effort is being made to
provide readers with
different point of views
with each new edition
by highlighting the re-
cent national planning
news. Moreover, this
issue also includes two
articles authored by re-
nowned international
experts. We certainly
hope that you will enjoy
thisread. Your feedback
is greatly appreciated.
ARFA RIZWAN (EDITOR)
Reader’s heartening re-
sponse on last issue has
served as a great mo-
rale booster for the
whole editorial team.
We are grateful to all
those who have appre-
ciated our work and
provided us their valua-
ble feedback. This issue
offers many interesting
news, informative arti-
cles and current plan-
ning activities and we
hope it will appeal a
wide spectrum of
readers. The issue con-
tains an in-depth cov-
erage of the decisions tak-
en during the recent IPP
meetings and also pro-
vides an insight into the
technical sessions con-
ducted by IPP by bringing
planning committees on a
common platform. IPP
meeting with Dr. Nadeem
ul Haq (Deputy Chairman,
Planning Commission of
Pakistan) concerning a
broad range of issues in-
cluding Pakistan’s New
Growth Strategy and envi-
sioning Creative Cities is
another informative piece
for planners. A conscious
The IPP Executive Coun-
cil’s monthly meetings
for the months of August
and October were held
on 31st August & October
01, 2012 in Lahore . The
meetings were largely
attended by IPP EC mem-
bers and planners.
From editor’s desk...
IPP’s Executive Council meetings...
IPP NEWSLETTER
S E P - O C T 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 1 1 , I S S U E I I I
ROM EDITOR’S DESK
IPP EC MEETINGS
TECHNICAL SESSIONS
IPP MEETS DR. NADEEM
IPP’s NEW CHAPTERS
NEWS AROUND
STUDENTS CORNER
URBAN REGENERATION
LAHORE BRT
UN-HABITAT DAY
PATRON-IN-CHEIF:
DR. ANIS UR RAHMAAN
RESEARCH ADVISOR: DR. SHABIH-UL-HASSAN ZAIDI
CHIEF EDITOR: NADEEM KHURSHID
EDITOR:
ARFA RIZWAN
EDITORAL BOARD:
DR.OBAID-ULLAH-NADEEM
M. ANWAR HUSSAIN CH.
SEERAT FAROOQ
MARYUM JAVAID
KINZA NADEEM
IN THIS ISSUE:
A Publication by Institute of Planners Pakistan
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 2
“A city that outdistances
man’s walking
powers is a trap for
man’’. (Arnold J.
Toynbee-British
Historian and
Author).
IPP meetings contd…..
IPP held Technical Sessions……...
IPP recently held two consecu-
tive technical sessions in Lahore,
these were a start of this series
and IPP aims continuance of
such academic initiative in fu-
ture. Next technical session has
been planned on “Pakistan New
Growth Strategy & Creative
Cities: Implementation Strate-
gies” in coming December.
“Management of peri-urban
areas in cities: Concept, signifi-
cance, delineation principles/
criteria, and enforcement mod-
(Continued on page 3)
IPP). The meeting was
attended by following :
Mr. Aslam Mughal
(President), Dr. Ghulam
Abbas Anjum (Senior
Vice President), Mr.
Shabbir Ahmad Butt
(Vice President I), Mr.
Nadeem Khurshid
(Secretary General), Dr.
Obaidullah Nadeem
(Joint Secretary), Dr.
Shabih ul Hasan Zaidi
(Member), Mr. Tariq
Rauf Ch. (Member), Mr.
Salman Sabir (Member),
Mr. Wamiq Anwer Mian
(Observer), Mr. Izhar ul
Haq (Observer), Mr.
Ghulam Asghar Malik
(Observer), Mr. Shakil
Anjum Minhas
(Observer) & Dr. Khalid
Farooq Akbar
(Observer).
Mr. Mughal acknowl-
edged and appreciated
all EC members and
guests who have come
all the way to chip in the
technical session on Peri
-Urban Areas. Dr. Zaidi
and Mr. Mughal highly
appreciated recent
newsletter and concert-
ed efforts made by the
editor Ms. Arfa Rizwan
and her team for the
same.
Mr. Tariq Rauf proposed
the publication of News-
letter in printed (Paper
Form), to evaluate the
feasibility Mr. Mughal
constituted a committee
comprising Mr. Tariq
Rauf and Mr. Shakil Min-
has. Mr. Mughal pro-
posed holding another
technical session on Pun-
jab Land use Rules, to
which house unanimous-
ly agreed. Meeting ad-
journed after a vote of
thanks by Secretary Gen-
eral and followed by a
round table technical ses-
sion on “Management of
Peri-urban areas in our
cities: Concept, signifi-
cance, delineation princi-
ples / criteria, and en-
forcement models”.
