahmedabad. One of the other major difference

is the number of agencies involved in contributing to the heritage rehabilitation of the traditional

houses. It seems that the city of Yangzhou has a system where different agencies such as Cultural

Bureau, Planning Bureau, Construction Bureau, House Management Bureau and Environmental

Protection Bureau, valued the importance of heritage as a potential tool to improve the socio-

economic condition of the Old City. The city of Yangzhou seemed to understand that each agency

holds equal power to make a difference, and only with a balanced integration of the different

roles and responsibilities can positive outcomes be achieved. As opposed to this, the Walled City

of Ahmedabad has fewer agencies working towards the conservation of the pol houses. There is

a significant lack of inter-disciplinary approach in addressing the problems of the city.

103
 To conclude, these three case-studies explain how the successful coordination between

different stakeholders can contribute to positive outcomes for the heritage as well as the

community. There is a need to explore the traditional skills of the community that have the

potential to be monetized. The above case-studies provide a stepping stone in exploring the

different scenario that could be adopted by the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

104
105
The aim of the proposal is to address the issues of the conservation of the pol houses on a larger

scale. Today, in the Walled City, people do not want to get involved in initiatives where they do

not benefit financially. Moreover, because of the lack of trust between the government and the

people, they don’t feel inclined to contribute in public causes. People in the pols love their

lifestyle, their community and are proud to live in the pols. One of the most important reasons

of their lack of involvement in the conservation of the pol houses is that they don’t know if they

can contribute in this field or if their contribution matters at all. To make the people want to get

involved in the conservation, they need to be showed that they are valued, and that their

involvement matters. Initiatives need to be taken to first make them feel valued and needed.

Therefore, it is important to propose the policies addressing the issues that are important to

people. Considering and including their opinions while formulating the policies indicates that

people’s voices matter. Doing this makes people feel valued and in turn, makes them feel an

ownership towards their heritage.

The policies proposed in the thesis are a way to inspire all the stakeholders to take charge and

be more collectively involved in the process of conservation and maintenance of the pol houses.

The process of scenario development was adopted to propose recommendations for the factors

affecting the pol houses and the roles of the stakeholders in dealing with the issues within those

factors. In scenario development, all the possible scenarios on what can be done by the different

stakeholders in addressing the factors are listed down. Based on that, a vision is formed for the

Walled City and the pol houses, and policies are proposed to achieve that vision.

106
The policies are drafted to address everything that needs to be done in the Walled City to

promote better conservation practices. It has to be noted that implementing the actions

mentioned in these policies simultaneously is challenging. These policies are a checklist, that once

completed, would be a successful model for the conservation and maintenance practices in the

Walled City. Strategies would need to be developed to integrate certain actions from each policy,

which would motivate people of the pols to initiate conserving the pol houses and be active

members among the other stakeholders. The strategies should be devised such that equal voice

is given to all the stakeholders and steps are taken to achieve a shared vision.

The approach to the proposal includes:

- Scenario Development

- Creating a vision for the pols and the pol houses in the Walled City of Ahmedabad

- Four policies are proposed to address the factors affecting the conservation of pol houses.

Each policy has its main objective, immediate action required and the actions that are

needed for long-term. Each action is in the order of its priority. There are instances where

the same action is provided for multiple policies if the action contributes to achieving the

main objective of those policies.

- Proposing an intermediary public-private agency for effective execution of some actions

in the policies

- An example of how a strategy can be formed using the actions in the polices is given. The

aim of the strategy is to make the people of the Walled City feel ownership towards the

pols and the pol houses and make them want to conserve the pol houses. The strategy is

107
 divided into different goals to be achieved in a certain period. The strategy also expands

on which stakeholder will carry out what responsibilities.

Scope of Proposal

In a country like India, the legal framework in place allows for public participation. The

government has encouraged that the people think, decide and act in their own socio-economic

interest as per the basic concept of panchayati raj.

