The Historic Cities Programme Exhibition is a Golden Jubilee International Programme that provides a unique lens on the role of culture in development. It features five projects of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Egypt, Syria, Mali, India, and Afghanistan. During the Jubilee, the Exhibition will tour cities in various countries around the world.

Aerial view of Al Azhar Park, Cairo, Egypt, showing the restored Ayyubid Wall with the Darb al-Ahmar district to the left. Photo: Photo: Courtesy of AKTC

Through the Exhibition, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture aims to showcase its development approach, and to promote a wider understanding of Islamic architecture and ethical engagement with the built environment. Over the past 25 years, the Historic Cities Programme has demonstrated that the restoration and beautification of historic buildings and cultural monuments can help revitalise dilapidated neighbourhoods and catalyse socioeconomic rehabilitation, particularly in communities that live in poverty but are rich in cultural heritage. The Programme leverages cultural assets to mobilise communities in addressing unmet social and economic needs, thereby “investing in cultural treasures to breathe life into the legacy of the past.”

Eleven flagship projects are featured as part of the HCP Exhibition, including the Bagh-e-Babur in Kabul, Afghanistan and the Al-Azhar Park in Cairo, Egypt. The geographic breadth of the Exhibition underscores the fact that approximately one-third of cities designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO are in the Muslim world, often in areas that lack the necessary resources to revitalise their cultural assets.

Delhi, India. The restoration of the Gardens of Humayun's Tomb was completed by AKTC in 2003 and included the work on the gardens, water channels and fountains. AKTC/Gary Otte

The Bagh-e-Babur involved the renovation and rejuvenation of the near-ruined 16th century garden in which the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, is buried. Connecting with the Imamat's Fatimid heritage, the Al-Azhar Park project turned a 500-year-old garbage dump into a 74-acre park that has been coined the “green lung of Cairo.” Together with the development of the park, the Trust rehabilitated the neighbouring Darb al-Ahmar district, a living treasure of Islamic architecture. In view of the Trust's work, Dallas Evans, former Deputy Mayor of Operations of the Government of the District of Columbia, commented: “Rather than pulling down the old and replacing them with new high rises, we should take the example of the AKTC and revive our neighbourhoods and give them new life.”

The Exhibition was inaugurated on 21 September 2007, at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C., before travelling to 11 other cities in the United States. Over 20 000 people have viewed the HCP Exhibition to date, and some 600 Jamati youth have engaged in dialogue about the cultural work of the Imamat and the ethical underpinnings of the Trust for Culture's projects. The Exhibition is currently touring six Canadian cities, from April – July 2007.