In this meeting IPP EC
also approved it two new
chapters, KPK & Interna-
tional. EC also thanked
Plnr. Wamiq Anwer Mian
for his valuable donations
to IPP.
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 1 , I S S U E I I I
els” and “Punjab Land use Rules
2009; Discrepancies and Imple-
mentation Impediments” were
the topics under debate.
First session was organized in
Lahore on 31st August 2012 . .
The session was attended by fol-
lowing members: Mr. Aslam
Mughal (President), Dr. Ghulam
Abbas Anjum, Dr. Shabih Zaidi,
Mr. Nadeem Khurshid, Mr.
Wamiq Anwer Mian, Mr. Shabbir
Butt, Dr. Khalid Farooq Akbar, Mr.
Shakil Anjum Minhas, Mr. Izhar ul
Haq, Mr. Salman Sabir, Mr. Shah-
zad Haider, Mr. Tariq Rauf and
Mr. Ghulam Asghar Malik.
Delineation/declaration of peri-
urban area has been an im-
portant segment of Landuse
Rules 2009, realizing the im-
portance of the issue; IPP pro-
posed to hold this session and
invited a panel of distinguished
professional for this round ta-
ble session. Participant gave
very pertinent deliberations on
subject matter. President IPP
appreciated and thanked all
the professional participants
and said that deliberations giv-
en shall be recorded and com-
piled. He also assured that rec-
ommendation/suggestion put
forward in this session shall
also be presented in the com-
mittee formed by city district
government Lahore set up
frame guidelines for the same.
Second session on “Land use
Rules 2009, Discrepancies and
Implementation Impedi-
ments” was held at national
library of University of Engineer-
ing & Technology, Lahore on 1st
October 2012. This session was
largely attended by professionals
and planning students. Those in-
clude Mr. Aslam Mughal, Dr. Ghu-
lam Abbas Anjum, Dr. Shabih
Zaidi, Mr. Nadeem Khurshid, Mr.
Riaz Akhter, Sh. Abdul Rasheed,
Ms. Naheed Ghazanfer, Prof. A.
Sattar Sikander, Mr. Izhar ul Haq,
Dr. Obaidullah Nadeem, Dr. Mu-
hammad Asim, Dr. Niaz Ahmad,
Mr. Qaiser Majeed, Dr. Zareen
Shahid, Ms. Humaira, Ms. Sumaira
Shadab, Mr. Salman Sabir, Mr.
Arif, Mr. Amir Safdar, Ms. Maryam
Kazmi, Mr. Shakil Anjum Minhas,
Ms. Arfa Rizwan & Mr. Saqlain Ak-
bar.
(NOTE: To get proceeding and delibera-
tions please contact Secretary General
IPP)
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 4
I P P N E W S L E T T E R B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
Institute of Planners Pakistan
held a consultative meeting
with Dr. Nadeem ul Haq
(Deputy Chairman, Planning
Commission of Pakistan) on
September 30, 2012 at Lahore.
The agenda of the meeting was
to have a constructive dis-
course on New Growth Frame-
work for Pakistan which entails
development of Creative Cities
and augmenting denser mixed
use development in Pakistani
cities. Meeting was chaired by
Dr. Nadeem ul Haq and attend-
ed by Mr. Shahid Sattar
(Member Energy, Planning
Commission), Mr. Aslam Mugh-
al (President IPP), Mr. Anwar
Hussain Ch. (Chief Housing,
Planning Commission), Dr.
Ghulam Abbass Anjum
(Chairman, DCRP, UET, Lahore),
Mr. Nadeem Khurshid
(Secretary General IPP & Con-
sulting Urban Planner), Dr.
Khalid Farooq Akbar
(Consulting Urban Ecologist),
Mr. Amin Tariq (Consulting
Structural Engineer), Mr. Shah-
zad Haider (Urban Planner, Lo-
cal Govt. Punjab), Mr. Adeel
Anwar (Urban Planner), Ms.
Kiran Shahzadi (Urban Planner,
Punjab Urban Unit). Dr.
Nadeem ul Haq briefly de-
scribed new growth vision for
Pakistan and role of cities as a
propulsive to economic
growth. He highlighted that
Pakistan has over 90 million
youth, most of them are un-
educated/unemployed and
they are not being taken care
of, no job opportunities, no
social inclusion and thus no
growth. The cities are con-
sumption oriented due to hap-
hazard sprawl pushed by our
love for KOTHIS (bungalows).
He added we are not being left
with much land around cities.
Depleted environmental re-
serves, pro-cars and com-
muting at large further aggra-
vating the poorly managed ur-
ban scene. He said that denser
mixed used development in
and around cities is the only
viable solution as most parts of
the world have already gone
for it. Further, he emphasized
developing vehicle free walk
IPP meets Dr. Nadeem ul Haq on Pakistan’s New Growth Strategy and
Creative Cities Vision…….
