It was originally an idea set going by a few economists from Lahore working in the World Bank in Washington. Every time they came home they were shocked to see their own old walled city crumbling and decaying. Their stories about the romance of life there needed “better visual support”. Economists come up with strange descriptions.

Then one day the World Bank approached the Government of the Punjab, urging them to 'develop' the old walled city. Ideas from experts of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture gave it concrete shape. From these ideas emerged a World Bank-funded Sustainable Development of Walled City Lahore Project or SDWCLP. The central idea was to save the fabled ancient city, once one of the five wonder cities of the Islamic world. Everyone supported the idea, except the trading class and their transport suppliers, for they have managed to get an iron grip on the physical possession of the city. For them it means profit not earned. They just had to destroy ancient dwellings, and replace them with ugly concrete warehouses. Politicians support these traders in the wrong belief that they will lose votes. A deadlock resulted. In such circumstances emerged the project. It was, by any reckoning a difficult task, and one the bureaucrats of the Punjab just could not deliver.

As the low-key project got under way, thanks mainly to the AKTC efforts, they decided to demonstrate to the people that the end result is worth pursuing the dream. They decided to reclaim just one small 'gali' (lane) of an unknown 'mohallah' (precinct), to bring back to life a dream, a very achievable dream, so that once the idea of such a dream spreads, the city can come back to life. One calculation is that if the entire walled city is restored, its old walls rebuild, tourism alone can bring to Lahore more than $3 billion a year - that is just 2,000 tourists and business-persons a day. The knock-on effect will see hundreds of thousands back at work. That is why we must, all of us, try to visit Gali Surjan Singh inside Delhi Gate. See for yourself how the dream is emerging, and then pressurise the government, through democratic processes, to act.

To see Gali Surjan Singh, you enter the old walled city through Delhi Gate, built by Akbar the Great in 1566. As you enter the gate, to the immediate left is the exquisite 'Old Shahi Hammam' - The Royal Baths. The 'hammam' was used by emperors and the royal families in the time of Emperor Shah Jahan. Lahore's 'Shahi Hammam' was built by Sheikh Ilmuddin Ansari under orders of the Governor - Subedar - Wazir Khan, whose exquisite mosque is built just 300 yards deeper inside Delhi Gate. Built in classical Turkish style, it provided reservoir fountains, dressing rooms, a hot room and a warming room, additional latrines, and the facility of hot running water. Till recent this was used as a wedding hall. That is culture for you.

As you move along the bazaar, just a hundred yards to the right is a small narrow lane that leads to Gali Surjan Singh, just off Kucha Chargaran. Here we see a complete transformation of life. The decaying falling buildings are being worked on, and the immense effort is paying dividends that were just not imaginable. I have visited this place almost every month for the last one year, and as work proceeds, have seen people move out and hand over their precious homes to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. With exemplary dedication, if love and care was not a better description, they have brought in craftsmen from all over Pakistan and abroad. They have trained local craftsmen to work with them, and now a team of dedicated persons is replacing decaying wooden roofs with new treated wood, and limestone is used to craft into place the original.

To bring them to modern standards, new bathrooms with the latest facilities have been put into place, and modern and safe kitchens installed to make life livable. The end result is an amazing product. Last week I visited the house of a very proud Mr. Qureshi. One can see the excitement in his eyes as he showed me the spanking new limestone plastered walls and his new modern bathroom and excellent kitchen. It is a two-marla (450 sq ft) house with four storeys, but it has space for two families and enough room for his now expanded family. Currently they are lodged in a rented house in Misri Shah and will be back home by the end of this month.

Down the street lives Sheikh Muhammad Jahangir. His old house is a four-marla house with an exquisite old gate. The house is probably 400-years old, and its entire sides were caving in. He put up ten per cent of the money, and the rest came from the World Bank donation. The Aga Khan experts have converted it into a house worth visiting. A proud Sheikh Sahib opened the classical wooden gate proudly and inside the arched entrance is a beautiful brick-lined floor. The walls are limestone classic, and the entire place is as good a place as you will find in posh areas like DHA or Gulberg. It makes one want to buy an old decaying house and seek Aga Khan assistance to convert it into a classic house inside the walled city. This is what we all dream about, for this is where the original inhabitants belong.

But there is a down side to all this effort. The greater plan to save Lahore needs the active support of Lahore's business houses, so that the entire transport system at Badami Bagh is dismantled and shifted across the River Ravi. The solution is not to throw out traders, but to provide them with a better place to expand their work. That is why, I understand, the Punjab Government is planning to build a 'New Lahore Walled City' on the other side of the river between the motorway and Saggian bridges. What a wonderful idea, and one hopes Shabaz Sharif has the nerve and muscle to carry out his plan. If he manages this, he will surely be assisted by the World Bank. His intent is, so far, missing.

To the west of the 'New Lahore Walled City' will be the new truck and bus stand, and new transport routes will supply mobility to passengers and cargo. This will also halt the dangerous build-up of illegal truck cargo offices and bus stands along the new Saggain approach road, a development that has started to halt the smooth flow of traffic across the bridge. Something similar is happening along the northern portion of the Ring Road as truckers begin to knockdown the new walls of the road. It is time the transport mafia was halted before they institutionalise their illegal deeds.

The miracle of Gali Surjan Singh and Kucha Chargaran needs to be replicated, and for this the business community of Lahore, and Pakistan, need to open up their minds, hearts and purses. The schoolchildren of Lahore need to collect donations so that our old walled city becomes the centre of our world again. The point is to never give up the fight, even though we live in trying times.