“The self-government of villages in India by locally elected representatives or panchayati raj (panch – five

member committee; raj – governance) was strengthened by the 73rd constitutional

Amendment Acts of 1992. The basic concept of panchayati raj is that the villagers should think, decide

and act in their own socio-economic interests (NIRD, 2005). Considering that the village-level

self-governance institutions already exist, the next logical step would be to dovetail environmental

decision- making into their scope of governance.”74

“Currently, from the concerned districts three members are nominated to the public hearing panel

without any clear-cut definition of their role or the weight of their opinion on the final minutes of the

public hearing. The panchayats could be given the key role right from the pre-EIA consultation stage

through to regular monitoring of the project for adherence to conservation and mitigation measures

promised by the proponent (page 124 from the need for participatory principles article).”75

74
T. Rajaram & Ashutosh Das (2006) Need for participatory and sustainable principles in India's EIA system:
lessons from the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 24:2, 115-126,
DOI: 10.3152/147154606781765237
75
Ibid

108
This indicates that there are no legal or political implications for a community to come together

and work towards a certain vision under the governance of a local committee, panchayati raj for

villages. In fact, the government motivates the people to invest and get active themselves in

improving their socio-economic conditions through various policies.

“..better coordination and consolidation of efforts by different stakeholders could be achieved by

supporting the Heritage Department at the AMC as the nodal agency, with particular attention to

privately-owned properties and traditionally-maintained houses and public buildings and spaces.”. 76

“ICOMOS recommends to extend the management plan and its implementation mechanisms to engage

in an informed and proactive way the local communities and religious groups that are responsible for

heritage resources.”77

- ICOMOS, Management Plan

Today, public open spaces and public facilities are owned by the Ahmadabad Municipal

Corporation, other institutions are owned by community trusts, temple trusts for Hindu and Jain

structures, and by Waqf for Islamic structures. Listed historic buildings are owned by the ASI

(central 121 government) or the State Department of Archaeology (State government). The

majority of properties within the nominated property are privately owned.78 Because of the

complexity in the ownership of heritage properties, a co-management public-private

management framework proposed below could be one of the few legally viable alternatives for

76
UNESCO, Historic City of Ahmadabad, Management Plan
77
Ibid
78
Ibid

109
the active actions for the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses and other heritage

properties.

People living in the pols don’t realize that they are one of the most important stakeholders in

protecting the heritage of the city. Since the pol houses are privately owned heritage properties,

their conservation rests in the hands of their owners. That doesn’t mean that people understand

how to make the decisions that would benefit not only them but also protect the heritage

properties. This is where the other stakeholders need to step up. They need to make the people

realize how substantial their role is in protecting the heritage of the city and understand the

issues that people in the pols are dealing with. Discussing solutions among the stakeholders

together would benefit the people and make their life easier by protecting the heritage. When

the government starts showing that it cares for the people and gives them evidence on how the

conservation of pol houses benefits them, there is no reason why people would not willingly get

involved. Only by joint efforts, developing a mutual understanding and taking steps in solving the

challenges that people face in preserving the pol houses and other issues related to the pol

houses, would a mutual trust among the stakeholders be established. This trust goes a long way

in implementation of policies and incentives proposed by the government.

110
 Figure 43. Scenario planning and brainstorming process for designing policies

111
 7.1 Vision
The Walled city of Ahmedabad

continues to function as a living

heritage (as a city) with its cultural

heritage being a resource and a

function in the life of communities,

contributing to the social,

economic and sustainable

development of the city through

the integration and involvement of

different stakeholders.

This vision can be achieved by

addressing the different factors

affecting the Walled City.

The policies proposed are:

- Conservation policy

- Social Development policy

- Integration and Education

policy

- Urban planning and heritage

Figure 44. Scenario development to reach the vision policy

112
7.1.1 Conservation Policy
Objective: The pol houses function as an essential resource in the lives of communities leading

to their proper conservation and regular maintenance, contributing to a healthy and sustainable

lifestyle for the communities.

It can be understood from the analysis of the interviews that the owners of the pol houses with

a historic value do not carry out regular maintenance of their houses. This is because they can

neither afford extensive conservation and maintenance nor do they have any incentive or

motivation provided by the government. Therefore, the Conservation Policy is divided into two

parts:

Figure 45. Conservation and Incentives for conservation are interdependent

Part 1 - Materials Conservation

Part 2 - Incentivizing the Conservation

Part 1: Materials Conservation - This part focuses on the material conservation of the pol houses,

exploring sustainable and affordable options for repairs and restoration, and establishing

standard regulations for the changes that can be allowed to be made to the pol houses

113
Immediate Actions

- A Standard Guide for the conservation of the pols prepared by the experts

- Devising regulations that define the maximum change that can be made to a pol house

- Building Height: The height of a pol house or new construction in a pol cannot be

higher than the tallest pol house in that particular pol.

