Rehabilitation of Informal Settlements in Heritage Sites: Zargaran (Bamiyan)*

Abstract

This paper outlines the main points of the rehabilitation plan for the informal settlement of Zargaran, in the Bamiyan Valley, which the University of Florence has been developing with funding from the Italian Development Cooperation. The plan has been prepared through a careful analysis of the area and building conditions. The plan aims to provide general guidance on the rehabilitation of informal housing settlements across UNESCO sites, not least because of the overlap between the westernmost part of the village and the UNESCO property of the Buddha Cliff.

* The authors have contributed to the present essay as follows: Mirella Loda, paragraphs 1, 2, 3; Gaetano Di Benedetto and Giovanna Potestà, paragraph 4.

1 Introduction

In the context of the vast process of urbanization of the population occurring across the Global South and which, according to UN-Habitat data (UN-Habitat 2015a), will bring the urbanization rate of the Afghan population from 24% in 2017 to 50% in 2060, Bamiyan is where the phenomenon is manifested most strongly throughout Afghanistan.

Bolstered by the fall of the first Taliban regime, the valley—due to the addition of relocations from the countryside and the return of refugees (in a context of a very high birth rate of 36/1,000 inhabitants (Indexmundi 2023))—saw its population rise from 7,300 in 1979 to 52,000 in 2017 (LaGeS 2018).

In Bamiyan, as in the rest of Afghanistan, population growth has naturally been accompanied by a marked increase in housing demand, the expansion of spontaneous housing, and the proliferation of various forms of informal settlements.

According to the concise definition provided by UN-Habitat (2015) informal settlements are “residential areas where:

• 1. inhabitants have no security of tenure vis-à-vis the land or dwellings they inhabit, with modalities ranging from squatting to informal rental housing

• 2. the neighborhoods usually lack, or are cut off from, basic services and city infrastructure

• 3. the housing may not comply with current planning and building regulations and is often situated in geographically and environmentally hazardous areas” (UN-Habitat 2015b).

In the Bamiyan Valley numerous settlements exhibit (one or more of) these characteristics.

The village of Zargaran is just one of the informal settlements identified in Bamiyan. Zargaran is located on the northern side of the central Bamiyan valley, directly to the east of the most important UNESCO site, the great “Buddha cliff”, and to the west of Jugra Khail (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Informal settlements in the Bamiyan Valley (Source Ahmadi 2018)

As explained in chapter “Improving Urban Quality Through Land Titling? Considerations from the Bamiyan Case” of this volume, until 2003 Zargaran had consisted of only a few farmhouses built on the hill above the highest irrigation channel. The area was used as a commons by the adjacent village of Dawoodi, to the west. In 2002 the new municipality started assigning 224 plots of 300–400 square meters to incoming refugees, each plot in the south-eastern corner of the present-day Zargaran. The small, planned area is easily recognizable as a result of its regular street grid. This came to an end in 2007, but over the same years many people started spontaneously settling in the neighbourhood (Ahmadi 2018), with a notable increase in recent years. The spontaneous settlement that developed around the original core now presents many problems with regard to infrastructure and service provision.

The challenges observed in Zargaran are typical of many informal settlements in the Bamiyan area and, indeed, throughout the country. Hence the decision by Unifi and AICS to develop a model plan for Zargaran, aimed at upgrading informal dwellings so that they meet appropriate building standards, as well as the overall rehabilitation of the settlement. Zargaran’s rehabilitation plan could thus become a paradigm for the management of other informal settlements in Afghanistan and similar realities.

Moreover, given the overlap between the extreme western part of the village and the UNESCO property comprising the Buddha cliff, Zargaran can funtion as an exemplary case in helping to define objectives and strategies for upgrading (informal) housing settlements in UNESCO sites.

