Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) as an Alternative Evaluation Tool for Historical Built Heritages in Lahore, Pakistan

Heritage Impact Assessments(HIAs)are progressively needed to investigate potential impacts and outcomes of development on the Outstanding Universal Value(OUV)of world heritage properties.However,many key stakeholders involved in implementing the World Heritage Convention lack the management system,methodological tools,and guidelines to conduct effective impact assessments in areas without these resources.The paper explores the successful utilization of the Heritage Impact Assessment(HIA)tool to address concerns raised by UNESCO and civil society.This occurred when the Punjab government initiated the Orange Line Metro Train Project(OLMT)near the World Heritage Shalimar Garden and other historic monuments in Lahore.The project aimed to meet the daily transportation needs of around 2.5 million commuters.

Towards Foreign Tourist at Heritage Sites Using GIS: A Case Study of Lahore

Pakistan is potentially a good tourist destination for cultural and heritage overs because the Indus and Gandhara Civilizations, and a great Mughals heritage also exists in Pakistan particularly in Lahore city. Tourism is the fastest growing industry in modern world. This study is based on the number of foreign tourist who visited the heritage sites of Lahore. The purpose of the study is to examine the number of foreign tourist who visited the heritage sites of the Lahore at Shalimar Gardens, Lahore Fort and Lahore Museum and to find the tourism trend in Lahore whether it is declining or growing high. The secondary source of data was used and data was collected from archeology department, Lahore Museum and Pakistan Year Book of Statics 2014. Tools used for research purpose were Microsoft excel, Microsoft word and ARC GIS. The number of foreign tourists that visited Lahore fort were highest in 2006 i.e. 21,178 this is the highest number of tourists who visited Lahore Fort in 15 years and 2906 lowest number of foreign tourist who visited Lahore fort, at Shalimar Gardens highest number of foreign tourists was 8558 in 2000 and the lowest number was 309 in 2013 and at Lahore Museum in 7242 tourists is the highest number of Foreign tourist who visited museum in 2000 and the lowest number of foreign tourists that visited Lahore Museum was 1825 in 2010. The trend of foreign tourism in Lahore is declining after the incident of nine eleven due to terrorism. But now with the efforts of government and work of Walled city authority foreign tourism industry is growing in Lahore as it is the Queen of cities having major and attractive heritage places for tourist.

HCV genotype distribution and possible transmission risks in Lahore, Pakistan

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and their association with possible transmission routes in the general population of Lahore, as the data exclusively related to this city is limited. METHODS: Complete data regarding patient's history, possible route of infection and biochemical tests was collected from the public hospital for 1364 patients. SPSS version 16 windows software was used for data analysis by univariate and multivariate techniques. RESULTS: Age range ≤ 40 years showed high prevalence of HCV infection. HCV genotype 3a was dominant (55.9%), followed by 1a (23.6%), 4a (12.5%), 3b (3.2%), untypable (2.5%), 4b (1.2%) and mixed type (1.2%). Blood transfusion, dental surgery and barber shops were the main risk factors for HCV transmission. Genotype prevalence was independent of age (P = 0.971) and gender (P = 0.122) while risk factors showed a significant association with age (P = 0.000) and genotypes (P = 0.000). We observed an independent association of risk factors and genotype 3a, while patients with genotype 1 and 4 were mostly infected due to dental surgery blood transfusion and barber shops. Risk factors of intravenous drug use and sexual exposure were exclusively found in ≤ 40 years age group. CONCLUSION: An increase in genotypes 1a and 4a suggest migration of people, possibly from Balochistan and the northern war-zone area. Government should focus on public education regarding infection routes.

