Located in heart of new Delhi, adjacent to Humayun’s Tomb Complex and Sunder Nursery, the densely populated Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti is named after the revered saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, who lived here in the early. A settlement developed at this location during the saint’s lifetime, and it has been continuously inhabited since.

Following the successful restoration of Humayun’s Tomb Gardens in 2004, the urban renewal project commenced with the signature of a public-private partnership ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ on 11 July 2007. The non-profit partnership includes the Archaeological Survey of India, the Central Public Works Department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Aga Khan Foundation and the

Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The conservation and rehabilitation of monuments and civic open spaces aim to restore its intrinsic cultural, historical and spiritual significance and enhance visitor experience for pilgrims and tourists.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Urban Renewal Master Plan provides urban design guidelines and site plan schemes for the physical, social and economic development of the basti project area as a heritage quarter of Delhi. The objective is to present to the authorities, local bodies, stakeholders and the community with development issues and opportunities, when looking at the urban renewal of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti.

The proposed master plan of the Basti consists of two levels of interventions:

• one addresses the core opportunities and issues of the Basti with comprehensive planning visions, policies and principles, including implementation strategies, for overall development of the project area;

•  the other presents design schemes at site plan level. The design projects proposed in the report attempt to resolve the present issues of the sites and, at the same time, explore the potentials of the sites in terms of tourism and urbane interaction to generate beneficial urban link and incite local development - physical, socio-economic, and cultural.

The decision to prepare a comprehensive site plan and not a strategy plan for Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti was based on the size of the project area and the issues of the project. The project area is manageable enough to enable a detailed intervention scope for each of its issues and resources.

In addition, the issues and resources are so Basti-specific that a strategy plan for it shall fail to address and treat them effectively. It will overlook local nuances, opportunities and needs when specifying its planning

strategies.

Hossain, Shakeel. Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Urban Renewal Master Plan. Delhi: Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2011.

Aga Khan Trust for Culture