Future: Taj Mahal
India has some of the most densely populated cities in the world. Agra, site of the stunning Taj Mahal, is the forty-first most densely populated city in India, out of the 640 census districts. AI perhaps took this population issue into consideration when it showed urban development going right up to the base of the Taj Mahal. Gone are the quadripartite gardens. Gone are the water bodies that reflect the magnificent white marble onion dome. While the Taj Mahal itself manages to retain its form and its Mughal era splendor, it’s been taken out of its original context and plopped in a sea of identical-looking buildings. In historic preservation, context and setting are critical. It explains the “why” and “where” of the historic site. Without the garden, only part of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan’s story is told. The rest is lost in a sea of urban development.