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
able communities having work,
living and leisure in the same
vicinity and this can only be
achieved by going vertical. He
further argued that dense
mixed use development also
augments
energy effi-
ciency and
conservation.
Mr. Shahid
(Member En-
ergy) ap-
prised that in
Pakistan, we consume 1.38
units of energy to generate 1
unit of GDP whereas our neigh-
bor India does it only by con-
suming 0.8 units of energy still
having better urban livelihood,
this clearly shows that how en-
ergy abusive we are? After-
wards, Dr. Nadeem also em-
phasized the role of Punjab
Urban Unit to disseminate and
implement this vision at pro-
vincial level. He urged planners
to heed emerging contempo-
rary planning solutions and be
supportive to the Pakistan’s
New Framework of Growth.
He also added that Dioxidis’s
“DYNAPOLIS “concept is no
more relevant to the present
urban context.
President IPP Mr. Mughal said
that IPP fully supports NGS vi-
sion and added that planners
are pro-growth but cities must
have a holistic strategic vision
to guide all development is-
sues without which a sustaina-
ble urban development cannot
be achieved. If we see exiting
regulation not supportive to
the proposed new vision, these
regulation can by revisited but
first of all we must devise stra-
tegic development visions for
each city/region independent-
ly.
He also assured planning com-
mission of IPP’s full support in
implementing NGS vision and
further affirmed that IPP shall
hold debates to work out strat-
egies to implement this vision
at all levels of urban Pakistan.
Dr. Ghulam Abbas highlighted
and appreciated the initiative
recently taken up by Govt. of
Punjab such as BRT. He added
that he sees this BRT line
would generate future denser
nodes/zones along its line of
operation. He also supported
that cities must go vertical to
cope commuting and efficien-
cy issues. Dr. Abbass also
showed his concern over
planning commission’s role in
urban development in the
past. Mr. Nadeem Khurshid
said that it seems like techno-
crats are scared of vertical
high-rise development due to
anti-vertical development
campaigns in the past.
As Dr. Nadeem advocated a
walking cycling communities
without vehicular transit
modes, Mr. Nadeem added
in response that every mode
has a scale limit so a mix of
different transit modes is
desired and TOD addresses it
all. It was further added by
him that vertical compact
“At present Pakistan
has 90 Million Youth
(below the age 20),
does our planning sys-
tem address to pro-
vide them opportuni-
ties such as education,
jobs, social inclu-
sion…?” Dr. Nadeem
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 6
development also enhances en-
ergy efficiency and resource con-
servation. Dr. Khalid Farooq also
supported vertical mixed used
development in light of basic prin-
ciples of environmentally sustain-
able development. Mr. Adeel
Anwar shared his professional
experiences of Sweden. He also
strongly advocated mixed use
high-rise development in Paki-
stani cities. Ms. Kiran Shahzadi
described the efforts made by
Punjab Urban Unit in regulating
and streamlining urban develop-
ment in Punjab. The chair urged
that Punjab Urban Unit must
adopt a pro-growth vision devel-
opment in Pakistani cities. Ms.
Kiran Shahzadi briefed the efforts
made by Punjab Urban Unit in
regulating and streamlining ur-
ban development in Punjab. The
chair urged that Punjab Urban
Unit must adopt a pro-growth
vision as stated in Pakistan New
Growth Strategy. Meeting ended
with an agreement that urban
planners and policy makers must
join hands to achieve the goal of
economic development through
transformation of creative cities
vision into a physical reality.
IPP meets Dr. Nadeem ul Haq contd...
DCO Noorul Amin Mengal,
the committee will be head-
ed by Mr Aslam Mughal
(President, Institute of Plan-
ners Pakistan) whereas Ms.
Ume Laila Naqvi (District
Officer, Spatial Planning) will
be secretary of the com-
mittee.
Other members include
Waseem Ahmad Khan (Chief
Metropolitan Planner, LDA),
Mahmood Tamana (CDGL’s
The City District Government
of Lahore on August 13th 2012,
constituted an 11-member com-
mittee to control mushroom
growth of private housing
schemes on agriculture zone/
green areas and for making rec-
ommendations for declaration
of Peri-Urban areas through
initiating a necessary consulta-
tion with all stakeholders.
According to a notification is-
sued by CDGL Administrator/
Municipal Services EDO), town
officers (Planning and Coordina-
tion, Nishtar and Iqbal Towns),
an Urban Unit representative,
Riaz Ahmad Chohan (Chief exec-
utive of Urban Developers) and
urban experts Asif Kamal, Sahir
Rasheed and Samee Bin Haneef.
The committee will float pro-
posals for marking boundaries of
Peri-Urban areas of the city dis-
trict irrespective of the con-
trolled areas of the CDG and
LDA.
President IPP heads a committee constituted by CDG, Lahore….
