LAHORE: The Punjab government is all set to establish the first-of-its-kind Punjab Spatial Planning Authority (PSPA) to ensure balanced growth of cities through master and spatial planning as well as their implementation by executing authorities and harmonising laws to regulate the land use.

The bill in this regard will be tabled in the Punjab Assembly session for passage after approval from the cabinet. Its case is likely to be placed on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the cabinet.

“The chief minister is very keen to ensure the cities’ growth as per approved master plan and spatial planning. She, in a recent meeting, had also asked the participants to focus on such issues, stating that the process to establish the PSPA must be accelerated as a part of the ongoing government reforms in various departments,” a senior official source explained while talking to Dawn on Sunday.

The authority, according to the draft bill, will be led by the CM as the chairperson and the minister for local government and community development as vice chairperson. The other members include the secretaries of departments of the local government and community development, housing & urban development and public health engineering, law and parliamentary affairs, irrigation, planning & development board, transport and masstransit, environment protection and climate change, industries, commerce, investment and skills development and agriculture. Five members (experts) would be nominated by the CM, director general of Punjab Land Records Authority and PSPA director general who would also serve as secretary of the authority.

PSPA to be led by CM with secretaries of depts concerned to be its members; bill to be tabled in cabinet meeting soon

The authority shall meet quarterly. However, the chairperson may convene a meeting of the authority as and when deemed appropriate. The meeting of the authority shall be presided over by the chairperson and, in his absence, by the vice chairperson. The quorum of the meeting shall be two-third of its total membership. The members at clause (l) shall be from the private sector or academia having minimum qualification of 16 years and 15 years’ experience in the fields of urban and regional planning, transportation, agriculture, architecture, environment or any other relevant field. The members at clause (l) shall be appointed for a period of three years, which may be extended for another term.

The powers and functions of the authority are to approve, update, amend and review any plan, including spatial plan and policy, regional plan, district zoning and structure plan, land use plan and master plan. Its duties include to approve urban or spatial planning manual and guidelines, regulations for effective implementation of plans, annual reports and budget and annual development programme, initiation and maintenance of a continuous process of spatial planning and policy, regional planning, zoning and structure planning, land use and master planning at various levels, approval of spatial policy, planning principles and standards, land-use policy and technical guidelines, superimposing the revenue maps with notified land use plans, supervision of the offices of district spatial planning agency during plan preparation and implementation, spearheading implementation and monitoring of the master plans, land-use plans or any other plans through technological systems, ensuring that concerned executing authorities exercise land use controls, building control and approval of schemes such as residential, commercial, industrial or such like other schemes, in accordance with plans, rules, regulations notified under the Act, development and execution of a land use audit system to ensure the compliance of approved lay out plans of both public and private housing schemes, conducting, promoting and coordinating research, in relation to different aspects of land-use, zoning, housing, and related matters, preparing urban or spatial planning manual, publish documents, reports, statistics, monographs, and other publications relating to its functions, preparation and approval of its annual budget, engaging or hiring such advisors, experts, consultants as it considers necessary for the performance of its functions, appointing such officers and employees on such terms and conditions as it might prescribe, procuring machinery, equipment and any other material required for performance of its functions and performing any other function as may be assigned to it by the government.

Under the bill, the PSPA may constitute such financial, technical and advisory committees, as it may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of the act and such committees shall exercise such powers and perform such functions as may be delegated or assigned to them by the authority.

The PSPA director general would be appointed by the CM on such terms and conditions and in such manner as may be prescribed through regulations and until so prescribed as might be determined by the CM. The DG shall be the chief executive and the principal accounting officer of the authority and would be responsible for the management and administration of the authority. Under clause 7 of the bill, there shall also be a district spatial planning agency in each district, consisting upon such members as may be notified by the authority.

The DC shall be the head of the DSPA. All executing authorities in a district shall perform functions under the act through the office of the DSPA. The DSPA functions include assisting the PSPA during plan preparation and implementation, ensuring implementation of centralised zoning report generation system of the authority, oversee the executing authorities in performance of their functions under the act, recommending land-use plan to the authority for approval, ensuring adherence of notified land use plans, ensuring implementation of policies, rules and regulations made and framed under the act and performing any other function as might be assigned to it by the authority.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2025