Cities and Master Plans in Pakistan Samna Sadaf Khan & Amina Omar
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Cities and Master Plans in Pakistan Samna Sadaf Khan & Amina Omar To cite this article: Khan, S. S. & Omar, A. (2021) Cities and Master Plans in Pakistan. The City by Learners’ Republic. www.learnersrepublic.com April 2021 Cities are complex systems, defined as engines of growth that serve as the basis of economic development and prosperity (Duranton, 2009); a framework of agglomeration/polarization with its allied nexus of locations, land uses and human interactions (Scott & Storper, 2014); a network of social systems for human well-being (Bettencourt, 2013; Montgomery, 2013); organisms made of social, economic and cultural ‘fabrics’(Maretto, 2014); ensemble of density, land use mix, connectivity and accessibility influencing greenhouse gas emissions (Seto et al., 2014). How we think about cities and city planning has developed and changed over time, increasingly acknowledging contextual (geography, culture, and politics) differences. Master plans were primarily introduced to gauge urbanization in cities. However, developing states found it difficult to implement them due to poor administration and governance, while implementation in developed countries has resulted in urban sprawl. Current debates in planning realms revolve around climate change, and social and political changes around the world demanding greater civic participation and inclusion. Theory has emerged to rethink both the purpose of planning and the role of the planner in making decisions for cities. Illustration: Samna Sadaf Khan Master planning in Pakistan is rooted in its colonial legacy from the British Era, which introduced official planning regulations and segregated cities into military cantonments, civil administrative centers, and residential neighborhoods for locals (Hasan, A., 2006). Over the years, governments have devised different planning tools to meet their urban development objectives. In the early decades post-independence, planning focused on refugee housing schemes, land use and infrastructure development. In 1960, the government realized the need to control the unconstrained growth and sprawl of significant cities. Eleven large cities were selected to develop master plans along with five-year plans. Hameed and Nadeem (2008) have discussed chronologically the practice of preparing and implementing master plans in Pakistan, accompanied by the shortcomings of legislative frameworks and unstable institutional structures. From master plans to structure plans and outline development plans in the 1980s, the 21stcentury saw the development of spatial plans. The fragmented approaches to planning have taken billions of rupees, human resources and time with little or no implementation. We present a short synopsis of the planning practice in the three big cities of Pakistan to raise the question about what should be our way forward. P a g e | 1 Lahore Lahore’s master plan was commissioned in 1961 and prepared for approval by 1966. Due to lags in the approval process and bureaucratic red tape, it was not sanctioned until 1972 (Hameed & Nadeem, 2008). The plan focused on dividing the city into six zones for different types of land use. These zones included residential, commercial, and recreational areas (Aziz, Mayo, & Ahmad, 2014). Due to the delay, the master plan used outdated maps of the city and could not be adequately implemented. It also lacked technical expertise as most of the committee members were bureaucrats. Furthermore, it did not actively involve the public and civilian masses. The plan made unrealistic projections for the future based on secondary data and did not include clauses for updating its vision, giving it little to no practical value. The Lahore Urban Development and Traffic Study introduced a new Structure Plan in 1980 that was implemented by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). This plan had many of the same problems as the previous one, although it did succeed in creating private housing schemes in the city, which further resulted in division and disintegration without proper infrastructure links and connectivity (Hameed & Nadeem, 2008). The LDA commissioned a new plan in 1997 - the Integrated Master Plan (IMPL) for Lahore to be implemented until 2021. The IMPL is a significantly improved version of the previous plans. It contains detailed provisions regarding housing, transportation, zoning, and socioeconomic activities, among others (Hameed & Nadeem, 2008). However, IMPL hinders implementation as there is a problem of overlapping jurisdictions between LDA, the City District Government (CDG), and Town Municipal Administrations (TMAs). In addition, the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency also plays a role, which leads to further confusion over municipal planning. This organizational bind makes it difficult for the involved agencies to develop their concurrent projects (Aziz et al., 2014). ` Karachi Karachi, Pakistan's megacity, comes with its own set of challenges. There are numerous social, economic and environmental problems caused by urban sprawl, trade, and industrialization and population growth. Like Lahore, Karachi suffers from overlapping administrations and conflicting jurisdiction. Thirteen agencies own land in Karachi and have the right to develop it themselves, making it cumbersome to implement an overarching urban plan. The Sindh Local Government Ordinance, that operated from 2002 until 2008, created a semblance of proper planning through the City District Government structure. After it was abolished, land mafias took control of critical areas in the absence of poor governance (Hasan, A. et al., 2015; Husain, 2014). Karachi's Master Plan of 1975 and Development Plan 2000 attempted to solve these problems. However, it focused on high-rise commercialization that disturbed residents' social lives and failed to provide them with essential utilities (Hadi, 2021). In light of Karachi’s case study, Arif Hasan identifies the biggest problem with master planning in Pakistan's cities: the failure to have a people-centric approach. He argues that planning must revolve around four essential principles. Firstly, the ecology of the region in which its physical environment must be considered. Second, the social and cultural value of city spaces is as important as land value, and has the power to prevent major problems like congestion and economic disparity. Thirdly, Hasan claims that planning must cater to the majority, i.e. those from the lower and middle classes. Instead, current planning legislation has resulted in the decimation of more than 30,000 katchi abadis since 2000. Planning has to examine issues like transport, informal employment, utility provision and access to affordable housing, instead of superficially raising land values and investing in beautification projects. Lastly, the city's history and culture must be preserved to inculcate a sense of pride and identity among its people (Hasan, A., 2006). P a g e | 2 Islamabad Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, emerged as a new city in the 1960s. Modern Greek architect and planner, Doxiadis, developed its plan with the modernist vision of wide roads, a sectorial layout and a city in harmony with nature (Daechsel, 2013). Islamabad was divided into 5 zones, 84 sectors and 5 sub-sectors (four residential and one commercial). The idea was that people would remain confined to their sectors. A crucial oversight in the master plan was the omission of a proper Commercial Business District (Hasan, L., Chaudhry, Ahmed, & Jalil, 2020). Islamabad was supposed to be a dynamic yet idyllic city, and that is where the problem began. The city was initially purposed to serve as a home for army officials and bureaucrats. Unfortunately, the initial planning did not take into account the other segments of society who would be living in the city to serve its chief residents. Thus, Islamabad lacks affordable housing and public transport, and is marred by extreme class division. Its surface level beautification and environmentally friendly reputation stands in stark contrast to the pervasiveness of slums and unplanned horizontal growth. Islamabad perhaps best illustrates the problem of master planning in that it is an exercise in limitation, rather than inclusive growth. As the city's initial plans were so precise and detailed, they left no room for adjustment and flexibility (Daechsel, 2013). The city's stilted urban growth has stifled its potential economic activities and organic development. It is unlikely that Doxiadis foresaw the problems Islamabad faces today, and that is why it is difficult to rectify them. The Federal Commission appointed a review for the Islamabad Master Plan to rectify these problems. The result still did not respond to the urban challenges and hardly deviated from the original master plan. The project outcomes remain focused on highways, promoting private car transport and single-use spaces, rather than considering the needs of the growing population (Hasan, L. et al., 2020). Iftikhar (2021) has narrated how these planning practices have made everyday life in Islamabad worse for so many individuals such as retired government employees, low-middle income groups, students, fresh graduates, IT entrepreneurs, etc. Problems of affordability, lack of public transport, stunted economic prosperity, class-divide, selective activism for nature preservation, unjust water supply and sanitation treatment, pollution and outdated master plans are understood through the lens of a common person. Pakistan's biggest and most significant cities are misguided in their approach