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Urbanization issues

Pakistan is the most urbanized country in South Asia. Yet, there are issues of the definition of urbanization, as well as other challenges associated with the urbanization experience. This article refers to some literature (Reza Ali 2013 & 2003; International Growth Centre Blog 2017; World Bank 2016) on urbanization issues.

The primary issue, as highlighted by the brilliant and original research by Reza Ali, is the lack of proper definition of urbanization for the census data. The census defines ‘urban’ narrowly and everything else is assumed to be rural. That leads to a gross underestimation of the population living in the urban areas. The census, especially since 1981, refers to administrative boundaries rather than relying on evidence-based research. According to the informal estimates of researchers, our urban population could be up to 50 percent.

It is important to rework the definition of urbanization in Pakistan; as it is a major catalyst of political process. The phenomenon of urbanization defines the relationship between the state and its citizens through political participation and exercise of political rights. It is also important from the point of view of resource allocation and estimation of the revenue base.

The urban/rural divide is not a “dichotomy”, rather it is a “gradient”. In terms of urbanization, proximity, complexity, density, dynamics and diversity are important characteristics. For any conceptual framework of agglomeration economies in the urban context; population density, proximity to city, and urban core are important. There are many areas that are no longer rural and it might be better to classify them as “urbanizing”, according to Reza Ali. Those areas are not fully urban, yet they are not rural either. Therefore, it is better to use three categories – urban, urbanizing and rural – to map Pakistan rather than just to classify them as urban and rural.

If the definition is changed, then in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a large population that is classified as rural would actually fall under the new third category of ‘urbanizing’ due to high population density, prevalence of urban core (town of 50,000 population), and closeness to a nearby city (within a 75 minutes drive away from a city of 100,000 inhabitants). If this definition is also applied in Sindh, then certain areas classified as urban would actually fall under the third category of ‘urbanizing’. In Balochistan, only Quetta would be considered ‘urbanizing’.

Reza Ali further states that “…population density in Pakistan has increased from 42.4 persons/skm in 1951 to an estimated 231.6 persons/skm in 2013 with the highest density in Punjab (488 persons/skm, 2013 estimate) and lowest in Balochistan (27.4 persons/skm, 2013 estimate)… Other than Balochistan, the majority of the population live within one-hour from a city (83 percent, 80 percent and 68 percent in Punjab, Sindh and K-Pakhtunkhwa) and a small proportion living more than two-hours away (the respective figures being 1 percent, 7 percent, and 9 percent); Balochistan presents a different picture with only 20 percent of the population living less than one-hour and 20 percent living more than 6 hours-away from a city”.

In other words, the census definition of urbanization grossly underestimates the magnitude of population going through the urbanization experience. It leads to a “flawed understanding” of the nature of urbanization and introduces significant policy distortions. There is need to redefine urbanization for our official purposes and to recalibrate the related policy interventions as this has an impact on the nature of politics, gender, poverty, governance, inequality, informality, empowerment and marginality.

In terms of the impact of increasing urbanization on the lives of those who live in urban or urbanizing areas; it has increased the pressure on big cities to such an extent that public services and job creation struggle to meet the needs of the people “with one in eight urban dwellers living below the poverty line”.

‘Urbanizing areas’ are also called “peri-urban” or “ruralopilises” in some other literature. They are considered to constitute an estimated 60 percent of urban Pakistan. Such massive urbanization has led to poor housing quality and affordability, as well as, poor water and sanitation, transportation, health, education, and land management.

In terms of housing, urban housing is estimated to be approximately 4.4 million units short of the prevalent demand. Similarly, according to an estimate, 90 percent of water schemes do not provide safe drinking water. Solid waste management services are low and shared latrines are common in the households in urban areas. Poor sanitation, according to an estimate, costs around 3.9 percent of GDP to Pakistan, mainly due to diarrhoea-related poor health outcomes among under-five old children. In terms of transportation, the cost is considered to have increased 100 percent since the year 2000 and “Karachi is only megacity in the world without a mass public transport system”. Land management is also poor.

On the positive side, those living in the urban areas overall have better access to health and education facilities. In health, the prevalence of immunization is urban areas is particularly worth noting as a positive feature.

In terms of other positive impacts of urbanization is the realization of agglomeration economies. These are the “unintended benefits” due to the clustering of workers and firms as they are in close proximity to each other in the urban areas; this generates job creation and productivity, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors.

From the policy perspective, Pakistan’s Vision 2025 attaches great importance to cities as the main focus of policy at the national level to promote inclusive and sustained economic growth.

Foqia Sadiq Khan, "Urbanization issues," The news. 2019-04-09.
Keywords: Social sciences , Administrative boundaries , Political process , Political rights , Political participation , Conceptual framework , Policy distortions , public services , Education management , Land management , Health management , GDP