What is Pakistan’s urban future?
The 2024 general election was unique in the sense that the manifestos of the major political parties (PML-N, PPP and PTI) recognized the importance of urban planning for promoting sustainable…
Technology needs context
Providing free laptops or tablets to schools or learners won’t address the systemic educational inequalities in the country. Technology, by design, does not alter the fundamentals because its use and…
Healthy planet needs ‘ocean action’ from Asian and Pacific countries
As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of…
Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project
Prime Minister Imran Khan has inaugurated the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project (RRUDP) in Lahore the other day. This is the third time the project or its earlier avatars during…
Urban planning
Urban planners and designers are currently faced with a series of immense challenges. On the one hand, the world is experiencing a surge in population growth and its subsequent concentration…
Urban resilience and electricity provision
Recently, the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) conducted a study to understand the impact of urban resilience on electricity provision in Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar. Urban resilience is the…
Urban housing for the poor
Provision of urban housing for the poor is a complex phenomenon. Most of the urban poor live in informal slums and face the day-to-day difficulties of navigating their relationship with…
Bazaar traders in urban Punjab
The informal economy in Pakistan is one of most-understudied phenomena despite its huge prevalence. Marketplace (bazaar) traders are an important part of the informal economy of the country and sociologist…
Urban water governance
With the sixth largest population in the world and already over stretched water resources, sustainable water provision and access is becoming a huge challenge in Pakistan. This is not as…
Punjab’s urban challenge
PREDICTABLY, most of the critical and laudatory attention during the government’s first month in power has focused on big-ticket issues such as austerity, economic stabilisation and foreign policy directions. In…