- Exterior Facade: No change in the historic facade of the pol houses except for

regular maintenance and repairs under the supervision of a restoration specialist.

- Setbacks: The historic pol houses must remain where they are. The new

construction should not cross the imaginary line aligning the majority of the

historic houses along a given street.

- Interior: Changes in the position of the toilets and kitchen to incorporate modern

facilities can be done such that it does not damage the integrity of the interior

circulation of the house and does not alter the historic exterior facade of the

house. The courtyards in the houses cannot be permanently covered to change

the function of the space. The ornamentation and the historic elements in the

interior such as courtyards, doors, windows, lintels, balconies, etc should not be

altered except for repairs and maintenance. Other permissible modifications

include installation of modern facilities like wifi, terrace flooring to prevent

leakage, plumbing and electrical facilities.

- Building Use: Adaptive reuse of a pol house is permissible as far as the alterations,

additions, and modifications do not degrade the character of the pol houses,

compromise with the integrity of the quality of the space and permanently

114
 damage the historic fabric in the interior or the exterior of the building. The new

use of the building should be such that it serves a function in the lives of the

community contributing to the social and economic development of the Walled

City.

For example,

- a vacant pol house can be converted into a public library,

- a collaborative workspace for the residents of the pols where they can

promote their business;

- the residents of the pols can use a multifunction space for special

occasions like weddings, festivals, etc;

- Any public-private or private ventures in a pol house should provide a certain percent of

its profit to the common funds of the pol. This would provide the pol with some funds

that can be used for regular maintenance of the pols such as restoration of birdfeeders,

cleaning of the streets and for celebrating festivals.

Long-term Actions

- Establishing a materials bank;

- Proper conservation and repairs of the pol house under the consultation of a restoration

specialist;

- Regular maintenance of the pol houses;

115
 - Researching and testing alternative and affordable materials to replace wood and lime

mortar;

Part 2: Incentivizing the Conservation - This part enlists the actions that would incentivize and

motivate the stakeholders to get involved in the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses.

The purpose of this policy is to make the communities feel ownership for the invaluable heritage

that they are an essential part of and create an environment where heritage brings in different

opportunities for the various stakeholders.

Immediate Actions

- Government is covering the cost of materials while the owners cover the cost of labor;

- Forming a team of trained workers equipped to carry out regular maintenance of the pols;

Long-term Actions

- Adaptive reuse of vacant pol houses for the community to start small-scale industries. For

instance, the vacant pol houses can be used by the community to promote or expand

their existing businesses like printing, food products, etc;

7.1.2 Socio-economic Development Policy - The community feels ownership for the heritage

leading them to contribute to the conservation of the pol houses with the support and

involvement of the various stakeholders. The heritage brings in economic benefit to the people

living in the pols as well as the stakeholders involved in preserving the pols.

116
Immediate Actions

- Providing affordable design solution for better toilets and kitchen in the pol houses;

- Government converts one vacant pol house in each pol into a community center;

Long-term Actions

- Every public-private venture in the Walled City must have reserved spots for providing

employment to the people living there;

- Creating a database that has the documentation all the heritage properties of the Walled

city. The database should include the details of ownership, materials, age, previous

repairs, policies used by the owners, and the condition of the properties.

- Updates regarding the different policies available to their heritage property can be sent

to the owners through the information provided on the database.

7.1.3 Integration and Educational Policy - To promote a better understanding of heritage

conservation by bringing the stakeholders associated with the pols together to seek a shared

vision of the social, economic and sustainable development of the Walled city and the

communities as a whole

Immediate Actions

- A team for educating and explaining the regulations of World Heritage designation by

visiting the pol houses individually;

117
 - Electing representatives from each pol who will be actively involved in transparent

communication between the owners and the other stakeholders;

- Capacity building workshops to train a group of people in each pol who would carry out

regular maintenance in their pols;

Long-term Actions

- Carrying out different surveys in the pols to understand the requirement of the land-use,

lack of services, infrastructure needs, employment opportunities, maintenance and

conservation requirements.

- Monthly stakeholder meetings between the representatives of pols, restoration

specialists, city officials, NGOs and developers.

