VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages
Abstract
Empress Market, a British Colonial heritage building from early 19th century in the historic core of Karachi, sets the backdrop for the small-scale entrepreneurs who act as the living character of the environment. Around Empress Market, there are many small scale commercial and retail setups which operate informally, but add dynamism and rich character to the vicinity. These arrangements are informal; thus, they frequently experience evictions. In September 2018, a similar round of evictions began, leading to the permanent removal of the commercial and retail establishments in and near the Empress Market. This approach fundamentally altered the Market’s character, had a negative effect on the area’s living culture, and erased the region’s pre- and post-independence past. This essay investigates an instance of widespread evictions around heritage building in Karachi that led to the loss of socio-economic diversity in terms of the city’s intangible heritage and a shift in its urban character. If metropolitan government had used a consultative and participative approach, the negative effects of this move could have been averted. The evictions near the Empress Market have been taken as a case, and information is obtained through qualitative interviews with those who were evicted, regular market patrons, representatives of civil society, and members of community-based organisations.
Rahat Arsalan is an academician, architect and planner, associated with the NED university of Engineering and Technology since 2009.She holds a professional degree in Architecture (2006), Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from NED University. She is also a member of ICOMOS and Heritage Cell at the Department of Architecture and Planning at NED City Campus under the supervision of Dr.Anila Naeem.
Suneela Ahmed is an Associate Professor at NED University of Engineering and Technology. She holds a professional degree in Architecture (2000), Masters in Urban Management from University of Canberra and a PhD in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her doctoral dissertation entitled ‘Understanding localness of built form at the urban scale: investigating Maqamiat in the case of Karachi, Pakistan assessed what it means for a city to be local in the context of Karachi, being specific, having particular variables impacting the built form, but dealing with similar issues of identity crises as other formally colonized nations.