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 7
Students Corner…..
Classes started:
The classes started from
3rd September in the uni-
versity. The classes of 3rd,
5th and 7th semester start-
ed, having a quite a lot
concentration of students.
Presentation of Ph.d of
Niaz Ahmed:
On the 10th of September,
there was a presentation
of the research work done
in thesis. All students and
teachers were invited. It
was an interactive session
in which many teachers
and students asked vari-
ous questions and it was
successfully defended by
Mr. Niaz Ahmed.
World Habitat Day:
Students of DCRP ar-
ranged an interactive ses-
sion of co-curricular activi-
ties regarding the World
Habitat day on 1st October
2012. It was a quite suc-
cessful function involving
quiz, speeches and tech-
nical discussions. The stu-
dents of all sessions par-
ticipated in the competi-
tion and after a tough
competition the team of
2009 session won. In the
function, there were
speeches by students,
President IPP Mr. Aslam
Mughal and a representa-
tive of Un-Habitat as well.
The coordination and
management of the Stu-
dent Chapter was appre-
ciable.
News around…..
Lawyers seek ban
on Secretary’s entry
In CDA….
Islamabad High
Court (IHC) reserved
the order on petition
seeking restriction on
secretary cabinet for
entering the premises
of Capital Development
Authority CDA and from
interfering into its
affairs. IHC Justice, Mu-
hammad Azim Khan
Afridi took up the peti-
tion from petitioner,
advocate Tariq Asad
who alleged that the
secretary cabinet,
Nargis Sethi is an obsta-
cle in development of
federal capital Islama-
bad. He pointed out
that summaries regard-
ing seeking approvals of
various development
projects are pending
with the secretary cabi-
net and she deliberate-
ly or inefficiently de-
layed the approvals and
she also intervene in
posting and transfer
We will neglect
our cities to
our peril,
for in ne-
glecting
them we
neglect the
nation.
((John F.
Kennedy )
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 8
matters of CDA that is
against article 4 of the
constitution. Hence-
forth he requested for
banning her entrance in
CDA and for taking dis-
ciplinary action against
her. (ref/epaper.dawn.com).
City to have
four automated
parking plazas….
The Lahore Park-
ing company on Mon-
day entered in the
agreement with City
District Government of
Lahore (CDGL) for con-
structing four state-of-
the-art automated park-
ing plazas at four prime
and busy localities of
provincial metropolis.
District Co-ordination
Officer/CDGL Adminis-
trator Noor ul Amin
Mengal and LPC Chair-
man Hafiz Muhammad
Nauman signed the
agreement on behalf of
their organizations. Un-
der this agreement, the
LPC would be responsi-
ble for the construction
of automated parking
plazas at Allama Iqbal
Town’s Moon Market,
Liberty Market, Hafeez
Center in Gulberg and
Barkat Market in Gar-
den Town. LPC would
give 75% of its profit
share to CDGL against
utilization of is re-
sources and this project
is with collaboration of
Turkish experts. (ref/
epaper.dawn.com)
LDA plugs col-
ony’s “Illegal” trunk
sewer line…..
The Lahore Develop-
ment Authority (LDA)
plugged the entire sew-
erage system of the
EME-DHA housing
scheme at Link Canal
(Multan Road) after the
latter started draining
out its sewage/rain wa-
ter through sewer lines
of LDA-Avenue 1. Both
the parties reportedly
reached a state of con-
frontation when the lo-
cal police officials inter-
vened in the matter
after the LDA admin-
istration complained
them about registration
of a case against the
EME society for reopen-
ing the trunk sewer line
and disposing water
through avenue-1 sew-
er system. EME officials
argued that they had an
agreement with LDA to
use this sewer till Ave-
nue-1 construction but
now after that they are
not provided by any al-
ternative and they are
IPP congratulates Mr.
Niaz Ahmad (Assistant
Professor, University
of Peshawar) on suc-
cessful completion of
his PhD degree from
DCRP, UET, Lahore...
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 9
Mr. Amir Safdar, Mr.
Ansar Inayat, Mr.
Shair Ali & Ms.
Maryum Kazmi have
joined Lahore Parking
Company as Assistant
Managers. IPP con-
gratulates them all
and wish them a won-
derful career ahead….
ready to pay tax for us-
ing it. But local police
reportedly stopped EME
management from
draining sewerage
through Avenue-1 sew-
er lines. (ref/
epaper.dawn.com).
LDA denied
plots despite LHC
orders…
As many as 24 Christian
families appealed to
Chief Minister to direct
the Lahore Develop-
ment Authority to give
them alternative plots
earmarked for them
after the demolition of
their houses. According
to them, they were dis-
placed after the LDA
acquired land of their
Bhekewal Christian Col-
ony, Nizam Block, and
Wahdat Road in 1992.
