The Aga Khan University for The AKU Faculty of Arts and Sciences University Village Land Use Plan, with Goody Clancy; also AECOM Economics

courtesy Goody Clancy

      
courtesy Goody Clancy

Click on image above to view larger image

The Aga Khan Development Network – an international educational and cultural organization - is establishing a 5,000-10,000-student campus with liberal arts undergraduate and graduate programs on over 1,200 undeveloped acres near Karachi, Pakistan called Education City.

This land use plan creates a 650-acre mixed-use “University Village” complementing the 450-acre campus and neighboring educational institutions with residential neighborhoods, services and amenities for the campus and surrounding community.

It addresses access, security, mixed land uses, housing, and phased development while upholding the region’s cultural values. It does this through its foundation and principles of Muslim city-building, by creating 21st century learning environments, and promoting rich community interchange among diverse people.

Objectives include defining key land uses for a vibrant campus attracting and retaining local and international faculty, staff and students; enhancing quality of life for its community to live, work, study, and play; creating opportunities for residents to encounter the academic community through shared places and activities; creating a village center and unique mixed-use neighborhoods that combine diverse housing choices, local services, parks, and open spaces.

One challenge was to ensure that development on the hot, arid site was environmentally sustainable. It was also important to root the village in its unique cultural, environmental and economic contexts to establish a sense of place, while cultivating an international community fostering rich academic and cultural discovery on a site with virtually no development or context today.

The social heart of the village is the mixed-use village center, a hub of pedestrian activity with a mix of uses from research labs to medical offices, higher density housing to cafes, restaurants and conference centers.

The conservation common serves residents’ recreational needs and supports a variety of natural systems. It also provides a unifying web of pedestrian routes and place identity for the entire village.

The jury said, “ . . . really strong, very clear, thought process . . . strong land use plan.”

Project Team: The Aga Khan University with Goody Clancy; also AECOM Economics