Mall Road: A Decaying Dream
By Amna Mahnoor Cheema, Ehtesham Arshad, Haider Ali Nawaz, Manaal Ahmed, and Safa Baig
For the purpose of this study, we are using UNESCO’s metrics to define public space as “an area or place that is open and accessible to all peoples, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. These are public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares and parks. Connecting spaces, such as sidewalks and streets, are also public spaces.” Mall road can be classified as a public space because there are no explicit barriers to entry on any person. Though implicit obstacles do exist, we will discuss them further in the report.
Being the most famous street in Lahore, Mall Road is packed with traffic throughout the day but also has enough sidewalks to assist pedestrians. Mall Road is one of the most privileged places in Pakistan to have most of the major cultural, civic and educational institutions including the Governor’s house, the Lahore Museum, GPO and major government high schools, colleges and universities. Many of these buildings are built in either Gothic or Indo-Saracenic style. We chose Mall Road as the focal point in our study on public spaces because of banks, shops, parks and universities it is the converging point of economic, leisure, cultural, finance and legal centres.