- A team to prepare the documents for applying for TDR and getting the approvals in a

timely and efficient manner

- Incorporating on-site conservation and maintenance of heritage in university syllabus

(architecture and civil engineering students) in return for either

credits/internship/certificate/possible job opportunities;

- Educating the children of the city - Walled city and the new city, about the heritage of the

city and its values through heritage walks, workshops, class projects, picnics, and

including the heritage stories in their syllabus;

- Provision of conservation manuals to all the houses in pols and the provision through

online access;

118
 - Utilizing media and technology for efficient communication between the government and

the people of the Walled city for better implementation of the policies;

7.1.4 Urban Planning and Heritage Policy: Devising feasible policies and legislative framework

addressing the urban planning issues within the Walled city, and ensuring the effective use of the

policies by the different stakeholders and comfortable lifestyle for the communities.

Immediate Actions

- Designing a comprehensive short-term plan and long-term plan for the Walled city;

- Introducing consequences for not following the regulations introduced by the

government, and for any deliberate damage done to the historic property, including

tearing down the building, illegal additions and alterations to the structure, graffiti and

other damages that have a visual, cultural and structural impact on the historic property;

- Planning alternative strategies for handling the traffic congestion and parking problems;

- Introducing the facilities required for providing running water for 24hrs in the Walled city;

- Establishing a monitoring committee;

- Making the documentation of all the heritage properties available to the public;

- Making a land-use plan for the pol houses of the Walled city.

119
Long-term Actions

- An easy and straightforward system to navigate the application and approval process of

policies

A vacant and deteriorated pol house is a waste of resource in terms of space, materials and use.

When this resource is utilized to serve the community in the form of social services, schools,

hospitals, promoting traditional arts and crafts, contributing to the social and economic

development, the pol houses become an essential resource for sustainable development.

These policies, when implemented simultaneously, could contribute to better functioning of the

Walled city, and positively impact the social, economic and sustainable development of the city.

7.2 Proposed Governance Framework

The proposed governance framework aims to address the needs and the wants of the

communities through utilization of the abundant resource such as pol houses and thus create a

sustainable environment which contributes to the social and economic development of the

Walled city.

The policies and actions proposed can only be implemented if all the stakeholders are actively

involved in its working. This section expands on the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders,

individually or collectively, to implement each policy successfully. Different actions can be

120
overlapped to achieve the objectives of different policies. In an ideal scenario, all the

stakeholders are actively involved in fulfilling their roles towards efficiently using the pol houses

as a resource for the socio-economic development of the Walled city.

The actors who can contribute and get involved in the implementation of these policies are:

- Local government;

- Residents of the Walled City;

- Restoration specialists;

- Developers/ Investors;

- Nonprofit organizations;

- Public: user group who are not residents of the Walled City but have vested interest in its

preservation and development. These can be tourists, citizens of Ahmedabad, the state

of Gujarat and the country.

7.2.1 An Intermediary Agency

Because of the top-down approach and the constant mistrust and miscommunication between

the government and the communities, there is a need for the government to actively getting

involved in understanding the needs and wants of the communities and include them in the

decision-making process while devising the policies that would directly impact the community.

Since the Walled city has a population of about 400,000 people and the heritage department of

the AMC has a relatively less number of people working in the direction of the preservation of

the pol houses, a new intermediary agency for managing conservation and the maintenance of

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the pol houses needs to be established. This department would be the primary source of

communication and integration between the different stakeholders as well as an active member

in carrying out specific action plans of the proposed policies. The primary purpose of this agency

is the implementation of several actions proposed in the four policies. It would bring the different

stakeholders together and give them a platform to work collectively in a transparent

environment.

Committees of the Agency

The intermediary agency will comprise of different committees responsible for different aspects

associated with the conservation and maintenance of the pol houses. These are:

- Political Committee

- Executive Committee

- Monitoring Committee

- Networking Committee

Political Committee: It would work in collaboration with the Political wing of the Heritage

department of AMC.

Executive Committee: It would work in collaboration with the Executive wing of the Heritage

department of AMC. The Executive Committee will overlook the approval process for different

policies for the owners and adaptive reuse projects of pols for promoting small-scale local

businesses.

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Monitoring Committee: It will overlook the implementation of all the projects and events carried

out by the agency. It will be responsible for monitoring the head teams handling the execution

of projects like a team of trained workers, documentation, and materials bank.

Networking Committee: It will be responsible for informing the people of the pols regarding the

regulations of the World Heritage nomination. Since the people think that they would not be able

to make changes to their house or sell their house once the city is inscribed on the list, they have

been tearing down the historic fabric out of unprecedented fear. The Networking Committee

would have a team that would visit every pol to provide information about the values, the process

of being nominated, the importance of the inscription of the Walled City, and the regulations of

World Heritage nomination. They will stop the people from destroying the pol houses any

further.