Considering the UN-Habitat definition of informal settlements mentioned above, criteria 1 has been dealt with in chapter “Improving Urban Quality Through Land Titling? Considerations from the Bamiyan Case” of the present volume. This contribution concentrates on criteria 2 and 3, concerning interventions on the building and infrastructure aspects of informal settlements more closely.

2 Analytical Approach

To ensure that the plan’s objectives adhere to the complexity of the problems on site, a systematic and up-to-date collection of information on the socio-territorial context was first carried out, acknowledging that the variables considered relevant to the definition of an upgrading plan are as follows:

• residential density (residents per hectare)

• land ownership

• household income

• age of buildings

• condition of buildings

• demolition or relocation

• water supply, sanitation, electricity and waste management

• environmental hazards

• public facilities (schools, healthcare, religious buildings, etc.)

• regulation and zoning for residential buildings

• attitude of residents towards improvement.

As for the urban architectural part, a rehabilitation plan needs to identify and define the following categories:

• size of roads in relation to the city and internal network

• building type and height of construction

• public buildings or areas where public buildings could be built

• buildings in need of demolition, reconstruction, rehabilitation or regularization according to the building codes of the Master Plan

• cadastral list of properties necessitating expropriation

• areas adjacent to public buildings necessary to their present and future utilization.

The collection of such information was carried out:

• (a) Using data made available by UN-Habitat as a result of the survey carried out on the built-up area of the village (as well as in the rest of the valley) from 2019 to 2021 within the framework of the Afghan land-titling policies (see chapter “Framing Planning and Conservation Activities in the Local Socio-Cultural Context: Ethnicity and Gender in Bamiyan”). This data has been surveyed for other purposes, but contains precious information about plot size, house layout and materials etc., for (nearly¹) all buildings in Zargaran.

• (b) By direct survey. Specifically, by carrying out a household and building survey, conducted by LaGeS in 2017 across the entire Bamiyan Valley, drawing on a sample of 25 percent of households, and through a second household survey conducted by LaGeS in Zargaran in the spring of 2021, on 50 percent of resident households. In addition to providing an up-to-date picture of the socioeconomic characteristics of the population (briefly discussed in chapter “Framing Planning and Conservation Activities in the Local Socio-Cultural Context: Ethnicity and Gender in Bamiyan”), the surveys provided information on the technical-building characteristics of dwellings and housing patterns. Comparing LaGeS data from 2017 and 2021 made it possible to highlight and quantify important transformational processes taking place in the area (such as population growth, built-up area, and so on). In addition, the data obtained served to complement the information on housing characteristics made available by the UN-Habitat survey.

• (c) At the Municipality and at the local MUDL office.

  Based on the data acquired, we now proceed to illustrate the situation in Zargaran.

3 The Local Context

3.1 Socio-Demographic Context

The village of Zargaran—according to a perimeter that follows to the west the valley furrow leading off from the central cliff containing the Buddha niches, and to the east the ridge leading off from the village of Jugra Khail—spans an area of 109.68 hectares. The area has recently undergone significant population growth and intense construction.

Zargaran’s population, estimated at 6,604 inhabitants in May 2017 (first LaGeS household survey, LaGeS 2018), grew to 8,866 inh. in 2021 (second LaGeS household survey). In only four years there was a 34 percent increase in the population, with 22 percent of the households settling between 2019 and 2021.

Population density—which still has the highest values in the entire valley, with peaks of more than 110 inh./ha in the central part (LaGeS 2018, p. 74)—has increased on average from 60.58 inh./ha in 2017 to 81.31 inh./ha in 2021.

Eighty percent of the population settled in Zargaran are IDPs from rural areas of the central Bamiyan District or the rest of the province; 13% are from other provinces and 3% are refugees who returned to Afghanistan after the fall of the first Taliban regime.

