Receive Daily Updates
Ahmedabad is blazing a trail in preserving our cultural heritage, something other Indian cities can emulate to make a mark on the global stage.
With a shift in international discourse from conservation and preservation of just iconic monuments to large areas of historic significance, countries around the world are now recognising the social, economic and cultural value of their heritage resources.
It was with the objective of safeguarding and promoting shared cultural and natural heritage that the countries adopted the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1972. Improving on the 1972 convention, the 36th General Conference of World Heritage Committee (WHC), under the aegis of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), adopted the recommendation on the historic urban landscape in 2011. The aim of the convention was to “assist state parties in addressing the challenges of protecting and managing their urban heritage”.
It was during the recent (42nd session) WHC meeting in Krakow, Poland that Ahmedabad was declared a World Heritage City, joining the elite list of 250 cities around the world. Despite India’s rich heritage, especially in its cities, it has taken far too long for an Indian city to earn this honour.
That Ahmedabad did it is reflective of not only its tangible and intangible heritage legacy but also of the impressive efforts put in by the city to preserve, maintain and promote its heritage resources which made the city stand out among other Indian cities that are facing rapid deterioration of their heritage structures.
Modern Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat, was founded by Ahmad Shah in 1411 AD on the ancient sites of Ashaval and Karanavati. Today, the city has grown to become a major trading and textiles centre.
In its 600 years of continuous occupation, the city had witnessed four major regimes (sultanate of Gujarat, Mughal, Maratha and British) as a result of which the city boasts of a composite culture and a rich mix of Hindu, Islamic and European architecture.
The walled city of Ahmedabad, enclosed by its 12 gates, exist as the historic centre in the otherwise modern city of Greater Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration (AUA), administered by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation(AMC).
Despite its cultural wealth and a strong community network, the heritage core of the city faced a rapid deterioration after Independence due to economic challenges and modern development. A number of historic structures including the city fortification and pol houses were pulled down to facilitate expansion and access to modern amenities.
Efforts to conserve the city’s rich past began in 1984 with a study undertaken by AMC along with America’s Ford Foundation to initiate conservation efforts. In 1996, AMC invited Conservation and Research of Urban Traditional Architecture (CRUTA) to set up a heritage cell within AMC. With this initiative, Ahmedabad became the first Indian local body to have a dedicated heritage cell (even today only a handful of urban bodies have expert cells to deal with the issue of preserving urban heritage), and went on to prepare a comprehensive plan to revitalise the walled city.
In 2001, AMC entered into an agreement with the French government for rehabilitation of the historic city, which led to documentation of more than 12,000 historic structures. In another first-of-its-kind initiative, AMC collaborated with Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) to undertake a public-private partnership project to enable preservation of historic sites.
Under the project, HUDCO along with French government provided loan to owners of heritage houses at subsidised interest rates for undertaking restoration work. In order to preserve the character of the selected area, new guidelines were also issued that prohibited any historic house being pulled down without prior permission from the heritage cell.
To further promote and incentivise conservation, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority initiated a transfer of development rights (TDR) policy in 2013 under which owners of 1,100 odd heritage properties could sell, transfer or lease out additional floor space index to developers in the form of TDR that can be utilised anywhere in the city. The funds thus generated through sale of extra TDR were then utilised for conservation activities.
Apart from administrative reforms, another reason for the city’s success in preserving its heritage character has been the involvement of community members. A series of activities such as heritage walks, street theatre and heritage awards encouraged community participation and support to efforts by the city authorities, and have further strengthened solidarity among people for the cause of culture and heritage.
A number of residents, who had earlier moved out of the walled city area, have recently returned to refurbish their houses and old amenities. Apart from being used for residential purposes, a number of such houses have also been converted into heritage homestays thus attracting tourism and revenue for the area.
Ahmedabad’s success in preserving its urban fabric has successfully demonstrated how local bodies can play an important role in establishing an effective institutional framework for not only preserving the city’s rich heritage but also addressing physical, social and environmental problems plaguing historic areas.
Ahmedabad’s model with its area-based multi-stakeholder and innovative financing approach towards heritage can become a national example for revival of historic landmarks across Indian cities. With a more proactive approach from government and citizens alike, more Indian cities can perhaps earn the honour of being world heritage cities.
