January 26, 2006

As a persistent public environment, streets are one of the few shared things between all types of people. As a significant element of the built environment as ancient as human habitation, the street instigates a diverse range of social, political and cultural activities that are vital to the psychological uplift of any civilization, writes Qurratulain Poonawala

“The street is a room by agreement: a community room, the walls of which belong to the donors, dedicated to the city for common use. Its ceiling is the sky. From the street must have come the meeting house, also a place by agreement”
Louis I. Kahn

Throughout the world, streets with their distinctive character set the stage for human drama, where the theatrics of social interaction, exchange and human movements, both on an individual scale and on a community level, are well choreographed.

According to the Wikipedia Online Dictionary, “A street is a public strip of land or thoroughfare adjoining buildings in a town or urban environment.” However, there is much more to this multi-cultural urban element than what meets the eye as a street is not only a means of transition from one point to another, but also a spatial, physical and psychological and most importantly, a social experience.

As a persistent public environment, streets are one of the few shared things between all types of people. As a significant element of the built environment as ancient as human habitation, the street instigates a diverse range of social, political and cultural activities that are vital to the psychological uplift of any civilization.

Streets by their intrinsically dynamic nature narrate their historical accounts, significant eras in time and the events that take place on a daily basis in general, and on certain occasions in particular. It, thus, becomes a social magnet and a means of communication for societies. Communities sprout and thrive in the streets which are the source of bustling energy by their very kinetic nature. This is where neighbours meet, revolts erupt, friendships form, children grow….where life begins.

The history of the street as a recognized social regulator and forum for the common man goes back to the ancient times when public places like the Roman Forum (a social, economic, political gathering place) in Pompeii, Italy, originated from and evolved around the orthogonal streets Cardo-Decumanus. Its Greek version, the Agora of Athens developed around the famous, ceremonial Panathenaic Way.

Closer to home, in the ancient city of Babylon, near present day Iraq, a sacred street called the Processional Way marked the annual procession to honour the king and thus exalted the status of the street from a mere mode of transition to a celebration of power and glory. These streets then evolved into souks and (informal street markets) that today give distinction to the character of the streets in the Middle Eastern region like Saudi Arabia, Damascus, Iran, Dubai, etc. The western streets developed in boulevards and avenues where the street culture spelt grandeur and modernity.

With the advancement in technology much of the twentieth century saw streets being formally planned and designed by people who were charged only with ensuring the traffic flow. This, aided by the population boom throughout the world, witnessed an upsurge of automobiles on the streets and eventually the needs of pedestrians became secondary to those of the car users.

Intimidated by automobiles and turned off by social and environmental negativities associated with it, people began connecting less with/on the streets which made the streets unfriendly and repelling. Also many social and recreational functions were impaired by fast traffic leading to a silent death of the street culture.

However, in recent years, the focus of urban planners, environmentalists and architects has shifted back to the reclamation of the much revered street culture. As a result streets are now planned or redesigned to be shared by the pedestrians, bicycles, kiosks and slow moving traffic alike. The street is being treated as an urban room with the sky as its roof, the street facades as its wall, the street pavements as its floor and the street lamps, benches, billboards etc as its furniture. Landscape elements and plantation is being added to these streets to make them environmentally viable and aesthetically appealing for the masses.

The streets of Pakistan are witness to the country’s evolution from a metaphorically detached fragment of the subcontinent to a budding nuclear power, each decade altering the multicultural networks of the city by the sea. Pakistan’s streets are truly a melting pot of its culture. Pakistanis take to streets on all important events and festive occasions, whether they are celebrating a wedding, a victory, or a religious event.

For a large number of the people specially those from the lower strata of the society, indeed, the streets are the stage where the drama of their entire life unfolds. This linear urban element assumes utmost importance because it is our children’ first insight into the world. This fact can be corroborated with the rising number of street children.

In our cultural context streets serve multiple functions. This is specially due to the dearth of open public spaces for interaction. It is a business zone for the thelawalas, street palmists and pan khokas, a pitch for street cricket, a play space for children, a shelter for the vagabonds, a track for donkey cart races, for religious events and political rallies, a backdrop for the billboard culture, an urban canvas for graffiti, a baithak for the retired at night and a food street for connoisseurs.

This is where the Pakistani urban commoner dwells, experiencing the richness of the country’s mosaic of culture. It, thus, becomes a centre for public life where social, political and economic exchange of activities take place.

Pakistani culture which is distinctive to and appreciative of its regions and cities has a complex network of streets, each with a diverse character, urban language and function. These include streets which have, over a period of time, developed into areas catering to specific functions like cloth bazaars, food streets, bottle bazaars etc. The common function that assumes utmost importance in our street culture is that of eating out.

Hence, we find informal food streets throughout the country, lined with food stalls, shops and kiosks on both sides implying a street life that celebrates eating out as a cultural trend and offers to the people an array of cuisines.

Food streets thrive in various cities around the world becoming major tourist attractions and at the same time contributing to the richness of their respective cultures. Examples include the China Town in Bangkok, Rua da Cunha in Macau, etc.

Closer to home, the major example of a successful and now official food street is the Gawal Mandi in Lahore which is basically a nondescript kind of street, not very long, off the infamous Laxmi Chowk of Lahore and it consists essentially of a bunch of street side restaurants, juice and milk shops and sweet shops. The shops are all lined together on this short stretch of a street which has now been pedestrianized and given the official name of Food Street. The traditional Kashmiri-Persian architecture can be seen, extensively in buildings surrounding it.

