Download - Delhi Heritage City

city also exist in much the same manner as they did in earliercenturies in the form of the bazaars with a high degree ofspecialisation, spatial concentration of certain branches of tradeand services and to a certain degree even a centre, peripheryorganization of residential quarters and the commercial areas inthe various pockets of the city.STATE OF CONSERVATION ANDFACTORS AFFECTING THE PROPERTYWhile the first Delhi Master Plan of 1962 termed the whole ofShahjahanabad as a slum, subsequent Master Plans have soughtto recognize and address the heritage potential of the city. In recent years there has been arenewed effort to conserve its urban fabric and form. Even as new buildings have come up in manyparts of the city, many of the old structures still survive.Many of the buildings notified as heritage structures by MCD can be said to be in a good state ofconservation, requiring merely ongoing cyclical maintenance, in accordance with good practice inconservation. The high number of ‘not at risk’ heritage buildings are evidence that the heritageassets of the nominated site are in most cases being properly cared for by their owners andcustodians.Also, there are a number of listed buildings that are inadequately maintained, inappropriatelymaintained and damaged due to unplanned urbanization and a neglect over decades before thelisting took place. These can be now said to be in a poorstate of conservation and therefore require major worksand investment.The fort, places of worship and public use, the bazaars forgeneral and exotic commodities, chowks along the courseof the central canal, gates of various hierarchies, institutionsforming a part of the supporting social infrastructure,localities, mansions and gardens formed importantfunctional places of the city. A network of roads within the Delhi Gatecity connected the various functional quarters and made itpossible for people to commute from one place to another. While the city lacked uniformity in thedivision of its space, there was a system evident. This system still survives and is clearlydistinguishable even today.For the purposes of Delhi’s nomination as a World Heritage City, the present state of conservation ofthe nominated site is considered under the key aspects and elements that help define the urbanstructure and help read its urban character as a historic city: city walls and city gates, thanas, wards,mohallas, streets, bazaars, chowks and gardens as open spaces, thefort, institutions, religious structures to include mosques, temples,churches and residential structures.oCity Gates and City Wall: The wall and the gates were the keydefining elements of the boundary of the city. The city wasseparated from the surrounding land by a wall and a moat.While the moat has been filled up, the wall still survives inlarge stretches along the eastern edge. But even in theabsence of the city wall, the compact nature of the built fabriccontrasting with the adjoining relatively open development,helps define the boundaries of the walled city. The profile andtexture of the surviving wall is fully visible from the outside,7/31/2012 Medieval and Colonial Capital cities of Delhi 2