The ‘Delhi Heritage Route: Red Fort - Humayun’s Tomb Project’ is part of a larger vision to transform the cognitive image of Delhi. A network of 8 Heritage Routes have been identified, which link almost all the major monuments and heritage precincts of the city. It is envisaged that developing these heritage routes and their precincts will provide the citizen of Delhi with much needed ‘urban open spaces’ while catalyzing the renewal of long neglected heritage precincts. The project uses Delhi’s heritage as a leverage to achieve economic regeneration by promoting tourism and tourism related activities in heritage precincts and adaptive re-use of spaces/buildings.
Thanks largely to this grant received from the World Monuments Fund, Sustainable Tourism Initiative sponsored by American Express in 2008, INTACH Delhi Chapter has been able to undertake the Delhi Heritage Route 2: Red Fort -Humayun’s Tomb, as a pilot project. This 10 km stretch is a busy city artery. It has the Red Fort, a Mughal Fort (17th C ), the Humayun’s Tomb, a Mughal-period (16th C) complex, both World Heritage Sites, and other equally exquisite, but lesser known heritage sites like Kotla Firoz Shah, Khairul Manazil and Purana Qila. INTACH, Delhi Chapter has prepared a Detailed Project Proposal to develop this entire route.
Along the route, precincts of heritage monuments have been identified as ‘nodes’ and linking these nodes are ‘stretches’ which have contemporary places of tourist interest, eg: Dolls museum, Pragati Maidan trade fair grounds, etc. Comprehensive Design proposals for the following nodes and stretches holistically integrate all Government (BRT) and non-Government projects already underway:
The scope of the project is providing improved visitor facilities, such as interpretation centres, ticketing booths, kiosks, appropriately located amenities, organised parking lots, street furniture, etc. These design interventions will bring order and coherence to a presently scattered milieu of urban treasures. Integrated lighting design schemes, landscape proposals and signage provides a common graphic identity to the entire route. Complementing these routes, are various Heritage Awareness Programmes, also planned for the city
For the first time it offers the city of Delhi a vision with the focus on its rich heritage, and a road map for various civic authorities who manage the city for achieving this vision. A substantial portion of the pilot study will get implemented. There are firm commitments to implement the proposals made for the Kotla Firoz Shah and Purana Qila nodes. More proposals outside the pilot project are also under active consideration for implementation by the civic authorities.
World Monuments Fund’s Sustainable Tourism Initiative,
sponsored by American Express.