The committee will also be responsible for organizing the stakeholder meetings, events for

education and awareness regarding the latest policies, employment to the people of the Walled

City and coordinating with architects and students regarding conservation internships.

The agency aims to:

- Provide a voice to the people of the Walled City;

- Bring together the stakeholders on a common platform and help them seek a shared

vision for the city;

- Instill accountability in all the stakeholders by clearly defined roles;

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 - Be fair and just with everyone’s rights;

- Be responsive to the needs of the stakeholders and advocating integration for the benefit

of the people and the places;

The actions that would be implemented by the agency are:

Land- use plan

Making a land use plan specific to the pol houses with heritage value in the Walled City. This

would provide an understanding of the scope of opportunities for future.

Long-term and Short-term vision

The Networking Committee will bring together the stakeholders to seek a shared long-term and

short-term vision through regular meetings, on-field workshops, and lectures that would help in

defining and ascribing the values that each stakeholder associates with the pol houses. These

values would be the driver to determine the vision that would be shared and supported by all the

stakeholders.

Employment Opportunities

The agency will employ 80 percent of its staff from the Walled city. All the committees of the

intermediary agency will comprise of the owners of the Pol Houses in the Walled City of

Ahmedabad, conservation experts, government officials and other relevant stakeholders. Hiring

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the owners of the pol houses as part of the committee members would bring all the stakeholders

on an equal footing and give voice to the people living in the Pols.

Conservation and Maintenance Manual

The restoration specialists and experts would be called in to draft a manual that explains the

methods that should be adopted for proper conservation and maintenance of the pol houses in

three languages, i.e., English, Gujarati and Hindi. The manual will have written statement as well

as drawings that can be understood by every stakeholder.

The significance of the values of pols will be assessed by undertaking on field workshops where

the restoration specialists and the city officials get together with the residents of the pols. The

intention of the agency through this workshop is to understand the object of value for the

communities by encouraging them to put forward their ideas and opinions by giving them a

common platform with the other stakeholders. It also encourages an educational dialogue

between different stakeholders where each explains what they value and why, and shared values

are determined. Keeping these values in mind, and in collaboration with government officials and

the communities of the pols, the restoration specialists will design the “Conservation and

Maintenance manual for the Pols.”

Capacity Building

The monitoring committee of the agency will form an extensive team of trained workers who

would carry out necessary maintenance of the pols. Each pol would have a team of three trained

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workers selected from that pol, who would be employed by the agency. The number of team

workers can be increased as required. Each team would report to the head team who would

manage all the teams. If there needs to be a conservation project in a particular pol, the team of

that pol would have the right to be hired by the firm taking up the project. The firm will also be

given an option to hire teams from other pols for the project. Thus, this program contributes to

employment growth, carrying forward the skills and knowledge of repairs and restoration of the

historic fabric of the city, and scope of spreading that knowledge among younger generations.

Through this system, the maintenance of the pol houses would be of no charge to the owners.

This would create a positive outlook towards the conservation and maintenance of the pols in

the minds of the communities.

Material Banks

A material bank is a place where one can find salvaged historic material that was brought in from

a ruined pol house. The material can be bought to use it in the restoration of a pol house. These

material banks will hire people from the Walled City itself. All the material banks would be

managed and governed by the assigned members of the monitoring committee of the agency.

Conservation Internships

The government will incorporate on-site conservation internships as a part of the mandatory

university syllabus for architecture and civil engineering students of the city in return for either

credits/certificate/possible job opportunities. Allying with established architects and

conservation architects to motivate the students to apply for the internship opportunities in the

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hopes of learning under experienced architects of the city and possible job opportunities in their

firms after graduation. This would contribute to the integration of different stakeholders when

the students work alongside the experts while interacting and learning the culture and traditions

of the residents of the pol houses.

Documentation

There is no available documentation of the nominated pol houses. To apply for any policies, the

owners need to pay architects and draftsmen for the drawings of their houses. Since they cannot

afford to do that, they miss out on the policies that could aid them in the maintenance of their

house. Readily available drawings for all nominated houses need to be available for everyone to

access. In addition to motivating the owners to use this documentation for different policies, this

will lead to an increase in the resources available to the people for understanding and gain

knowledge on the pol houses.