Later CM allotted 3
Marla plots to them.
They said that they have
paid the price and de-
velopment charges of
the plots at the rate of
Katchi Abadi charges
but they have not been
given their possession
despite the passage of
two decades. Their rep-
resentative, Dr. Yaqoob
Bhatti told that they
have submitted applica-
tion twice in last 3
months but LDA has di-
rectly refused the con-
struction of housing so-
ciety.(ref/paper.dawn.com)
Land grabbers
occupy fort….
A gang of land grabbers
reportedly backed by
some influential people
have occupied the re-
mains of the 14th centu-
ry Kalakot Fort (great
fort) on Makli hill off
Ghulam ullah Road,
three miles from Thatta,
according to locals and
members of civil socie-
ty. The land grabbers
accompanied by dozens
of laborers and tractors
landed at the site a few
days ago. They have
pumped a dry moat (a
defensive ditch sur-
rounding a castle and
usually filled with wa-
ter) around the fort and
started ploughing it to
sow some crops and
eventually usurp it. The
lake was spread over
160 acres when it was
developed and it was
encircled by trees, said
historians and archaeol-
ogists. According to ar-
ea people, a number of
precious relics and stat-
ues of Hindu gods were
also missing from a
temple near fort. (ref/
epaper.dawn.com).
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 1 0
DHA: Court sets
aside a previous or-
der...
A division bench of Lahore
High Court on Thursday sus-
pended the order of a single
bench that declared illegal ac-
quisition of 9,996 Kanal of
land for DHA Phase 2 exten-
sion in different villages, in-
cluding Daducha where Pun-
jab Government has planned
to construct a water reservoir
for the garrison city. In an ear-
lier decision LHC Justice Sha-
hid Saeed on June 21 , while
hearing 20 petitions of affect-
ed villagers, had set aside the
acquisition of land in areas of
Kahota, Kallar Syedan and Ra-
walpindi tehsil by Punjab gov-
ernment in 2006, for Army
Welfare Housing Society later
DHA. The single bench de-
clared the acquisition unlawful
because there was no public
purpose involved in obtaining
the land saying the land was
only being obtained for DHA
that is a housing scheme eye-
ing only on profit and so he
imposed section 4 and 144 in
Daducha and by areas to stop
encroachment and construc-
tion of housing society. (ref/
epaper.dawn.com).
LTC bus opera-
tion reviewed….
The Lahore Transport Company
(LTC) claimed to in company’s
performance review meeting
to have run as many as 400
new modern buses in the city
after getting them manufac-
tured and imported from Chi-
na. The event was attended by
LTC’s Chief LTC Chairman and
Chief Minister’s Adviser Kha-
waja Ahmad Haaan as presi-
dent; others include LTC’s Chief
Executive Officer Khawaja
Haider Latif, General Managers
(Communication/Marketing
and Finance) Amjad Hussain
and Mariam Khawar, Deputy
General Manager (Operations)
Tanweer Saddiqi and other
senior officers. The chairman
told about that LTC has in-
stalled GPS system in all vehi-
cles, made fully equipped con-
trol room to monitor busses,
evolvement of new mechanism
for route permit and implanta-
tion of student transport green
card scheme. (ref/
epaper.dawn.com).
IPP's Executive Council in its recent meeting in Lahore on October 01, 20122 has approved its two new region-
al chapters. One is IPP (KPK) Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa Chapter which shall be headed by Mr. Sallahuddin as
Chairperson (Director Planning, Provincial Housing Authority, Peshawar) and other is IPP International Chapter,
for which Dr. Imran Muhammad (Senior Lecturer, Massy University, New Zealand) has be nominated as chair-
person. Both chapter heads will choose their consensus Secretaries and Executive Members in due course. IPP
EC extends heartiest greetings and hope these chapters will help IPP uplifting the planning community in the
leadership of these distinguished professionals. Best wishes…...
IPP EC approves two new regional chapters…...
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
P A G E 1 1
Urban Regeneration: An option for Sustainable Urban Develop-
ment in Pakistan:
The world’s future is urban, human settlements in Pakistan are profoundly transform-
ing into urban centers of various sizes. The unprecedented rate of urbanization in Pa-
kistan estimated at 3.1% annual rate of change (2010-15), noticeably unmanaged and
uncontrollable which is resulting in ugly urban form and pattern of urban areas across
the country. Lack of poor regulatory options and planning frameworks further pro-
mote squatting pattern of urban areas and cities in Pakistan. Wherever little planning
guidelines are available, are actually in support of urban expansion such as promoting
encroachment onto peri-urban areas, which in fact have fertile agricultural lands in
many cases and are contributing to maintaining ecological footprints of the urban
settlements and cities. The invasion onto peri-urban areas results into squatted-
shape, unwanted commuting, food-security, environmental problems etc. In addition
to huge infrastructure requirement and investments.