Job opportunities related to the city’s growth and bazaar are the main pull factor, cited first in determining settlement choice by just under half of the surveyed population; security reasons ranked first for just under ¼ of the sample (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

(Source author’s processing of data from LaGeS survey 2021)

Area of origin (left) and reason for settling in Zargaran (right)

Despite expectations regarding job opportunities offered by the urban-oriented development of Bamiyan, the economic situation of the population of Zargaran is in fact rather precarious. 72% of the population is in non-professional status while 11% is unemployed or in temporary employment. In 12% of cases, part of the income comes from activities carried out within the household (mainly from handicrafts, 7%, and tailoring, 5%).

The average monthly income per household is $161 (the per capita income is $25). In a very weak economic environment, households with higher incomes tend to be concentrated in the southeastern and flat part of the village, while those with lower incomes in the impervious northern areas of more recent urbanization.

In slightly more than ¼ of cases, household income is supplemented by raising animals for self-consumption: mainly poultry, but in some cases (6%) also cows, sheep and donkeys. 1/5 of households have a small vegetable garden.

Seventy one percent of occupied houses are owned, while 25% of the houses are rented.

3.2 The Quality of the Buildings

Alongside the population increase in the Zargaran area there has been significant urban expansion. There were 633 buildings captured by satellite in 2015 (UN-Habitat (Ahmadi 2018))—1,050 in June 2017 (LaGeS 2018). In June 2021, according to the building survey conducted for the implementation of the land titling campaign (Djamil 2016), UN-Habitat recorded 1,437 parcels. According to the data collected on 1,366 of them, 1,310 were residential buildings, 15 business buildings and 7 were mixed-purpose.² Apart from the school and the cemetery area, there were essentially no public outdoor spaces in the neighborhood (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

(Source author’s processing of UN-Habitat data 2021)

Age of buildings

The settlement has continued to expand in line with a settlement model that traditionally preserves the fertile soil of the valley floor; the new buildings, however, have been built up steep mountain slopes, which poses serious environmental issues, as well as problems with regard to the provision of services (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4

(Source author’s processing of UN-Habitat data 2021)

Buildings on steep slopes

Most buildings (90%) are single-storey houses, 59 are two-storey houses and only 2 buildings consist of 3 floors (Djamil 2016). These are 94% raw mud-bricks buildings, 2% concrete buildings, and 3.7% mixed-material buildings, made of concrete and mud-bricks.

The raw mud bricks used in the construction of most houses, ideally above a pebbled groundwork, is the traditional building material in the area, used both for private dwellings and for public buildings. As a building material, mud bricks are advantageous for several reasons (Djamil 2016; USAID 2022; Sruthi 2013):

• (1) Clay, the raw material, is available everywhere. It is cost-effective, since it requires no transportation and is cheap to produce.

• (2) Mud bricks are, if properly maintained, highly durable.

• (3) Mud bricks have excellent temperature insulation qualities both against the heat and against the cold, the latter particularly relevant to Bamiyan.

• (4) Mud brick houses, being of the same material and color, blend into the surrounding landscape perfectly.

The problem with mud bricks lies in their permeability. They must, therefore, be properly maintained, i.e. coated with loam plaster mixed with straw (pakhsa), in order to be protected from humidity. Since the loam plaster can get washed off by rainfall, it has to be renewed every two years on average. This is most likely the reason why better-off families in Zargaran and elsewhere opt for concrete as their preferred building material, alongside its “modernist appeal”.

Although highly homogeneous in terms of material and construction techniques, the buildings differ significantly in volume, with a gradual, progressive reduction in volume in the more recently built dwellings in the northern part of the district (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5

(Source author’s processing of UN-Habitat data 2021)

Buildings by available volume

3.3 Equipment, Utilities and Facilities

Data collected in 2017 through the LaGeS Household survey provides information regarding the endowments available for buildings at that time. As we will see shortly, the situation regarding available endowments has improved somewhat in the last few years.

