ISLAMABAD: The blueprint of Islamabad, which helped the government develop one of the most beautiful and well-planned cities in the world but is now facing several challenges, will come under discussion among city managers and experts on Thursday (today) as the civic agency celebrates the 65th anniversary of the Islamabad master plan.

As part of World Cities Day events, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has organised an event to mark the 65th anniversary of the city’s blueprint.

The event will be held at the Gandhara Auditorium in F-9 Park on Thursday.

Islamabad, located at the foothills of the picturesque Margalla Hills on the Potohar Plateau, has undergone dozens of amendments to its master plan by successive governments, mostly without expert input.

Capital’s master plan underwent dozens of amendments mostly without expert input

Despite these changes, it is still regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful cities, with planned construction in urban areas, adequate green cover, and a relatively clean environment.

However, due to the absence of a proper mechanism to regulate rural areas, particularly private land in Zone III, the city faces serious planning threats.

“In many areas of Islamabad, construction is turning the city into slums. In localities like Tarnol, the northern side of Margalla Road, Lehtrar Road, areas along the Expressway, Bhara Kahu, and almost all rural zones, massive unregulated construction has already taken place,” said an official.

He added that there is a need to bring all new construction under proper regulations, including in Zone III.

Zone III largely belongs to locals, but under current CDA rules, construction is prohibited throughout the zone under a blanket ban. “Still, construction continues as people argue that they have the right to build homes on their own land,” the official said.

“This matter should be resolved to prevent further unplanned development by creating new rules that protect both people’s rights and the city’s green areas,” said another official. He proposed two possible solutions: either the CDA should acquire the entire Zone III or introduce regulations to bring new construction under control.

The city has also witnessed rapid growth in both population and built-up areas. An official said that Islamabad’s built-up area expanded massively between 1990 and 2020—from 2,693 hectares to 18,465 hectares. During this period, the city saw a mushroom growth of both legal and illegal housing schemes and slums, even in posh sectors such as F-6, F-7, G-7, G-8, and F-8.

Islamabad is also facing major challenges of water scarcity and urban flooding.

This year, several people lost their lives in floods, yet successive governments have failed to make serious efforts to address these challenges.

Successive governments also ignored the recommendations of Doxiadis Associates, the Greece-based firm that prepared Islamabad’s master plan in 1960. The firm had advised that the plan be revised every 20 years to meet the city’s evolving needs.

Instead of conducting proper revisions, successive governments made “selective” changes without consulting experts. So far, around 50 such changes have been made to the city’s blueprint, including four by the incumbent government.

“Changes should have been made with expert input to avoid future planning issues.

For example, Sector I-8 was reserved for a transportation centre in the original plan, but decades ago it was converted into a residential sector.

As a result, the CDA recently built a bus depot for the electric bus project on a green belt along Srinagar Highway, an example of poor planning,” said the official.

Recently, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi sought a briefing from the CDA chairman on the long-delayed revision of Islamabad’s master plan.

Sources in the Interior Ministry told Dawn that the ministry, in response to a summary submitted by the CDA for reconstituting the master plan commission, had directed the CDA chairman through an official letter to brief the minister before resubmitting the summary.

“CDA had moved a summary for the reconstitution of a commission, and we recently asked the CDA chairman through a letter to brief the minister on this issue before resubmitting it,” said an Interior Ministry officer. He added that after the briefing, the CDA chief would forward the summary for approval by the federal cabinet.

It is pertinent to mention that the summary for the formation and reformation of the commission has been under process for several years but has not yet been presented before the federal cabinet.

When the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government came to power in 2018, it announced the revision of the master plan.

Then-prime minister Imran Khan formed a commission, which prepared only an interim report in 2020. The report mainly focused on building by-laws and the regularisation of certain areas, including Banigala, and left the “comprehensive” revision of the master plan to an expert firm—which the CDA failed to hire.

The commission’s tenure expired several years ago, and the CDA now seeks its reconstitution.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2025