At the same time the urban morphological pattern of our cities keep on changing out-
wards, a few areas such as central areas (inner cities), villages engulfed by urban ex-
pansion, industrial properties present in urban core and large parcels of public lands
are happen to be seen as blighted areas, which in fact carry a mighty potential for en-
livening the urban centers. There has not been much noticeable work done in past on
urban regeneration in Pakistan which actually carries the potential of city-recycling.
Urban regeneration is now the most-wanted tool of urban development which has
success stories of sustainable development in some countries, whereby old, blighted
and under-served areas are being symbolically transformed into livable spaces with
options of conservation, land use injection and replacement, densification, tourism,
business and community development.
Regeneration if applied in Pakistan can not only rejuvenate sustainable socio-
economic and physical change in our cities but also fulfill the existing and future hous-
(Continued on page 12)
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
We shape
our
buildings,
thereaf-
ter they
shape us.
(Winston
Churchill )
ing needs. This will also help in saving prime agricultural land surrounding the cities especially the big
cities such as Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan etc. Regeneration activities can bring in the cultural and her-
itage values to the project areas in addition to the socio-economic development.
Why Urban Regeneration is needed for Pakistani Cities?
As our cities are portray following characteristics, which require urban regeneration initiatives to ad-
dress such issues like : Decaying urban neighborhoods, crime & socially fragmented communities, en-
vironmental problems at city and local level, local economic development issues, mismatched land
use integration, population growth and high demand for housing, inadequate and miss-located pub-
lic facilities and amenities.
How Urban Regeneration Can Happen in Pakistan?
Urban regeneration can either come up as a policy whereby some regulation is framed-out which le-
gally obligate the municipalities and local governments to execute urban regeneration projects under
their jurisdictions or urban regeneration projects are identified under the city master plans. The
better approach is to integrate the both options in coherence with other policies and regulations. An
executing agency may be set up under the already functioning Development Authorities, LG &RD De-
partment or Housing Department to specially undertake the urban regeneration projects in selected
cities.
Factors for Successful Urban Regeneration Projects:
Following factors are highly important to consider for the urban regeneration projects:
Institutional roles and responsibilities of Executing and Coordinating Agencies.
Financial mechanism & assurance either from public sector, development aid agencies funding,
public-private partnership or purely private sector investment.
Professional Staff and Government’s Commitment.
Implementation:
The projects master plans preparation and execution can be done through:
A public agency – such as Development Authority, TMA, Public Works Department.
Private Firms (Consultancy & Contractor).
Public-Private Partnership.
A Non-Profit Civil Organization such as IPP.
Muhammad Shoaib is working as Urban Regeneration expert in Kingdom of Bahrain
P A G E 1 2 V O L U M E 1 1 , I S S U E I I I
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The Metro Bus System or BRT in Lahore: Excitements, fears and
suggestions
The level of suc-
cess of BRT de-
pends on the de-
sign of the BRT
system, the insti-
tutions responsi-
ble for manag-
ing the system,
and the policies
used to integrate
BRT investment
with land use
and wider urban
development.
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged as a leading mode of public transport in-
vestment both in developed and developing countries. In the last few decades,
over 120 cities in Latin America, North America, Europe, Oceania, Africa and now
Asia have implemented BRT projects, and many more are at various stages of plan-
ning and construction. However, the level of success of BRT depends on the design
of the BRT system, the institutions responsible for managing the system, and the
policies used to integrate BRT investment with land use and wider urban develop-
ment. Therefore, the Lahore Metro Bus System or BRT deserves scholarly and pro-
fessional discussion to ensure this project will be successful. Certainly, this project
has the potential to make long lasting positive or negative impacts, not only on La-
hore, but also to set a direction for other cities in Pakistan.
Generally, BRT refers to large-scale bus-based public transport systems
serving a city or corridor on dedicated bus lanes and ultimately attaining fast
speeds by providing high frequency and high passenger carrying capacity vehicles.
BRT is also associated with articulated buses, enhanced stations, smart-card based
fare collection systems, and intelligent transport systems and distinctive images.
BRT is preferred to heavy rail and light rail investments due to service and infra-
structure flexibility and low cost.
The success of BRT lies in its surface operation, which generate minimal in-
frastructure costs and higher levels of flexibility but it is not easy to provide dedi-
cated bus lanes on existing roads for BRT because of competing demand from cars
and other modes of transport (such as freight transport and motorcycles) for ex-
isting road space. However, the surface operation of BRT can become a mechanism
for Transport Demand Management (TDM) which involves a combination of carrots
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(incentives for buses by reallocating road space) and sticks (disincentives for
private vehicles by taking away road space). Alternatively, grade-separated
structures (bus flyovers and underpasses) for BRT can provide more space for
private vehicles and encourage more people to drive due to reduced congestion
levels on existing roads.
