In late 2013, representatives of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) were invited to George Town, in Malaysia by the Penang state government. The following year saw the preparation of a Strategic Master Plan for the George Town World Heritage Site and advanced planning work for the city’s key public areas, and in late 2015, a public/private partnership was formed between AKTC (Think City) and the state government of Penang. Today, the focus of ongoing activities is concentrated on the conservation and upgrading of the North Seafront and the restoration of Fort Cornwallis through the Historic Cities Programme (HCP). HCP’s initiatives and programmes focus on several major World Heritage Sites in the Muslim world. HCP’s attention on George Town is firmly anchored to this vision and the belief that, by forging a link between conservation and development, George Town can avoid the fate of other South Asian cities, which have been overwhelmed by uncontrolled high-rise development.