The spatial and physical experience is enjoyed by the rich and poor alike, and what’s best of all is that the street is quite an equalizer as cars aren’t allowed, so the rich are forced to walk shoulder to shoulder along the streets with the poor.

Some of the other streets around the country which have a significant street culture include the Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar where in the bygone years, visiting travellers or the relaxing public were impressed with stories by professional story-tellers in the evening, hence the name Qissa Khawani (story telling). The tea-shops still adorn the bazaar front with their large brass samovars and numerous hanging teapots and tea-cups, though the legendary story-tellers are nowhere to be seen. The Bazaar Bater-bazan (‘The Street of Partridge Lovers’) in Peshawar and the Kandahari Bazaar in Quetta are also very famous.

However, there exist many ills that are born and bred on our streets which make these otherwise multicultural areas repelling. These include street crime, heavy and disorganized traffic patterns, environmental pollution, lack of government ownership and terrorism. The unfriendliness towards the streets can be judged from the fact that most of the areas in our country are known more by their landmarks than the streets themselves which is the norm in most of the other countries and thus people turn towards enclosed and formal spaces like the malls.

In countries across the world where this is a growing issue, streets have been made official and designated to a specific function. By doing this they are reviving one street corner at a time and giving it the treatment that it deserves, which means solving urban problems as the core and the provision of interactive activities for the whole community. Examples of such streets are the Art Street in Taichung County, Taiwan; Viaduc des Arts, Paris and the promenade at Venice Beach; USA.

Taking precedence from other uplift programmes, the concerned authorities in our country should take on the task of socially reclaiming our streets to make them friendly, inviting and interactive. On a macro scale, it would gradually gear people toward constructive leisure and would help in curbing petty evils that are raging in the society. Being miniature metaphors of cultural centres, these streets would then become places we call our own.n

Home sweet home

Growing up on the crowded streets of Karachi, the city by the sea, 12-year-old Imran knows all too well the harsh realities of the place he calls home. Yet it is this multicultural street that was his first encounter with the community and the world at large as is the case for the 12,000 street children living in Karachi presently. For the children of the city, streets are by default their first insight into the world.

The presence or absence of children is an important sign of whether a street is, or is seen to be safe and attractive. Children do not use streets as a means of getting from one place to another only. Streets are, or should be, places for play and exploration. Despite growing concerns about their safety, streets and pavements are still the most popular play spaces.

What was once our parents domain for games like hop-scotch, pittu garam, kho-kho and baraf pani has now become a pitch for children passionate about street cricket. Many sportsmen of international standards have emerged due to the famous street cricket which is a vital part of our street language.

This is due to the fact that the common spaces, particularly those that encourage cultural expression that could bring together Karachi’s diverse children citizenry, are largely non existent. While art performances and exhibits for children regularly take place, they usually occur in venues located in the elite areas inaccessible to the average child. There are equally few public spaces for children to congregate outdoors. With a dearth of sidewalks and very few pedestrian-only areas, most Karachiites consider the city a hostile environment.

However, streets still remain ‘home sweet home’ for those born and bred on the urban floor. n – Q.P.

Lahore in transition
It has become difficult to talk of Lahore as an integrated urban centre because it has mushroomed in all directions in both planned and unplanned expansion. The real city is old Lahore which has been abandoned to some extent by its residents who have shifted to new residential colonies because of the influx of migrants from adjoining areas, and also due to education and affluence triggering change in the lifestyle.

The result is a city in some kind of transition, trying to hold on to traditions and inherited values and practices and, at the same time, discarding them for fear of getting dubbed as old fashioned and dated. However, while many things have changed or have become suspended due to the process of time, street culture of the city has retained its essential character and characteristics, though old residents in new localities have not adhered to it in letter and in spirits; it has been distorted and even deformed in the new areas of Lahore because their population comprises both locals and non locals.

This means that whenever one talks of specific features of the city, the focus is inevitably on old Lahore, whatever its latest population pattern. This has to be so because Lahorites have made compromises in new localities with residents from various parts of Punjab, while residents of old Lahore have shown greater strength of character and succeeded in influencing new comers to adjust to their lifestyle. Street culture has consequently stayed substantially intact in old localities.

A generally ignored aspect not accorded any importance is the role religion plays in street culture. Congregations in mohalla mosques have fair attendance for morning and Isha prayers. While people may have little time to exchange views or dilate on issues in the morning, their togetherness goes beyond religious ritual at night and, after the prayers, it becomes a totally social congregation inside or outside the mosque. Whatever the venue, religion takes a backseat in the people’s interaction.

Their discussions often continue long into the night and cover a vast ground that stretches from national, local and international politics to affairs of residents and their families and exchange of information that helps parents keep a watch over their wards. For instance, a father would know what his teen age son was doing the previous night if he had returned home late. n — Zafar Samdani


Burnes Road — a prospective food street

Burnes Road is one of the oldest and most popular food streets of Karachi. Located within the historical district of Saddar, it has important significance dating back to pre-partition days. Within the radius of one kilometre, it has a host of surrounding streets with dozens of eateries and food stalls.

In the context of the old city of Karachi, Burnes Road has an important significance as the only extensive food bazaar/district, as the other notable food streets developed much later in the newer parts of the city, such as Boat Basin, Zamzama, Dhoraji etc. But what makes Burnes Road distinctive is its accessibility from all parts of the city and its indiscriminatory nature to cater to all strata of society irrespective of their socio economic status. n — Q.P.

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