ahmedabad exactly a year ago the city had erupted into euphoria when the unesco inscribed the historic city of ahmedabad as indias first world heritage city whc it was however not just an honour but also a responsibility to maintain the whc tag and show the way for other ancient cities in india and abroadin its report the unesco thinktank icomos mentioned development pressures are increasing and commercial development and traffic congestion are causing the original inhabitants to move out of the area increasingly the traditional houses are rented for commercial purposes or to newcomers who do not have the same bonds with the historic fabric this is causing changes to the community structures and the rapid deterioration of the historic houses sometimes resulting in the wilful demolition of historic architectural or decorative elementsa year later these worries are yet to be addressed experts cite rapid commercialization as the major threat to the citys heritage in pol areas when the city had reported major incidents of house collapses in monsoon of 2017 the primary reason mentioned were poor upkeep congratulationsyou have successfully cast your votelogin to view resulthere many families live at the rent of rs 500 per month which is not possible in western city parts the commercial establishments use the traditional residences as warehouse for as low as rs 2000 per month its not possible to dedicate funds for upkeep of the old properties at such measly sum majority of the residents have moved out and its the only way to monetize the property said animesh bhatt a resident of khadiain a book titled risk mitigation framework for urban cultural heritage case study of walled city ahmedabad by chandrani bandopadhyay and debashish nayak the authors mentioned that during their survey they found that out of 50 major houses of shantinath ni pol one of the few surviving purely residential pols only 12 houses with original construction are survivingthe authors also pointed out that without proper guidance the unchecked demolition and repairs with use of modern materials has detrimental impact on the character of the walled city structures due to detailed dossier for the whc the trouble spots are identified and hopefully the issue will be addressed in a structured manner said nayakwhat clicked for the city unique architecture historical buildings from the sultanate period a distinctive part of gujarat heritage and the prototype for later architectural developments are significant for the fusion of two architectural traditions islamic architectural traditions were brought in by the rulers and founders of the city and the hindujain tradition of construction and crafts came from the local community unique living system the urban structure of the walled city consists of puras neighbourhoods pols residential streets and khadki inner entrances to pols which are closely connected to the dynamics of the communities and their organizational networksunique woodwork the historical residential architecture with its elaborately decorated wooden facades reflects the symbols and myths connected with the inhabitants the wooden houses of the walled city are