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PAKISTAN’S largest cities (Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad) monopolise it economically, politically and culturally. Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta, Sialkot and Hyderabad are developing slowly. But one hardly hears about other smaller Pakistani cities unless there is a shocking incident there.
However, globally, economic growth is increasingly originating in smaller cities, as companies migrate there to lower costs. US cities with under a million people account for 27 of its 30 fastest-growing regions.
Similar trends exist to a lesser extent in East Asia and Latin America. Countries globally are facilitating the growth of smaller cities to reduce congestion in larger cities and ensure more equitable growth. Pakistan’s increasing urban migration is predicted, based on global trends, to converge heavily on smaller cities due to high costs, congestion and crime in larger cities. However, there is little official policy effort to help smaller cities develop economically.
There is even little research on smaller cities in Pakistan. The only exception I have seen is a nascent research project at Lums which is analysing economic, political and informational trends in smaller Punjab cities near Lahore. Even for this densely populated, highly interconnected region around the capital of Pakistan’s economically most dynamic province, initial research findings reveal trends opposite those in economically dynamic countries.
Frustration is attracting people to false promises of change.
Despite greater physical and informational connectedness between these smaller cities and Lahore, social polarisation has increased. Affluent citizens from smaller cities have shifted to Lahore, leaving insufficient purchasing power in smaller cities to attract businesses. The unidirectional flow has impoverished small towns which have become service centres for their rural hinterlands. There are also enormous gaps in infrastructure, social service provision and employment opportunities. Such problems would likely be more acute in small cities in less dynamic Pakistani regions.
During my own frequent visits to small cities in almost all regions of Pakistan recently, I have noticed several striking features. Firstly, there is immense talent among the youth there as colleges and/or universities of reasonable quality exist now in most such cities. Educational migration has further expanded scholarly opportunities. Thus, youth there possess skills of national and even global standards. This is also true for females.
I was recently interviewing assistants for conducting research in Kohat, which, for the benefit of those whose geography is weak, is surrounded by conflict-ridden areas like Hangu, Darra Adam Khel and Orakzai. In walked a 21-year-old, burqa-clad female applicant. Her burqa may have hidden her frame fully, but failed miserably in hiding her high confidence and intelligence, which flowed unrestrained from her eyes and voice.
She actually turned out to be a Fata IDP!
Such experiences vividly reflect the extent to which sheer talent is dispersed even in remote corners of Pakistan. However, job opportunities are limited and migration (alone) to larger cities for jobs and commuting back home every weekend or end-of-the-month is a regular feature of life among the youth of small-town Pakistan. This regular travel exposes them to the great disparities present across smaller and larger Pakistani cities and fuels discontent. Socially, the youth in such cities is generally conservative and devotedly religious ritually. Despite possessing high skills, they are often non-cosmopolitan and suspicious of Westerners’ supposed conspiracies against Pakistan.
Finally, they harbour great anger at poor governance, which is fuelled further by the fact that the major political parties are dominated by big-city Pakistanis. The N-League, PTI and MQM, whose top leadership originates from just two large cities (Lahore and Karachi), won nearly two-thirds of the national seats in the last elections, so geographically concentrated is political power in Pakistan. The PPP’s leadership is from small towns, but obviously has little connection with such frustrated youth.
This political frustration is attracting people to false promises of rapid political change. Lacking quality medical services, many Pakistanis unfortunately heed the wall-chalked advertisements of quacks promising to cure even the most serious disease fully within 30 days.
Similar claims by political quacks about curing all of Pakistan’s deep-seated political ills almost overnight through equally unproven methods are attracting many smaller-city youth. There is also the ever-present allure of terrorist ideology. This deadly cocktail combination of sheer talent, insufficient jobs, conservative outlook and vulnerability to catchy slogans in smaller cities bodes ill for future stability.
Thus, governments must prioritise policies that facilitate equitable development nationally rather than grandiose projects serving larger cities only. Such projects fall in the domain of mayors and not prime ministers and chief ministers. The latter two must target bigger goals.
The writer is a development and political economist.
Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2014
