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Development of Kabul Reconstruction and Planning Issues

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Development of Kabul Reconstruction and Planning Issues Development of Kabul Reconstruction and planning issues 10th Architecture & Behaviour colloquium Monte Verità, Ascona, Ticino, Switzerland, April 4 to 7, 2004 Babar MUMTAZ Kaj NOSCHIS, Editors ANNEXE 2 URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL 3 The Colloquium was organised by Colloquia (Parc Scientifique à l’Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, PSE-C, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland) As the 10th Architecture & Behaviour Colloquium with support from : Faculty of Natural, Architectural and Built Environment, Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (ENAC,EPFL) Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Cantone Ticino The Colloquium was organised at the joint initiative of Kaj Noschis (EPFL) and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Geneva. Jolyon Leslie and Anna Soave (AKTC,Kabul), Babar Mumtaz and Kaj Noschis worked on the programme. Kaj Noschis coordinated the Proceedings and Lalita Mumtaz worked hard to refine and standardise the papers. Cover picture: View of Kabul from the TV-hill, credit KN © by Comportements and authors, Lausanne, 2004 Imprimé par /printed by: Imprimerie Chabloz S.A. Lausanne Imprimé en Suisse ISBN 2-940075-09-3 2 URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL 3 Table of contents Babar Mumtaz & Kaj Noschis Development of Kabul : Reconstruction and Planning issues Introduction........................................................................................................................... 5 Section one : Past and future of Kabul Marcus Schadl Historic notes on Kabul ........................................................................................................ 13 Qiamuddin Djallalzada Planning the future development of Kabul......................................................................... 19 Zahra Breshna A programme for the rehabilitation and development of Kabul’s historic centre........................................................................................................................ 23 Section two : Social challenges for Kabul Jo de Berry Kabul: A child friendly city................................................................................................... 51 Dad Mohammad A note on service and infrastructure needs........................................................................ 55 Stefan Schütte Urban livelihoods and community based needs ................................................................ 61 Jurjen van der Tas Social services, access to land and transportation ............................................................. 67 Tom Schacher Who builds a city ? ............................................................................................................... 73 Section three : Lessons from Kabul Abdul Wasay Najimi Preservation and revival of cultural identity....................................................................... 77 Anna Soave The historical neighbourhoods of Kabul: Planning efforts and negotiation processes............................................................................................................ 85 4 URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL 5 Mohamad Sharif Community-based urban development programme for Kabul: Building on rural experience ............................................................................................... 93 Eberhard Knapp The need for one “Urban vision” and many “Master plans”............................................. 101 Section four : Lessons from other places Veikko Vasko Land administration and management: a Palestinian case and an Egyptian experience.............................................................................................................. 111 Halina Dunin-Woyseth Image making as a step for the Master Plan of a city in Norway ..................................... 119 Akbar Zargar Afterthoughts from an Iranian perspective......................................................................... 125 Section five : Guidance for planning Peter Gotsch The role of spatial strategies in planning Kabul’s future ................................................... 129 Suha Ozkan Thoughts on urban recovery in Kabul................................................................................ 137 Babar Mumtaz A livelihoods approach to urban planning ......................................................................... 141 Alain Viaro What is the use of a Master plan for Kabul ?...................................................................... 153 Ross Coggins The development set ............................................................................................................ 165 Programme of the Colloquium............................................................................................ 167 List of participants................................................................................................................. 171 URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL 5 DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL : RECONSTRUCTION AND PLANNING ISSUES. INTRODUCTION Babar Mumtaz Professor, urban planner Development Planning Unit at the Bartlett University College London [email protected] Kaj Noschis Lecturer, Architecture & Behaviour Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne [email protected] “Urban history and development of Kabul: Reconstruction and planning issues today” was the theme of the 10th Architecture & Behaviour Colloquium, from 4 to 7 April, 2004, that took place in Monte Verità, Ascona, on the Swiss shore of Lake Maggiore. It was organized by the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (Dr. Kaj Noschis), in collaboration with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and also with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, as well as the Canton of Ticino. Architecture & Behaviour Colloquiums address the relationship of dwellers and users to the built environment, therefore discussing an urban and social reality facing major immediate problems that urgently demand a planning response seemed a unique opportunity for moving from academic and educational concerns to concrete, solution-oriented responses. This was a very challenging perspective for a 10th Colloquium ! The Colloquium In post-war Kabul, where solutions for housing, transportation and infrastructure needs have had to be thought about, decided upon and implemented in an ad hoc and urgent way, the question obviously also arises about the necessity of having a general urban planning approach for a coordinated development of the city. Questions around a new Master Plan were evoked in presentations and discussions and these were quite openly debated during the Colloquium. It became clear that a Master Plan, as such, did not appeal to the participants, as it seemed too much a reminder of planning practices issued from offices that do not dare nor want to be in contact with the realities of a fast-moving urban fabric such as that of Kabul today. Furthermore, there is an existing Master Plan of Kabul that has a somewhat 6 URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL URBAN HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF KABUL 7 ambiguous status but is used by the Municipality in considering building permissions and spatial decisions made in the city today. A more specific issue, and one also raised by previous Architecture & Behaviour Colloquium topics, was how to articulate “bottom-up” and “top-down” approaches in the context of Kabul’s rehabilitation, considering also the public pressure and the political context. But, regardless of how these are resolved, there still remains the question of how to proceed? Several authors in the present proceedings address this question with suggestions stemming from experiences from other contexts or from observations on the ongoing dynamics in Kabul. The responses deal mostly with various processes and procedures for bringing to- gether the actors involved, effectively and efficiently. Many seem potentially fruitful, but will require political willingness and power, coupled with swift action, if they are to be realized successfully. It was fortunate that some of the key authorities from Kabul involved in its planning and (re-) construction, as well as representatives from NGOs and implementing agencies who have been involved in current, post-war decision-making and the formulation and execution of urban projects, were able to take part in the Monte Verita Colloquium. This makes us hope that these Proceedings might become a document of practical utility in the ongoing processes of urban planning and reconstruction. In line with preceding Architecture & Behaviour Colloquiums, the discussions were inter- disciplinary and grounded on research, but on this occasion with a special concern for an immediate built, and economic, reality with its ongoing dynamics and immediate necessity for intervention. The Colloquium also brought together international expertise with experiences from other comparable (post-war or post-destruction) contexts. In this respect, the unique contact network of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture facilitated the coming together of urban planners and architects with a specific expertise on cities and contexts relevant to those in Afghanistan. Colleagues from previous Architecture & Behaviour Colloquiums also added their expertise for a successful gathering. The preparation of the Colloquium required a major effort to bring together data on Kabul’s situation today, including field experience from ongoing
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