This is particularly the case for drinking water, which is made available in Zargaran by a network installed and operated by private companies on behalf of the Community Council (Shura) with funding from NGOs. In 2017, drinking water was pumped from two wells into three reservoirs within the neighborhood and then distributed to the households. Drinking water was available in 81% of the buildings³ while only 3% had their own well; a critical situation affected the new buildings in the western and northern parts of the village, especially those constructed on steep slopes. According to information directly gathered on site in the spring of 2023, all buildings in Zargaran have since been connected to the drinking water network, thanks to the installation of a fourth water reservoir built on an elevated point at the extreme northern tip of the settlement (Fig. 6).⁴

Fig. 6

(Source author’s processing of LaGeS Household survey data 2017)

Potable water and wells

Bamiyan and Zargaran are generally provided with electric power through the TUTAP⁵ power line. 76 percent of the buildings are connected to the electricity grid. Most buildings not connected to the grid are concentrated in the western and northern parts, and are considered the under-equipped parts of the district (Fig. 7).⁶

Fig. 7

(Source author’s processing of LaGeS Household survey data 2017)

Electricity

Zargaran’s sewage situation is critical. Only 1% of the buildings have a septic tank and about 52% have a soakage well. About 46% of the buildings do not have a proper sewage cleaning system, most prominently in the western and northern parts of the village, where grey wastewater simply flows out of the house and into the streets. In addition to hygiene problems, this situation exacerbates the fragility of the built environment. The high levels of moisture in the ground, resulting from the continuous seepage of wastewater, and particularly in areas characterized by high slopes, increases the risk of landslides and mudslides (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8

(Source author’s processing of LaGeS Household survey data 2017)

Sewage cleaning

As far as facilities are concerned, there are 39 shops in Zargaran (Ahmadi 2018; UN-Habitat (unpublished)): 25 grocery stores, 6 bakeries, 4 fuel stations and 4 pharmacies. They are located along the two main traffic arteries in the central lower parts of Zargaran, but do not reach the upper part of the village.

In Zargaran there are five community mosques and one state-run elementary school. Furthermore, there are three preschools, either community-run or run by private NGOs.

However, the inhabitants of Zargaran have no access to health services, parks or green areas. There is no nursery, no library, no sports facilities, no police station, no post office or fire brigade in the area.

Solid waste is collected in Zargaran—as in many, but not all, informal settlements in the valley—by the municipality twice a week (Ahmadi 2018).

Finally, 12 Zargaran families dwell in the UNESCO Great Cliff core zone, in breach of the heritage protection regulations, and should be moved to a different place. However, many more families currently dwell in the same core zone, west of Zargaran, which is included in the Dawoodi village. Therefore, addressing this issue would require a major resettlement project (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9

Encroachment in the UNESCO property Nr. 1

3.4 The Road System

Apart from the planned area in Zargaran’s south-eastern corner, the road network in Zargaran is clearly insufficient, too narrow and not clearly laid out. The higher parts of Zargraran in particular are hard to reach by car. Taking into account that no street in Zargaran is at the moment paved, the clay soil becomes very slippery and difficult to walk on when wet. However, a UNOPS project is currently being implemented for the reintroduction of plum concrete surface streets in Gozar 1 and 2, for a total length of 573 m (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10

Zargaran’s road system (Source Ahmadi 2018) and UNOPS Upgrading project

4 Developing the Rehabilitation Plan

The Rehabilitation Plan⁷ is proposed as a tool for rehabilitation rather than urban regeneration, in that its aim is to improve livability within the already-existing settlement, rather than to completely alter its essence and its landscape.

While it may be true that Zargaran has infrastructural deficiencies, these difficulties neither clash with territorial balances (see the 2018 Master Plan) nor with existing safeguarding principles (about half of its extension is classified as a buffer zone of the Great Cliff archaeological area), apart from the few buildings within the UNESCO property zone, seen below.

