Khorog, Tajikistan: City Park Rehabilitation and Development

Khorog Park. The Khorog Park in Khorog, Tajikistan, recently restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, nestles on a plain surrounded by the Pamir mountain range.

The town of Khorog is the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region in Tajikistan and is situated 2,100 metres above sea level in the heart of the Pamir Mountains near the border with Afghanistan.

The development of Khorog City Park and its surrounding urban environment contributes a significant public green space to the city. It was gifted to His Highness the Aga Khan on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his Imamat, and, since 2003, it has been the focus of a rehabilitation project designed to offer visitors the possibility to reflect, relax and enjoy nature.

The Park is roughly in the city centre of Khorog, which is built on an alluvial plain only a few hundred metres wide, caught between the steep and barren mountain range of the Pamirs. The Park is situated in a bend of the Gunt River, whose level varies greatly, depending on the season, and whose waters are channeled through a system of powerful concrete and stone dykes, built during Soviet times. It is protected by one of these dykes, the top of which serves as a pedestrian pathway.

The revival of the public spaces represents a substantial step towards the reorganisation of the city. While additional green spaces can be found in the west, next to the bazaar, and in the east of the city, these are limited to private use. Khorog City Park represents an opportunity to provide an enhanced park facility for the entire city. The surrounding urban environment with its city theatre, the two entrance areas, as well as the orientation to the Gunt River, will also re-integrate the urban green space with the city network. The initial stage of construction (Phase I) commenced in 2005 and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Park is well-advanced.