Recent Posts
- In the Large States category (overall), Chhattisgarh ranks 1st, followed by Odisha and Telangana, whereas, towards the bottom are Maharashtra at 16th, Assam at 17th and Gujarat at 18th. Gujarat is one State that has seen startling performance ranking 5th in the PAI 2021 Index outperforming traditionally good performing States like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, but ranks last in terms of Delta
- In the Small States category (overall), Nagaland tops, followed by Mizoram and Tripura. Towards the tail end of the overall Delta ranking is Uttarakhand (9th), Arunachal Pradesh (10th) and Meghalaya (11th). Nagaland despite being a poor performer in the PAI 2021 Index has come out to be the top performer in Delta, similarly, Mizoram’s performance in Delta is also reflected in it’s ranking in the PAI 2021 Index
- In terms of Equity, in the Large States category, Chhattisgarh has the best Delta rate on Equity indicators, this is also reflected in the performance of Chhattisgarh in the Equity Pillar where it ranks 4th. Following Chhattisgarh is Odisha ranking 2nd in Delta-Equity ranking, but ranks 17th in the Equity Pillar of PAI 2021. Telangana ranks 3rd in Delta-Equity ranking even though it is not a top performer in this Pillar in the overall PAI 2021 Index. Jharkhand (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Assam (18th) rank at the bottom with Uttar Pradesh’s performance in line with the PAI 2021 Index
- Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 Key Development indicators.
- In the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu and, the bottom three performers are Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Mizoram; and, the bottom three performers are Manipur, Assam and Meghalaya.
- Among the 60:40 division States, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers and Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Delhi appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland; and, the bottom three performers are Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh
- Among the 60:40 division States, Goa, West Bengal and Delhi appear as the top three performers and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar appear as the bottom three performers.
- Among the 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three performers and Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers
- West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were the top three States amongst the 60:40 division States; while Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan appeared as the bottom three performers
- In the case of 90:10 division States, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura were the top three performers and Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand featured as the bottom three
- Among the 60:40 division States, the top three performers are Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and the bottom three performers are Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Goa
- In the 90:10 division States, the top three performers are Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland and the bottom three performers are Manipur and Assam
In a diverse country like India, where each State is socially, culturally, economically, and politically distinct, measuring Governance becomes increasingly tricky. The Public Affairs Index (PAI 2021) is a scientifically rigorous, data-based framework that measures the quality of governance at the Sub-national level and ranks the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India on a Composite Index (CI).
States are classified into two categories – Large and Small – using population as the criteria.
In PAI 2021, PAC defined three significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability. Each of the three Pillars is circumscribed by five governance praxis Themes.
The themes include – Voice and Accountability, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, Regulatory Quality and Control of Corruption.
At the bottom of the pyramid, 43 component indicators are mapped to 14 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to the States and UTs.
This forms the foundation of the conceptual framework of PAI 2021. The choice of the 43 indicators that go into the calculation of the CI were dictated by the objective of uncovering the complexity and multidimensional character of development governance
The Equity Principle
The Equity Pillar of the PAI 2021 Index analyses the inclusiveness impact at the Sub-national level in the country; inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.
This requires all individuals and communities, but particularly the most vulnerable, to have an opportunity to improve or maintain their wellbeing. This chapter of PAI 2021 reflects the performance of States and UTs during the pandemic and questions the governance infrastructure in the country, analysing the effectiveness of schemes and the general livelihood of the people in terms of Equity.
Growth and its Discontents
Growth in its multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources. By resources, PAI 2021 refer to human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations. Capacity building of an economy cannot take place if all the key players of growth do not drive development. The multiplier effects of better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels contribute magnificently in the growth and development of the States.
The Pursuit Of Sustainability
The Sustainability Pillar analyses the access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind. The Pillar subsumes two themes and uses seven indicators to measure the effectiveness of government efforts with regards to Sustainability.
The Curious Case Of The Delta
The Delta Analysis presents the results on the State performance on year-on-year improvement. The rankings are measured as the Delta value over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI). In PAI 2021, 12 indicators across the three Pillars of Equity (five indicators), Growth (five indicators) and Sustainability (two indicators). These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. The Performance in the Delta Analysis is then compared to the Overall PAI 2021 Index.
Key Findings:-
In the Scheme of Things
The Scheme Analysis adds an additional dimension to ranking of the States on their governance. It attempts to complement the Governance Model by trying to understand the developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes. It also tries to understand whether better performance of States in schemes reflect in better governance.
The Centrally Sponsored schemes that were analysed are National Health Mission (NHM), Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme (ICDS), Mahatma Gandh National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SmSA) and MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS).
National Health Mission (NHM)
INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES (ICDS)
MID- DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDMS)
SAMAGRA SHIKSHA ABHIYAN (SMSA)
MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME (MGNREGS)