Research Report

In a decaying society, if art is truthful It must also reflect decay, and unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable and also change it. Ernst Fischer The Regal chowk at one point was a financial, social and economic hub. While the Charing Cross (its adjoining intersection on the Mall road) primarily served the elite government functionaries and bureaucrats; Regal Chowk always held this charm for the common man. This fact is key to understand as people from all walks of life, of all genders, social class, religion; at one point converged on this node to take care of their various needs. At its heyday, Regal Chowk on the Mall Road was a center for most recreational, consumer based activities and was officially declared as the central business district of Lahore city by the Lahore Development Authority. Mall road was a popular shoppers destination, Clothes, shoes and eateries were a major attraction from people coming from all parts of Lahore to shop and spend their evenings. The well-adorned Colonial buildings which stood tall in their day give credence to the whole urban fabric and made Regal chowk known for what it is today. In addition to the architecture; Mall road and especially regal chowk has been the mecca of all political activities and public demonstrations. Regal chowk has been a popular public forum for the common man as history has many examples of major political parties making their way to regal chowk for political demonstrations. Chaman Ice cream a popular ice cream parlor which started in the 70s still stands today as the most appropriate retreat for the common man to counter the abysmal heat, Chaman ice cream is thronged by customers on a regular basis, and throughout these years this ice cream parlour has proved to be a faithful companion for even the lesser privileged. On your way to temple Road one could not have missed the majestic Regal cinema which in its prime was one of the most extravagant cinemas in Lahore where people from all social structures packed themselves in its one hall to watch the most popular movies of the day. Behind the Lakshmi building on the mall road; nurturing two poignant banyan trees reside the ethereal Lakshmi mansions, a place that still stands today in direct contrast to its surroundings. This residential area was a sanctuary for countless Muslim immigrants when they fled from the other side of the subcontinent to their Promised Land ready to embark on their new lives. Hall road, another mark left by the British, which started from a few shops has now prospered into becoming one of the biggest electronics market in Pakistan and is famous all over the country for its electronics imports. Even today you can see glimpses of old European planning with colonial facades running parallel with the road and showcasing the St Anthonys cathedral in one of its exquisite vistas.

Even with all that grandeur and that glory from the past, Regal chowk, today as we know it has completely changed as the city expanded to new proportions and different centers of commerce and consumer activity has taken away its supremacy. Regal Chowk still holds much of its economic status, despite that fact, the built environment encompassing Regal Chowk, stands today in a state of ruins. The facades are the last remnants of what shows a bygone era of bustling trade and activity. Following, is a research based on clearly identifying and categorizing the reasons for the decay of the built environment and also an attempt to fully explain the reason for this disintegration, what were the possible reasons for the abandonment of infrastructure which at one point played a significant role in making Regal chowk known for what it is today. Another aspect that we focused on were the repercussions this decay might have had on the people who have been its life-support system over all these years. The following list will show the symptoms that we came across on our field study and analyze the reasons behind that for a better understanding of the deterioration that has taken place at Regal Chowk. The decay as seen at Regal chowk has taken place on different levels in different forms but interestingly the causes have been fairly interdependent with each other. Major Concern: To fully comprehend the nature of the decay it needs to be sub-divided into categrories: Architectural Degradation: The Abandonment of Buildings Poor condition of public infrastructure (streets, sewers etc.) Deterioration of colonial buildings.

Traffic Congestion which is further classified into: A claustrophobic atmosphere with the increasing number vehicles and pedestrians No signs of real pedestrian facilitation on the streets which leads to chaotic conditions.

Sensory Pollution: Extreme Noise Levels Air pollution by vehicular emissions.

High temperatures sudden micro climates felt by a passing individual: Traffic jams Food Stalls encroaching on footpaths

Outdoor split units

Visual Decay: By Billboards, hoardings and banners cluttering the skyscape. Electric theft, electric poles being encroached on by transmission cables.

Residential Decay: Apparent loss of families and a neighborhood in a once inhabited residential community.

Cause and Symptom Relationship The decay being witnessed on site when analyzed proved to be inter-dependent with each other. The diagram on the following page clearly demonstrates that inter-dependency. Whats prevalent in Regal chowk are the number of buildings present there which have been completely or partially abandoned. Apart from being abandoned it was also interesting to notice how these shops which at one time housed various flourishing businesses are now left in dilapidated conditions.

This particular shop has been like this for the past 7 years and its conditions havent changed much according to its owners. When asked about its reasons, they blamed the present economic conditions for their present circumstances.

Regal cinema was one of Lahores most prosperous cinemas of its day and its rich history came to an unfortunate and an abrupt end on 11th March 2008 when it was gravely affected by the bomb blast in the nearby FIA building. It has never been repaired since then due to its already appalling economic conditions it was functioning in. A very serious reason for the deterioration of the built environment can be blamed on economic conditions that these shop owners are currently working in.

