From the let-downs of the present to the hopes of the future
In Pakistan, because of continuously dwindling land holdings and the exponential rise in population, the majority of the people are migrating from the rural areas to the cities. The UN estimates that at present approximately 35 per cent of Pakistanis live in “urban areas”, and in another ten years, more than half the Pakistanis will start residing in these urban areas. Some argue that the figures underestimate the reality of the situation and that Pakistan’s population has already become more than 50 per cent urbanized. These urban areas account for nearly 80 percent of the GDP, yet constitute no more than 3 percent of the country’s overall land mass. The state of these urban areas is abysmal and in Punjab, which happens to be the most populous province, nearly 50 percent of urban residents live in slums or katchi abadis. In contrast, some argue that almost 70 percent of the people are living in slums in Karachi. Before delving further into the specifics of the plethora of urban problems faced by Pakistan, let us first indentify what urban planning really is and how it has continued to influence the human civilization.
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