Surface BRT systems are simple to integrate with pedestrians, feeder buses and
adjacent land uses. In an example from a developing country, Curitiba in Brazil
adopted a surface BRT system which was extensively integrated with feeder bus
services and land uses to achieve sustainable urban development. Ottawa in
Canada provides an example of a developed country with a reputation for oper-
ating one of the most extensive and efficient BRT systems primarily using sur-
face bus lanes. Since intersections generally cause the most delays for surface
BRT, bus priority signals and ITS techniques are deployed to reduce the delays
at intersections. In such system, investment has been made in the operation of
the BRT system rather than in the BRT infrastructure.
Surface BRT systems provide catalyst for land development as is well demon-
strated in Curitiba and to a lesser extent in Ottawa. Property near BRT stations
and corridors becomes desirable for redevelopment due to its proximity to the
system with consequent saving in time spent for commuting. In Curitiba, land
along BRT corridors is zoned for mixed use and high density development, pro-
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moting a linear urban growth area as shown in Figure 1.
Throughout the world, almost all BRT infrastructures have been financed by nation-
al or provincial governments, managed by a dedicated BRT or transport authority
within the city government. However, a wide range of public, public-private and
private ownership models have been observed in BRT operational services. In par-
ticular, the customer directed services such as fare collection, station management,
security, maintenance and ITS have been outsources to private companies. Many
BRT projects in the world are facing institutional challenges from regulatory, organi-
zational, operational, and financing and procurement policies due to the presence
of multiple institutional and operational stakeholders.
BRT is a promising strategy for improving travel condition in Lahore. A BRT system
will certainly have a positive impact on peoples’ travel satisfaction in Lahore due to
the high speed, reliability and comfort, that has been absent from the existing sys-
tem for a long time. However, it is necessary to address the design, operational and
institutional challenges facing BRT in Lahore at a very early stage. For example, BRT
in Lahore will be compromised by poor and inflexible designs (including the 9.6 km
of bus flyovers, several bus underpasses and 34 pedestrian overhead bridges) which
ultimately diminish BRTs superiority as a low cost and flexible solution over light or
heavy rail.
The current design causes the wider urban problems of resettlement of large num-
bers of people and businesses as is evident from many newspaper reports. This re-
settlement damages existing social and economic networks with losses for many
and few gains. This type of damage can be mitigated by conducting social and eco-
nomic impact assessment studies of the project.
Detailed EIA studies (brief mention of EIA is made in PC1) should find ways to ad-
dress visual pollution of bus flyovers, safety and security issues, and threats to sen-
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sitive heritage sites, caused by the current design. The current design will also
provide generous road spaces for cars and motorcycles by eliminating buses
and widening existing roads. This would encourage motorization and high
speeds for private vehicles’ and cause road crashes, safety issues for pedestri-
ans, and high pollution and transport energy consumption level. This issue
should be addressed in an EIA report.
Overhead pedestrian bridges and elevated stations would make it inconvenient
for people to access BRT services, and could cause extreme crowding problems
during peak times. They would also cause problems in coordinating feeder ser-
vices and transferring passengers from other services to the BRT. These prob-
lems can be minimized by providing electric escalators for pedestrians. Howev-
er, a continuous electricity supply and proper maintenance would be required.
Providing escalators would increase costs but would minimize inconvenience to
pedestrians.
Efficient BRT systems do not require government operational subsidies and
even in South American cities are running at a profit. However, due to the high
construction and maintenance costs associated with BRT infrastructure in La-
hore, it will probably charge high fares which will discourages use by lower in-
come people, ultimately generating lower than expected ridership. To generate
lower fares, the government would need to heavily subsidize the system. One
solution to make BRT financially sustainable is to develop a network approach
which ensures efficiency and superiority of public transport system throughout
in Lahore.
The elevated sections of a BRT system in Lahore could negatively impact indi-
vidual property values due to noise, air pollution from diesel engines, visual pol-
lution, privacy, security and safety issues. These issues can only be addressed by
changing the land use regulation of the LDA and CDG to favor bus based high
density transit oriented development (TOD). The land use policy and regulations
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in Lahore should support BRT based high density TOD for conceptual diagram in
Figure 2.
The research shows that private developers are willing to invest in land devel-
opment on high quality transit corridors, particularly if local governments as-
semble and acquire land, and prepare a creative station or corridor Master
plan. Therefore, it is important to develop a shared vision of the BRT corridor in
Lahore and prepare an urban regeneration master plan for a BRT corridor. Local
communities should be involved along with property developers, financial ana-
lyst, urban planners and architects to develop a business case for land develop-
ment around each station. The high density TOD along a BRT corridor ultimately
generates more ridership to sustain a BRT system. It will help to transform
Ferozepur Road and Ravi Road into a new and desirable high density residential
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and commercial area.
