The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme has been involved in urban regeneration projects in several different settings in the Islamic world including Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Canada, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Mali, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan and Tanzania.
In Afghanistan, a range of conservation efforts, living condition improvements, community development programmes and planning initiatives have been implemented in several neighbourhoods of the war-damaged old city of Kabul. In Herat, revitalisation efforts have encompassed five important historic houses and 17 public buildings.
In appreciation of Canada's exemplary support for development programmes in these countries, the AKDN has presented several parks and gardens as gifts to Canadian cities — in Toronto and Edmonton — in the hope that they will enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors alike.
In 1984, His Highness the Aga Khan announced his decision to finance the creation of a park for the citizens of the Egyptian capital. The only central location which was of suitable scale was the derelict Darassa site, a 30-hectare (74-acre) mound of rubble adjacent to the Historic City.
The urban renewal project in Delhi integrates conservation, socioeconomic development and urban and environmental development objectives in consultation with local communities and relevant stakeholders.
Beginning in 2004, under a public-private partnership, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) began working to revitalise the centres of three cities in Mali. AKTC started with the restoration of the Great Mosques of Djenné and Mopti and the Djingereyber Mosque in Timbuktu, as well as the public spaces around them.
The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (AKHCP) in Pakistan has restored a number of major forts, traditional settlements, mosques and public spaces in the high valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan province. More recently, it has begun work on the restoration of the Walled City of Lahore, Punjab.
In 1999, the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities and Museums asked the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (AKHCP) to provide technical assistance for the conservation and reuse of a number of historic citadel sites in the country.
Through its Historic Cities Programme, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has rehabilitated the city park of Khorog, the administrative and economic capital of the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshan region in Tajikistan.
The Trust has been active in Zanzibar since 1989, successfully completing the restoration of the Old Dispensary and the old Customs House, as well as the rehabilitation of Kelele Square.
