Profiting from the Past: The Logic of Heritage Preservation in the Walled City of Lahore

In 2012, the Government of Punjab established the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), an autonomous organization responsible for the administration and development of the Walled City of Lahore, the one-square-mile historic interior of Lahore, Pakistan. Since then, the WCLA has led a number of heritage-related development projects, such as the restoration of the Shahi Guzargah (Royal Trail), the Wazir Khan Mosque, and the Shahi Bawarchikhana (Royal Kitchens). Over the summer, Ibrahim Abdul-Wajid conducted fieldwork, interviewing authorities, residents, and tourists of the Walled City to better understand the WCLA’s restoration projects. This conversation will draw on his fieldwork to explore the logic of heritage preservation and how it intersects with the lives and aspirations of different actors in the city.

Speaker:
Ibrahim Abdul-Wajid, MA candidate in Sociology-Anthropology at The American University in Cairo