This paper provides an alternative perspective on urban informal settlements by analysing them as places of rural remnants, reservoirs of regional cultural heritage, and spaces entailing traditional sustainable elements that are brought to the urban realm by rural migrants. These socio-cultural and spatial attributes of a settlement converge under the notion of a “place.” Placemaking analysis is thus contended to be appropriate for comprehensive understanding of an informal settlement. The selected case study of France Colony, Islamabad, employs the placemaking methodology framework to investigate sustainability values and practices from the day-to-day living of its inhabitants. Data collected through on-site interviews during transect walks in France Colony are then translated into four maps as a spatio-cultural documentation of the sustainable elements found in the informal settlement. The four maps relate to form and users, activities and amenities, image and characteristics, and access and linkages. This systematic analysis assisted in categorising the sustainability characteristics of the informal settlements according to the three pillars (social, economic, and environmental) of sustainability. The findings show that the organic placemaking, originating from everyday life, values, behaviour, and lifestyle of the informal dwellers, allows for a strong and vibrant resilient community to emerge.

The paper investigates the sustainability potential of the intangible cultural heritage preserved in informal settlements seen as an extension of rurality in urban settings. It delves into this underexplored dimension of sustainability in the context of the Global South by analysing two informal settlements in Islamabad, Pakistan, namely, France Colony and Mehr Abadi. The grounded theory is adapted by using semistructured interviews during transect walks through the informal settlements followed by a thematic analysis conducted of the experiences, memories, values, religious beliefs, and norms of the dwellers in the two case studies. Four themes are deduced that identify sustainability heritage: (a) values and social practices; (b) communal networks and relationships; (c) built environment and ecology; and (d) remnants of rurality. The study contends that informal settlements are reservoirs of vernacular sustainability elements, and their cultural heritage should be supported instead of imposing planning policies influenced by the North. Culturally specific solutions acceptable to the informal communities are needed to improve the liveability within the city and inform the policy-making process. This requires finding a mechanism for preserving the indigenous regional culture in the informal settlements, their rich heritage, and sustainability-oriented knowledge and practices.

A mixed-methods approach is used to understand the human factors defining cultural heritage in two informal settlements in Islamabad, Pakistan, namely France Colony and Mehr Abadi. The methodology applied is based on spatial investigation within a placemaking framework to create a visual representation of the neighborhoods, and grounded theory to explore the experiences and memories of their inhabitants through verbal communication. A combination of techniques, including transect walks, photography, and on-site interviews, allows us to map the tangible and intangible elements of the informal settlements. Cultural characteristics are identified as essential in the spatio-cultural processes occurring in the informal settlements. The study concludes that cultural dilapidation happens because of obstructions in the processes translating intangible heritage into tangible space. Appropriate policy interventions are suggested to minimize the loss of rural heritage transfer to informal settlements within the urban fabric of Islamabad.