REVITALIZING HISTORIC AREAS; LESSONS FROM THE RENOVATION OF SAIDPUR VILLAGE, ISLAMABAD

Over the past decades, traditional cities and their historic districts have been deteriorating steadily. The combination of modernity, congestion, old infrastructure and financial pressures have led to migration of people from old neighborhoods and their eventual decline and decay. In league with this loss of traditional cities, in Islamabad, the Central Development Authority (CDA) decided to revitalize the historic village of Saidpur. The project undertook to restore historical architecture, encourage tourism and reverse the cycle of decay by economic and social revival of the area. Saidpur is a small historic village, possibly 500 years old, located at the base of the Margalla Hills. The center of the village has old heritage buildings in the form of two mandirs (temple) and a dharamshala (sanctuary). These were neglected and undergoing rapid deterioration. The infrastructure of the area was underdeveloped, with open drains, unpaved pathways and no solid waste management system. This paper studies the process and results of this revitalization project analysing the impact of the project on the cultural, social and economic conditions of the village. The methodology of this study was based on qualitative interviews with the residents of the village, CDA officials and direct observation of the spaces (before and after renovation). The paper concludes that the local community must be the engine of any sustainable revitalization of cultural heritage. In the case of Saidpur Village, gentrification without community participation has threatened the social and historic cohesion of the area, leading to brutal transformation and marginalization of local residents. Keywords: Saidpur, renovation, sustainable revitalization, heritage, community.