The agency would train people from the Walled city, volunteers and the interns in the skills of

documentation, sketching and report writing. The pol houses become a resource that would be

used to impart new skill sets to a different group of people and create more job opportunities.

7.2.2 Actions by Government

The Heritage Department of the AMC, in collaboration with the Heritage Conservation

Committee of the State Government, would implement the following actions:

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- AMC developing a vision for how they see the pol houses in five years, ten years and

twenty years;

- City Government buying out vacant pol houses from the owners;

- The government covers the cost of the materials, while the owners cover the cost of the

labor;

- Introducing consequences for breaking any regulations laid down by the government

regarding the conservation of pol houses;

- AMC, in collaboration with AUDA (Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority), addresses

the issues of traffic congestion and lack of parking space;

- One vacant pol house in every pol is converted into a community center. The center

overlooks the different complaints of the people related to the working of the pol,

community meetings and other stakeholder meetings can be carried out, and promotion

of small scale business of the people of that pol can be done in this center. The center is

managed by the elected representatives of the pols and is run by the people hired by the

elected representatives from that pol itself;

- Restoration specialists in collaboration with the government would find affordable

alternatives for wooden structural elements, toilets and kitchens;

- Local government carrying out extensive surveys to understand the needs of the people

living in the Walled City

- AMC would make a Heritage Land Use plan in collaboration with AUDA (Ahmedabad

Urban Development Authority). The plan would include the following details:

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 - Type of heritage property

- Number of floors

- Condition

- Total area - Plot area and Built area

- Owner details

- Use

In an ideal scenario, the collective action by the intermediary agency along with the different

stakeholders can lead to successful management and conservation of the Pol Houses in the

Walled City of Ahmedabad. The Pol Houses have the potential to be an ideal boon for the society

and all the stakeholders must utilize this resource to maximize its benefits for the community.

This, in turn, would create a harmonious relationship between the heritage and its people.

7.3 Strategy Development

The pol houses are plagued by many different issues. It is difficult to decide which factor to

address first that could be a motivating factor for the conservation of the pol houses. While there

are several factors affecting the pol houses and being major obstacles to their conservation, there

are also strengths in each stakeholder that can contribute to be a start in improving the

conservation practices in the Walled City of Ahmedabad.

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The following strategy is an example where the goal is to make the people of the Walled City to

feel ownership towards the pol houses and make them want to get involved in the conservation.

It has to be noted that all the actions listed under the different steps of the strategy have been

picked from the “Immediate Actions” and “Long-term Actions” under the four policies proposed

above. This is an example on how those policies can be utilized to form various strategies over

time.

Step 1: Gathering all the stakeholders and bringing out the voice of the people living in pols

The main strength of the Walled City is its people. People in the pols have strong unity among

them because of the mutual trust and their shared values. Whenever in doubt, they reach out to

their neighbors first. Their opinions and voices are valued the most among each other. The first

step to motivate the people to practice conservation and maintenance of their heritage resource

begins here.

As it was apparent in the section of “interviews with owners”, people have no idea on how to

approach the conservation of pol houses. They don’t know how them, as a stakeholder, can play

a role in creating a vision for the city. So the first thing that needs to be done is to get people

involved and show them how their voice is important. It is important to understand that people,

right now, do not want to get involved. Initially, to get people participate, the government has to

take steps towards making them get involved, to show them that their voice matters, and only

then would the people want to get involved themselves.

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This can be only be done if people are motivated to participate by someone who they trust. A

small local committee for each pol needs to be formed, who would be the representatives of

that pol, by the people of the pols. To do so, first of all, the heritage department of AMC needs

to introduce a ‘Networking Committee” and a “Monitoring Committee”.

Networking Committee: This committee would be responsible for informing the people to form

a committee who would represent their pols. The condition that if the people fail to form a

committee, the Networking Committee will form a team themselves needs to be given to the

people or else they would not be motivated enough to get started. The Networking committee

would organize stakeholder meetings where it invites the local committees to discuss the goals

of the government, and ask people in what they need to make their lives easier. The meetings

would involve brainstorming ideas on how could the pol houses be improved, what would make

the people more involved in their maintenance , and what could the government do to provide

the people what they need.

Monitoring Committee: This committee would monitor and follow up with all the ideas and

commitments made by and to the people of the pols.

Local Committee: This committee is responsible for going to all the houses in their respective

pols and talking to the people on what was discussed, taking surveys on the needs of people,

communicating transparently between the government and the people, and having regular

131
meetings with all the owners of the pols to understand what they need for the maintenance

and conservation of their houses.

