Historic Water Architecture at the Intersection of Cultural Regeneration and Sustainability: The Case of Hauz Khas in New Delhi, India

Suruchi Shah^1, , Tejwant Singh Brar¹ and Mohammad Arif Kamal²

¹School of Art and Architecture, Sushant University, Gurugram, India

²Architecture Section, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

Cite this paper:
Suruchi Shah, Tejwant Singh Brar and Mohammad Arif Kamal. Historic Water Architecture at the Intersection of Cultural Regeneration and Sustainability: The Case of Hauz Khas in New Delhi, India. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture. 2026; 14(3):122-127. doi: 10.12691/ajcea-14-3-5

Abstract

Delhi's urban history has been shaped by its unique historic water architecture which is embedded in an interdependent ecological, built and cultural system. This system is illegible today in the urbanscape owing to historic water structures being viewed as isolated monuments. Our understanding of water architecture is informed by the shifting view of water as a commodity rather than a shared cultural resource. The paper uses a case study of Delhi's Hauz Khas to define a conceptual framework of positioning historic water architecture as a cultural resource and use it as a tool to achieve heritage- led sustainability. The study identifies agents and patterns of transformation of site and surroundings of Hauz Khas that impacts historic urban development trajectories. The study employs qualitative research methods and uses archival research, historical studies, field-work, community interviews and documentation to analyse the cultural associations in the past and the present. This makes a case for why and how historic water architecture should be conserved by taking into account both its morphology and its spirit- of-the-place, leading to cultural regeneration as a process to inform sustainable development.

Keywords:
historic water architecture sustainable development traditional knowledge system cultural regeneration New Delhi India

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Batuta, I., The Travels of Ibn Battutah. abridged, illustrated, reprint ed. s.l.:Pan Macmillan, 2003.
[2]	Hearn, G. R., The Seven Cities of Delhi. s.l.:W. Thacker & Company, 1906.
[3]	Shah, S., Unlocking the Potential of Water Architecture in Urban Realm of Delhi, India. Doha, Qatar, 57th ISOCARP World Planning Congress, 2021 .
[4]	Cherian, D., Pairing Mega Events and Hydrological Systems for Urban Sustainability: Strategy Framework for Delhi beyond the Commonwealth Games 2010. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, 2004.
[5]	Aquil, R., Hazrat-I-Dehli: The Making of the Chishti Sufi Centre and the Stronghold of Islam. South Asia Research, 28, 23-48, 2008.
[6]	Broich, J., Engineering the Empire: British Water Supply Systems and Colonial Societies, 1850--1900. Journal of British Studies, 46, 346-365, 2007.
[7]	D’Souza, R., Water in British India: The Making of a ‘Colonial Hydrology’. History Compass, 4, 621-628, 2006.
[8]	Wescoat, J. L., From Nallah to Nadi, Stream to Sewer to Stream. Water Histories of South Asia, 135-157, 2019.
[9]	Welch, A., A Medieval Center of Learning in India: The Hauz Khas Madrasa in Delhi. Muqarnas Online, 13, 165-190, 1996.
[10]	National Monuments Authority- Categorization of Delhi Circle Monuments- available at https:// www.nma.gov.in/ WriteReadData/ RTF1984/ 1682685196.pdf.
[11]	Bernroider L., Dynamics of Social Change in South Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village. SOAS South Asia Institute Working Papers, 1:1-6, 2015.
[12]	Roy D., Revival of Hauz Khas Lake in Delhi: Approaches to Urban Water Resource Management in India. Journal Management & Sustainability, 6:73, 2016.
[13]	Buckton, e. a., The Regenerative Lens: A conceptual framework for regenerative social-ecological systems. One Earth, 824-842, 2023.
[14]	Kamal Arif M., Maheshwari S., Warsi T. R., Critical Assessment of Water with Reference to Sustainable Development in India, American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture, 8(4), 131-135, 2020.
[15]	Garg R., Kumar A., Pankaj, Kamal Arif M. Determining Water Footprint of Buildings During Construction Phase: An Activity-based Approach. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 11(2), 773 – 783, 2023. doi: 10.13189/cea.2023.110218.