This is largely due to the homogeneity of the buildings throughout the settlement and the settlement’s adherence to traditional Afghan building methods. Establishing its layout and physiognomy therefore offers a strategic advantage in attempts to defend the valley from the threat of widespread and damaging structural changes. To properly validate the settlement as a whole, however, many works aimed at infrastructural improvements are needed, ranging from the interior of individual houses to urban networks and large point facilities. In addition, it is the plan’s objective to resolve the conflict brought about by the presence of 12 inhabited residential buildings within the UNESCO property zone of the Great Cliff.

To improve the quality of the houses, these operations should include:

• Creating flues for domestic combustion fumes to be funneled outside the house

• Equipping the house with solar panels

• Providing a toilet where it is lacking

• Providing a graywater drainage system.

During winter, residents rely on coal or organic fuel-powered stoves for heating and cooking. Unfortunately, this often results in harmful fumes being trapped indoors, which leads to health hazards. While it may be challenging to completely overhaul heating systems in the short term, installing a flue can help alleviate the negative effects of combustion.

Additionally, installing solar panels can generate electricity for lighting purposes. Some of the energy could potentially be utilized to power a heating system.

On the other hand, recent upgrades to water supply-related facilities have almost eliminated the problem of lack of water in homes entirely.

It is important to pay close attention to the toilet facilities, because in this area toilets are often located outside the house and in external areas.

The waste will be collected in a separate deposit and used for soil fertilization. For new toilets, a septic tank will be constructed and regularly emptied. The grey water will be collected in a channeled system and discharged downstream.

Among the various infrastructural projects to be addressed by the plan, improvements to the current network of route connections is crucial, since it could potentially provide most of the functional, relational, figurative and environmental assets that the settlement lacks today.

In order to maximize effectiveness, it is appropriate to first distinguish between pedestrian and vehicular routes, dedicating the narrowest passages and steepest slopes to the former, compensated by shorter and more direct routes. The latter will instead consist of the widest passages and gentler slopes, even at the cost of longer routes. In this way, the project might facilitate both modes of travel and, in addition, it might offer the inhabitants situated along the pedestrian routes, an open system of relational spaces.

Secondly, regarding road infrastructure, it is seen as necessary to distinguish between the areas with moderate slopes (generally the southern part of the settlement) where straight paths will still be prevalent, and the areas with pronounced slopes, where curvilinear paths will be highlighted instead. This way, it becomes possible to reinforce the different landscapes that characterize the two main parts of the village.

Upgrading Zargaran will involve some street paving to ensure easier connection between the houses and the valley floor. Quarry stones or cement will be used for paving in the densest and steepest areas. In addition, steps and rainwater channels will be installed to improve accessibility.

Upgrading pedestrian routes will make it easier to reach the means of public transport active in the valley, while the presence of basic services in Zargaran will reduce the need for long journeys. The plan will ensure the improvement of the main pedestrian connection systems, compatible with orographic and atmospheric conditions.

Among the facilities in question, there will be certain areas geared towards the provision of basic services, specifically addressed to women and children.

As far as commercial services are concerned, the village already enjoys a fair amount of autonomy due to the presence of 39 stores that cover primary merchandising needs. Moreover, it is located relatively close to the large bazaar at the bottom of the valley, which is the largest commercial resource in the province. Therefore, it is not deemed necessary to explicitly provide for a new commercial cluster in the plan, but rather to merely leave in the management regulations an option for individual businesses to be included.

As for community facilities, a small urban park with a playground will be established, providing opportunities for outdoor family activities.

In addition, it is seen as appropriate to introduce a marginal share of housing completion in Zargaran, which would serve: a. transiently as a shelter for the families whose houses will gradually form the subject of plant upgrading; and b. permanently as housing accommodation for the families relocated from the core zone of the Great Cliff, and for others that need to settle.

We believe that, because of the characteristics of the context to which it applies and because of the goals it sets, which are realistic and at the same time respectful of the local culture, this Rehabilitation Plan may also provide methodological insights useful to other cases of upgrading of informal settlements in different regions and countries.