Validity of the patient health questionnaires(phq-2 and phq-9)for screening depression among human immunodeficiency virus patients in Lahore,Pakistan

BACKGROUND Many human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)infected patients suffer from depression,but a little focus is given to detecting and treating depression in primary health care.Detection of depression can be improved by introducing short,reliable,and valid screening instruments.AIM To determine the psychometric properties of the patient health questionnaire-2(PHQ-2)and patient health questionnaire-9(PHQ-9)for depression screening and diagnosis,and the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-2 in HIV infected patients.METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 158 HIV-infected patients aged 18 years and above in Lahore,Pakistan.PHQ-2 was implemented to screen depression.PHQ-9 was implemented to diagnose major depressive disorder as a reference standard.Reliability,Validity tests and receiver operating characteristic curve were computed.RESULTS The Cronbach's alpha of PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 were 0.732 and 0.759,respectively.The study results showed that the score of 2 on PHQ-2 indicates the highest Youden's index of 0.924,with both sensitivity and specificity of 0.96,and the area under the curve for PHQ-2 was 0.98(95%CI:0.953-0.998).CONCLUSION Good psychometric properties for the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 indicated their significant potential as tools for depression screening and diagnosis in the HIV-infected population.

Travelers'attitudes toward carpooling in Lahore:motives and constraints

Traffic congestion has become a critical issue in developing countries,as it tends to increase social costs in terms of travel cost and time,energy consumption and environmental degradation.With limited resources,reducing travel demand by influencing individuals’ travel behavior can be a better long-term solution.To achieve this objective,alternate travel options need to be provided so that people can commute comfortably and economically.This study aims to identify key motives and constraints in the consideration of carpooling policy with the help of stated preference questionnaire survey that was conducted in Lahore City.The designed questionnaire includes respondents’ socioeconomic demographics,and intentions and stated preferences on carpooling policy.Factor analysis was conducted on travelers’ responses,and a structural model was developed for carpooling.Survey and modeling results reveal that social,environmental and economic benefits,disincentives on car use,preferential parking treatment for carpooling,and comfort and convenience attributes are significant determinants in promoting carpooling.However,people with strong belief in personal privacy,security,freedom in traveling and carpooling service constraints would have less potential to use thecarpooling service.In addition,pro-auto and pro-carpooling attitudes,marital status,profession and travel purpose for carpooling are also underlying factors.The findings implicate that to promote carpooling policy it is required to consider appropriate incentives on this service and disincentives on use of private vehicle along with modification of people’s attitudes and intentions.

A Study of Suspended Particulate Matter in Lahore (Pakistan)

The results obtained from an investigation of suspended particulate matter in the metropolitan city of Lahore (Pakistan) are reported and analysed in this paper. X-ray diffraction studies of the airborne matter collected from various urban and suburban sites show that non-clay minerals such as quartz, calcite and albite are contained in most of the samples in almost comparable amounts. Chemical analysis of some samples was carried out for complementing the x-ray diffraction data. The amount of quartz in the samples of dusty areas was found to be an order of magnitude more than in the samples of relatively cleaner areas. As the dust particles of these compounds are poor substrate for promoting nucleation of ice in the atmospheric clouds, they are liable to stay steadily in the atmosphere as pollutants.A comparison of the results of the airborne particulates and the soil samples collected from various sites show that the sources of quartz, calcite and albite in the airborne matter are both local and remote.

Defensible citadel:History and architectural character of the Lahore Railway Station

This study aims to investigate the defensible character of the Lahore railway station built in response to"the war of independenee in 1857,"which greatly impacted the location and design of the building.This study demonstrates the in tegral role played by the railway station in the development of the new colonial city,which the British wants to be defensive in every aspect.Railways were introduced in Pakistan(India)soon after their inauguration in Britain.Beginning from the mode of transportation,the multifaced contribution of railways toward the urban growth,new architectural style,mode of construction,and technology cannot be recanted.The research is based on the documentation and analysis of the history of Lahore railway station design.First,this study uses primary and secondary data to offer a history of the Lahore railway station from its inception to final execution.Second,it explores the criteria adopted by the British for its site selection to make the station a defensible post.The research finding in eludes the visual features that enhanced the architectural character of the building.Qualitative methods are used including several other approaches,namely,literature review,archival data collection,analysis of photographs,and study of architectural drawings and old maps,to achieve the objectives.