Reintegration of Urban Built Heritage for the Socio-cultural Sustainability in Pakistan: Case of Nadira Begum’s Tomb in Lahore

Abstract

The research article is an effort to explore the socio-cultural benefits of the reintegration of the open urban spaces around the historic monuments. In the Mughal period, tomb construction got the principal significance and the Royal tomb was constructed amid the spacious gardens. The selected case study, the Tomb of Nadira Begum, is a royal tomb, which was constructed in a sunken water tank. During the British period, the tank was filled and transformed in the garden. The Tomb was declared as a protected monument in 1956 and restored by the Archaeology Department in 2020. Now, the garden around the tomb has been transformed into a recreational place. Site surveys and pictorial surveys have been conducted for the evaluation of the current status. Walk thorough analysis was done to identify the dynamics of the site. It has been concluded that there is a dire need to reintegrate the space around the royal tomb for the socio-cultural sustainability of the neighborhood communities.