Furthermore, the actions needed to be taken collectively by all the committees for improving

the public participation are:

- Monthly stakeholder meetings

- Creating a shared vision in these meetings

- Forming a team of workers for each pol. This team would be formed of the people of

pols by the local committee with the approval of majority of the people of that pol.

These workers would be trained by restoration experts called in by the Networking

committee.

Step 2: Required Actions for the conservation of pol houses

Period of Execution: 1 – 3 yrs

Once there is a successful development in people’s opinion towards the conservation of the pol

houses, there are several options that the different stakeholders can choose from as a start.

One of the most important step that needs to be taken for the maximum integration of the

stakeholders is for all of them to listen to each other. This step is to create a base that would

guide the stakeholders towards the necessary actions. For instance, this step includes actions

such as:

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1. Local Committees carrying out surveys in their respective pols to understand the needs

of the people. In addition to stakeholder meetings in the first step (which was to initiate

public participation), the surveys would provide concrete proof and validations on the

needs of the community, not only for the conservation of the pol houses, but also for a

comfortable lifestyle in the pol houses.

2. Government and restoration specialist draft a “Conservation Manual”. “Conservation

Manual” serves as a guideline that provides conservation techniques of different levels of

budgets required for conservation. This guideline gives choices to the people to make

decision for their own houses.

3. Documentation of all pol houses with heritage value is carried out by the government.

This documentation is to be made available to public. This would help the people in

having correct drawings when they apply for TDR certificate and improve their chances of

approvals in a minimum amount of time.

4. Government covers the cost of the materials, while the owners cover the cost of the

labor. This would incentivize communication between the government and the

stakeholders. Successful implementation of this deal would contribute immensely in

developing trust between the two stakeholders.

5. Introducing consequences for not following the regulations. Currently, there is no

adequate monitoring process that keeps a watch on the pol houses in the Walled City. As

mentioned earlier, two houses in just one pol have been destroyed in the last four years.

No action has been taken against the owners. There needs to be consequences that the

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 owners are wary of in order to avoid future destruction of this valuable heritage

resource.

These are the most basic step-wise actions that need to be taken to set up a ground for further

conservation and maintenance initiatives. Implementing just these actions would make a huge

difference in the condition of the pol houses today.

Step 3: Maximizing the positive impact of the conservation of pol houses.

Period of Execution: 5 - 10yrs

Once a platform for conservation practices is set up through “Step 2”, this step works in the

direction to maximize the benefits of the pol houses and its conservation. There are abundant

vacant pol houses existing and near ruins in the Walled City today. These vacant pol houses

present a huge scope to serve as a resource for the people in the Walled City. One option to

utilize these houses is for the Government to provide an option to the owners to sell the vacant

and deteriorate pol houses. The government can then hire conservation architects for

restoration and adaptive re-use of the pol houses, contributing to the increase in demands for

the restoration specialists. The restored pol houses can serve as a public property serving a

purpose as required by the people in the pol, understood through the surveys carried out

during “Step 2” by the local committees.

Similarly, another step that can be taken towards utilizing the pol houses as a resource is

establishing a materials bank. If the “Step 2” is implemented properly and there is an increase

in the conservation practices, the demand for the historic materials would also increase.

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Establishing materials bank can help address the increasing demands. Moreover, the materials

derived from the ruins of the historic pol houses can be put to better use.

In conclusion, this three-step strategy was formulated using the actions that were proposed in

the policies. This strategy addressed the issue of public participation and integration through

the conservation of pol houses. Similarly, other strategies can be devised using the policies to

address issues like policy and planning, infrastructure and services and social development.

135
136
The process of this thesis on the Walled City of Ahmedabad has been extensive. The initial

hypothesis was that the lack of conservation of the pol houses was due to the lack of awareness

about the importance of the heritage among the people living in the pols. But the situation in the

Walled City is not as simple.

Visiting the city and talking to the several stakeholders associated with the pol houses proved

how wrong the initial hypothesis was. People loved living in the pol houses. Most of the people

that were interviewed chose to live in the pol houses given the choice to live in the new city. They

enjoyed the spaces that gave them a platform to share their culture, festivals, and traditions. Pol

houses were their haven in the continuously changing world around them. This attachment of

the people to the pol houses is one of the most important reasons that the Walled City of

Ahmedabad has survived as a living heritage for six centuries. Moreover, people’s involvement

in current heritage related activities like the heritage walks, heritage week, and other cultural

exhibitions is the evidence that people value the history of the city and are willing to participate

in promoting the heritage. People’s love towards this history and the urban settlement is the

biggest asset that could contribute towards a better integration between the stakeholders.

