The Historic Cities Programme (HCP) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) promotes the conservation and re-use of buildings and public spaces in historic cities of the Muslim world. HCP undertakes the restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures and public spaces in ways that can spur social, economic and

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development. Individual projects go beyond technical restoration to address the questions of the social and environmental context, adaptive reuse, institutional sustainability and training. In several countries, local Aga Khan Cultural Service companies have been formed to implement projects under the supervision of the HCSP headquarters in Geneva.

Role of the HCP

The HCP works closely with all project stakeholders, including the community. The programme is able to provide planning assistance to government and local conservation bodies. It provides technical expertise and can help to secure funding and resources by defining opportunities and approaches, preparing feasibility studies, and shaping proposals for submission to local investors and international agencies. It also participates in urban conservation and development efforts that focus on building clusters, public spaces between and around buildings, a district, or a historic town. These projects aim to restore and maintain the socioeconomic and

fabric of the designated area. The programme also engages in restoring specific historic sites and buildings that include elements of urban landscape or single structures, for which appropriate new functions are developed to meet the social and economic needs of the respective communities. The programme is concerned with the long-term viability of its conservation projects and does support associated cultural initiatives in this regard. All enabling development factors – community support, innovative institutional structures, and commercial potential – are harnessed, whenever possible, to make conservation sustainable.

Funding sources

HCP plans and executes projects with funding from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and other donors. Institutions, such as the

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, World Monuments Fund, the Ford Foundation, the

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and Norwegian bilateral aid organisations, and the World Bank have sponsored or co-funded HCSP activities. HCSP establishes local service companies as partners in implementation and prepares them for autonomous operation as self-sustaining community organisations.

Projects

The Historic Cities Programme has been involved in nearly twenty distinct revitalisation projects in Afghanistan, the Northern Areas of Pakistan, Zanzibar,

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, Cairo, Mostar (

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), Mali and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. In all project locations, community participation, training of local professionals and local institution-building are essential components. *Restoration of the Great Mosque of Mopti, Mali *Restoration of the gardens of Humayun's Tomb in Delhi, India *Conservation of Forts in Hunza and

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...

, Pakistan *Restoration and conservation of old neighbourhoods of Kabul, Afghanistan *Conservation of the sixteenth-century Bagh-e Babur (Babur's Gardens) in Kabul, Afghanistan *Repair and conservation of the late eighteenth-century mausoleum of

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in Kabul, Afghanistan *Conservation of structures and upgrading of infrastructure in the old city of Herat, Afghanistan *Repairs to the shrine complex of Khoja Abdullah Ansari, dating from the Timurid period in

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, Afghanistan *Restoration of structures and conservation planning in Old Stone Town, Zanzibar *Creation of the 30 hectare Al-Azhar Park from a garbage dump in Cairo, Egypt *Preparation of a new master plan for the Timurid city in

, Uzbekistan *Restoration of key monuments, historic buildings and open spaces in the old city of Mostar,

*Provision of technical assistance and training to the Directorate of Antiquities in

for the conservation and management of three major citadels in

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, Masyaf and Qalat Salah ed-Din

Awards and recognition

*2007 '' Time''
The Best of Asia Awards
�

awarded for the restoration of Bagh-e Babur (Babur's Gardens) in Kabul, Afghanistan. *2006 UNESCObr>Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation
�
Award of Excellence
for the restoration of the Shigar Fort Palace in Skardu,

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Pakistan *2006 PATAbr>GOLD Award
for Heritage and Culture awarded for the restoration and re-use of Shigar Fort Palace in Skardu,

Pakistan *2005 UNESCObr>Asia Pacific Heritage Conservation Award of Merit
for the conservation of Amburiq Mosque in Shigar,

, Pakistan *2005 '' Time Asia''
Best of Asia Award
for the Baltit Fort, Hunza Valley, Pakistan *2005 ''

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Global Vision Innovation Award
for Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt *2004 UNESC
Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Conservation
�
Award of Excellence
for the restoration of the 700-year-old Baltit Fort in

Pakistan *2003 UNESC
Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Conservation
�
Award of Distinction
for the restoration of the 300-year-old

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in Khaplu,

, Pakistan *2002 UNESC
Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Conservation
�
Award of Distinction
for the restoration o
four 300-year-old wooden mosques
in Pakistan's Hunza Valley *200
Tourism for Tomorrow Awards
Global Winner – Karimabad and

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project development, Pakistan

References

Sources

*{{cite web, url=http://www.islamicamagazine.com/issue-15/rescuing-cairos-lost-heritage.html , title=Rescuing Cairo's Lost Heritage , work= Islamica Magazine , issue=15 , date=2006 , access-date=2006-12-06 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026205029/http://www.islamicamagazine.com/issue-15/rescuing-cairos-lost-heritage.html , archive-date=October 26, 2006 , url-status=dead , df=mdy

External links

Historic Cities ProgrammeArchNet Digital Library – Historic Cities Support ProgrammeAga Khan Trust for CultureThe Aga Khan Development Network
Historic Cities Programme Islamic culture