Allama Iqbal Town
علامہ اقبال ٹاؤن | |
---|---|
Residential area | |
Coordinates: 31°30′40″N 74°17′2″E / 31.51111°N 74.28389°E | |
Country | ![]() |
Province | ![]() |
City | Lahore |
Founded by | Mohsin Kamal Khan |
Government | |
Time zone | UTC+5 (PST) |
Lahore GPO (54000) | 54570 |
Area code | 042 |
Allama Iqbal Town (Urdu: علامہ اقبال ٹاؤن) (also known as Iqbal Town or abbreviated as AIT) is a commercial and a residential locality in the south-western Lahore.[1]
It is named after Allama Iqbal, the national poet of Pakistan. Development was started in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was developed by Hassan Zaman Pvt Limited. It was previously famed for its name in Urdu, 'Sola Sau Acre سولہ سو ایکڑ' (meaning 1600 acres), due to its area. Its boundaries are marked by Multan Road to the west and north, and by Wahdat Road to the south.
Iqbal Town has been home to famous actors and actresses of Pakistani film industry, Lollywood. Because the Shahnoor Studios and Bari studios are situated very close to the area, many film actors and actresses used to live here in the past. However, most of them have now moved to the posh suburban areas of the city.
Iqbal town's main boulevard is one of the busiest road of Lahore. It also has a parking plaza in Moon Market. College block, Pak block, Asif Block, Kashmir block, Huma block and Jahanzeb block are situated on the main boulevard which starts from Multan Road (the intersection famously known as 'Scheme moare'. Moare means corner in the Urdu language) and leads towards Wahdat Road and then the Punjab University campus.
Neighboring localities constitute of Wahdat Colony, Ichhra, Samanabad, Garden Town, Mustafa Town, Sabzazar and Said Pur. Major commercial markets are Karim Block Market (adjacent to Umer Block and Karim Block) - famous for the garments shops located there) and Moon Market (Dubai Chowk).
The oldest open university in Pakistan Allama Iqbal Open University's Lahore campus is located in Raza Block of Allama Iqbal Town. It also houses the Karim Block Market nearby.
Allama Iqbal Town consists of a total of 22 residential divisions called 'blocks' listed alphabetically: Asif, Badr, Chenab, College, Gulshan, Huma,Hunza Jahanzeb, Khyber, Kamran, Karim, Kashmir, Mehran, Muslim, Nargis, Neelam, Nishtar, Nizam, Pak, Rachna, Raza, Ravi, Sikander, Sutlej, Umar and Zeenat.