(i) Burden vs Boon

One of the important lessons that I learnt during this thesis is that Heritage does not always get

neglected because of the lack of awareness about its value or lack of action by the stakeholders.

There are instances where people don’t even know that their voice matters, or even needed.

137
There are so many other issues that need to be addressed in developing countries that protecting

heritage properties becomes a burden. Especially in living heritage sites where the world around

the site is evolving and the expectations from the heritage site is to stand still. People do not

destroy heritage because of the lack of awareness about the value of heritage. They destroy it

when the heritage holds them back.

This is a case where Heritage is misunderstood by the society. The thesis promotes a better

understanding on a wide range of possibilities that Heritage has to offer to people. It proposes

recommendations and several options where Heritage opens new opportunities for people such

as job opportunities, easy access to documentations of their houses, facilitating easier process of

gaining benefits from government policies, agency that gives a platform for equal voice to all

stakeholders, and a transparent and a better integration with other stakeholders. If Heritage

contributes in the socio-economic development of the stakeholders, there is no reason why

people wouldn’t take an active interest in protecting it.

(ii) Isolation Vs. Inclusion

Preserving and maintaining a heritage building is never a single agency’s responsibility. There are

always different stakeholders responsible for its protection. The experts in the field of heritage

are aware of this but the people, the government, the communities associated with a heritage

building will not always be aware of who is responsible for what. One of the main problems that

arises in the implementation of different policies and plans for the preservation of a heritage

138
building is the lack of clearly defined roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. No single

stakeholder group has the ability or the capacity to change the system of preservation in a

broader context. There needs to be a joint involvement of the stakeholders in changing the way

we think about preservation.

Today, it would appear that one of the most common approaches in the field of preservation is

action in insolation. In this scenario, every stakeholder has their own opinion on the scope and

approach of preservation towards heritage. Some value history and aesthetics of a building, some

value the land the building stands on, while some do not know that the building even has value.

In the end, this significant gap in the opinions of the stakeholders leads to no action at all. Hence,

it is essential to give equal voice to all the stakeholders, bring them together to seek a shared

vision and give them equal resources to fulfill their duties towards the preservation of the

heritage.

(iii) Change Vs. Continuity

“The more things change, the more they remain the same”
a. Jean-Baptista Alphonse Karr

Heritage was passed on to us by the past generations. There was a time when Heritage served a

purpose. If the past generation had never made use of the heritage buildings, we would never

possess the invaluable history and stories about the past that prove to be one of the most

important sources of information. These stories and the important events of the history are

139
associated with the buildings and the context that they occurred in, and vice versa. Today, if the

heritage buildings serve no purpose other than being a “museum”, our stories would never be

told to the future. It is our responsibility to teach the future generation to treat our heritage with

the respect that it deserves and value it as the invaluable resource that it is. Heritage was passed

down to us in the hope that they would make the lives of the people easier by contributing in the

socio-economic development of the country. When heritage serves as a function to the people,

not only does that make the people feel ownership towards it, but it also adds to the value

associated with the heritage today, and for the future.

One of the critical things that can be learned from the case of the Walled City of Ahmedabad is

that change is necessary for the continuity of the use of the city as an urban settlement. The

Walled City has survived for six centuries because it has kept evolving and adapting to the

contemporary world. This evolution and change needs to continue for the people to continue

living in the pols. These change can also be in the way that we think about preservation in

addition to the changes that have been happening in the construction and materials of the pol

houses. It can be in the way we use our resources, the way we use or don’t use our heritage

buildings, and the way that we do conservation treatments to our buildings. The proposal in the

thesis provides the policies which addresses the ways in which the changes in the pols and the

pol houses be regulated for the protection and preservation of the heritage properties.

The field of preservation has seen a continuous evolution in the conservation treatments of the

historic materials. Continuous research is carried out in finding the best ways to treat historic

140
buildings. Despite that, more research needs to be done in finding the ways to open the field of

preservation to new approaches. Changing our approach to strive for better preservation

practice will contribute to the continuity of our heritage in the lives of the people today and for

the future generations.

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