PAKISTAN ranks among the world’s most rapidly urbanising countries. Final census figures show that just under 76m people — or 36.44pc of the populace — lived in cities in 2017 compared to 43m who lived in urban areas back in 1998. However, according to various studies, urbanisation data in Pakistan may not be entirely reliable. This is because the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ definition of ‘urban’ tends to be based on cities’ administrative limits, which leaves out ‘urbanising’ or ‘peri-urban’ areas that extend beyond the demarcated boundaries. Thus peri-urban areas may exhibit urban characteristics but are considered rural for the purposes of census data collection. This underrepresents the urbanised areas, leading many researchers to argue that nearly half the population could be classified as urban if the PBS definition of a city or urban area were to be interpreted more liberally.

While rapid urbanisation — driven mainly by a high birth rate and the migration of farm labour in search of better jobs and facilities — provides immense opportunities for boosting economic growth, poor urban planning and management is posing serious challenges. A few years ago, a World Bank study described Pakistan’s urbanisation as messy and hidden, which is preventing the full tapping of potential and contribution to economic development. It is messy because it is inflating major cities at such a breakneck speed that the government is unable to deliver public services or create jobs. Although the breakdown of city infrastructure is more pronounced in Karachi than anywhere else in the country, other ‘better-managed’ cities in Punjab, including Lahore, are also feeling the strain of the enormous pressure on their limited public services brought on by rapid population growth. Thus it is not surprising to see a dramatic growth in urban slums, the separation of residential areas on the basis of socioeconomic status, increase in poverty levels, ugly housing sprawls, deteriorating air quality, rising mobility problems for those — particularly women — who cannot afford their own transport, etc. More importantly, the city sprawls — or horizontal expansion of the urban areas — for the wealthy are eating into fertile agricultural land. The gap in the services available to residents of the poorer, disorganised neighbourhoods and affluent urban communities has not only increased, it has also exacerbated crime and other social issues.

The lack of sufficient public investment, the bulk of which is spent by governments to develop infrastructure and facilitate the mobility of car owners, is but one reason for our collapsing cities. Major factors pulling our cities apart are the absence of strong local governments, paraphernalia for effective urban management and planning, and public participation in the policymaking process, as well as the fragmentation of public services and responsibilities that hampers the execution of plans. Unless Pakistan’s cities are reshaped to become a source of economic opportunity and democratisation, they will spawn greater social discontent and crime.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021