Traffic Congestion Traffic Congestion and its resulting illnesses are one of the most major concerns when it comes to talking about decay in a built environment. Traffic Congestion caused by vehicular traffic or even pedestrian influx in a congested environment can prove to be a major source of anxiety for the commuter, shop owner, street hawker or any normal customer. Traffic congestion is instigated by different reasons in different parts of Regal chowk. For example in Beadon road there is no appropriate segregation for the modes of transport as shown in the following time lapse video. Congestion can be more effectively comprehended by this form of visual compression. Throughout the day, from the time, shops open up in the morning, when all the offloading takes place, till the shops close at night you see a scurry of activity and this diverse mixture of so many modes of transport. For the pedestrian its always a daunting task to actually navigate their way towards the end of their destination as they are confronted by various oncoming traffic which include bicycles, motorbikes, donkey carts, pickup trucks, cars and incoming pedestrians. Rain in the city makes the matters even worse as the condition of the streets doesnt allow the water to pass over instead they become stagnant puddles where the streets have broken off into bumps.

Parking still remains a major contributor to traffic congestion. In hall road footpaths are being encroached upon by illegal parking of motorbikes. the root cause of this problem goes to the higher ups as many of the shop keepers in our survey indicated the union to be responsible behind many of the shortcomings; licenses are given out with disregard to any rules and regulations.

On the mall road, the service lanes are encroached upon by food stalls and they too contribute towards traffic congestion.

The decay of the built environment can be largely contributed to the incompetence of the concerned authorities. It is failure on their part to realize the importance of facilitating pedestrian flux to how it should be.

With a dearth of proper footpaths traffic congestion will have no signs of diminishing as people by having no better alternative have to walk on the same streets with traffic coming from the opposite direction.

Noise Pollution Noise according to a proven statistic is one of the major contributing factors when determining the quality of life in an area. Regal chowk and hall road in particular has a very serious noise pollution problem; with the amount of traffic coming in, the activities that take place over there and the loadshedding problems in recent times has given a rise in generator usage. Generators line the footpath in hall road in full blast and make it impossible for two people to have a normal conversation over there. the following graphic gives us an idea about how sound plays a major part in defining the experience of regal chowk on a saturday night.

Most of the samples taken from this graphic blantantly exceed the hearing limit of 90 dB; meaning long exposures to this sound can be devastating and can result to permanent hearing loss. As the peaks witnessed on the hall road graph were extreme we decided to a further analysis of the types of noise that contribute to the upward trend of the graph and we realised that traffic congestion and unruly commercialization on the hall road has completely has been very detrimental with contributing to noise levels. The particular graphic clearly illustrates and makes a particular analaysis of hall road and shows clearly where those harmful frequencies were heard on a saturday night. Major contributing factors to this form of pollution are mentioned on this graphic.

Temperature Microclimates Walking in hall road and beadon road its impossible not to pass through 'hotspots' where temperatures soar than average temperatures due to the instantaneous micro-climates that are spur-of-the-moment depending on the activities. the following graphic is an analysis of those extensive temperature measurements made at various places at two times of the day to clearly show the contingency of those hotspots which can be made wherever there might be a traffic jam, or food stalls or even in alleys which have outdoor split units jutting out in the alley

Visual Decay Banners, hoardings and billboards have completely destroyed the architectural character of that place. the union is responsible for a lot of these failures in hall road and while the rest of the area seems to just be unconcerned with this menace that destroys the initial character that place was initially planned to look like.

Electric theft and a dense bundle of transmission lines can be seem on electric poles

Conclusion:
By doing an in-depth analysis of the place our final concluding step was to ask the people about what they had to say over the prevailing conditions that they had to live in, day in and day out. Our questions were focused on the people who gave regal chowk its identity; the shopkeepers, customers, the administrative personnel and residents. The questions were based on their experiences with respect to their built environment, how the environment had a direct impact on their personal space and their lives, if at all. This was a tedious task, as the questions were a little more on the subjective side and could not resonate clearly in their minds. The most basic feedback was of utter frustration and helplessness. For many, their economic conditions had brought them to a point where they considered themselves indifferent to the state of their surroundings but with our analysis and our research it is clearly evident that at the back of their minds they clearly felt and identified themselves with these issues. Having said that, financial security on one hand was playing with their very idea of existence, their problems, as they stand today have escalated to higher proportions where life security is the most major concern. Worsening economic conditions have hampered their remaining expectations from life.

The formation of social structures between individuals are a product of recognizing the importance and sanctity of the other individual, a very unfortunate observation which we came across among interviews and other personal encounters, was that the level of ethical awareness and to just be conscious of the value of another individual was more or less absent within those streets and neighborhoods. Various new crimes and vices had sprung out because of this deterioration of the current environment and again the poor had felt victim to that. Regal chowk was a completely different place according to most people who were there in the past, before the menace of commercialization had swept the land. With commercialization and its accompanying perils we believe that the regal chowk turned from being a place to be to a place that just was. Standing at the Regal chowk signal on an evening one cannot miss the sight of a flock of birds entering the Kilpa Ram buildings arched balconies and nesting there for the night, at that stage one can only recall the rich encounters from the past and envision it in all of its glory, for now its the past that carries exaltation and the present that leaves a lot to be desired.