There is a great demand of BRT in other part of Lahore as well as other cities in
Punjab. Therefore, it is important to overhaul planning and transport institu-
tions to accommodate BRT projects in Punjab. A Punjab BRT Authority under
the Urban Unit or the Transport Department should be established to provide
policy level guidelines for investment, regulations and procurement. Several
Master Plans and studies proposed a Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA)
and its subsidiary Public Transport Agency (PTA) for the metropolitan cities in
Punjab. It is the right time to establish a MTA and PTA in Lahore by merging the
Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA), the Lahore Transport
Company (LTC) and the District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) and to
bring the transport and road functions of the City District Government (CDG)
and Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs) into one dedicated transport or-
ganization. The capacity of LDA/CDG should be developed to work collabora-
tively with the MTA and PTA to make BRT based TOD happen.
I conclude that an appropriately designed BRT system offers high quality
transport services, low costs and has a positive impact on socio-economic, envi-
ronmental and land development. To maximize the benefit of the Metro Bus
System in Lahore, a) undesirable impacts of BRT design should be addressed, b)
BRT must be used as a tool to shape high density land use development and c)
the capacity of transport and land use institutions at provincial and city level
should be developed.
Dr. Muhammad Imran
Dr. Muhammad Imran is Senior Lecturer in the Planning program at Massey University, New Zealand and author of a book ‘Institutional barri-ers to sustainable urban transport in Pakistan’ published by Ox-ford University Press. Email: [email protected].
A P U B L I C A T I O N B Y I N S T I T U T E O F P L A N N E R S P A K I S T A N
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1st October is observed
as UN World Habitat Day
every year. Different or-
ganizations, NGOs and
institutions arrange dis-
cussions, conferences
and different technical
sessions on this day. This
year a seminar was orga-
nized at DCRP UET, La-
hore. It was a joint event
by IPP, DCRP and UN-
Habitat. President IPP
Aslam Mughal, Provin-
cial Manager UN Habitat
Mr. Riaz and Chairman
CRP Department Dr.
Ghulam Abbas Anjum
were the guests of hon-
or. Ex. DG LDA Sheikh
Abdul Rasheed, Prof Ab-
dul Sattar Sikandar,
teachers from CRP De-
partment including Dr.
Mohammad Asim, Dr.
Zareen Shahid and large
number of professionals
and students from de-
partment also attended
the seminar. At first
there was a quiz pro-
gram among the stu-
dents. Then Dr. Zareen
Shahid shared her views
about importance of UN
Habitat Day. Syed Mu-
hammad Nabi from 3rd
year represented the
students. He basically
discussed that being a
town planner sustaina-
bility approach must be
practiced in cities with a
motto of shelter for all.
After that Dr. Asim was
invited. As a disaster
management specialist,
he discussed that how
natural disasters are de-
structing the habitats of
mankind.
Giving the examples of
disasters in Pakistan
(Earthquake 2005 and
flood of 2010) he said,
“We cannot decrease
the frequency of natural
disasters but the im-
pact. Poor people suffer
the most from such dis-
asters so they should be
provided with the better
housing”.
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
UN World Habitat Day organized jointly by IPP, DCRP & UN-
Habitat…...
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for suggestions & feedback: [email protected]
Mr. Riaz shared his feel-
ings when he was a UET
student. He told that 22
nations including Paki-
stan work with UN Habi-
tat by following their
theme for research
work. This year theme is
“Engines of Economic
Growth-The Changing
cities”. He told the jour-
ney story of UN Habitat
that how they dealt
with increased urbani-
zation of cites. Last year
two major contributions
by UN Habitat includes
a book named “State of
the World’s Cities” ;
that included Lahore as
a major city; and organi-
zation of event “World
Urban Forum”. Presi-
dent IPP Mr. Aslam
Mughal talked about
the increasing urbaniza-
tion of Pakistan that is
more than of India. He
said that in next 38
years, 87 million popu-
lations will be added to
our cities. The urbaniza-
tion must be actively
facilitated. For larger
middle class population,
business opportunities
should be enhanced. He
added that our prob-
lems will be solved if we
invite private sector. In
the end Dr. Ghulam Ab-
bas Anjum briefly told
about themes of UN
Habitat of every year
from 1986 till now. He
emphasized that active
working of town plan-
ners will strengthen IPP.
Town planners work on
rules and regulations
that were created in
Britain in 1920 but were
later adopted here in
1940 .
He discussed the inno-
vation in town planning
system as now Struc-
ture Plans are formulat-
ed rather than Land-use
map. Similarly he said
that Peri-Urban use
should be considered
instead of suburban use
as all land uses are
standardized now.
Overall the event was
highly informative and
such events must be
organized so that young
generation could share
the wisdom and
knowledge of seniors
and field experts.
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