Physical Planning and Housing

Physical Planning and HousingTo achieve a tangible progress in PP&H sector, the issues, which are being persuadedin the current fiscal year 2008-09, are:• Development of Federal Capital Islamabad.• Improvement in the management of civic services in urban areas as well asrural areas.• Control of further growth in bigger cities by diverting the populationmigration from natural areas to medium-size towns.• Narrowing gap between the housing demand and supply.• Provision of water supply and sanitation services to maximum population.• Regularization and improvement of Katchi Abadis and slums.• Encouragement of private sector for investment in housing.• Research and development in the field of indigenous constructiontechnology.Urban DevelopmentCurrently, over one-third of the country’s population about 56 million people live inurban areas. By 2030, Pakistan will become predominantly urban with challenge ofmanaging additional 70-80 million more city dwellers. Mega cities like Karachi andLahore will operate under a new set of economic dynamics, as both are ranked lowaccording to City Development Index. This will demand a holistic approach to addressthe issues of increasing rural non-farm employment, rural-urban complementarities,and the needs to develop balanced hierarchies of settlements. Various measures toimprove urban development are presented in Box 7.1Box 7.1 Measures to Improve Urban Development• Implement National Spatial Strategy, with spatial development action plans at,provincial, district and tehsil level.• Diversify the economic base of smaller towns by establishing resource basedindustries based on potentials of the area.• Develop sustainable devolved institutional mechanism up to small town’s levelthrough close community participation to carry out planned activities effectively.• Undertake metropolitan economic planning across entire urban regions enablingall stakeholders to formulate comprehensive development plans and carry out acoordinated set of targeted investments, to link cities with rural suburbs.• Encourage Private sector investment through public–private partnerships andinnovative modes of development with incentives.• Minimize congestion & environmental hazards in large cities, by promotingurbanization of rural settlements and establishment of new towns alongmotorways / highways, and new satellite towns around metropolitan areas.Annual Plan 2009-10 110

Physical Planning and Housingincluding Rawalpindi & Islamabad. The Workers Welfare Fund undertook five projectsfor construction of flats for workers near industrial estates at provincial capitals.To cater for acute shortage of government office buildings especially in Islamabad, theMinistries /Departments/Agencies continued construction of respective office buildings.Main / Programs Achievements During 2008-09Housing for AllWater Supply &SanitationDue to financial crunch only 50% of the targets wereachieved, during the plan period.Due to financial crunch only 50% of the targets wereachieved, during the plan period.(Population Coverage)i) Urban WaterSupply87%ii)iii)iv)Urban SanitationRural WaterSupplyRural Sanitation66%58%33%Katchi Abadis / SlumImprovement(Population Coverage)Due to financial crunch only 50% of the targets wereachieved.About 0.15 million additional population’s environmentalcondition has been improved in Katchi Abadis /Slumsthrough out the country.Annual Plan 2009-10 112

Physical Planning and HousingPrograms for 2009-10The following activities will be undertaken during 2009-10.• Emphasis will be given on implementation of Prime Minister’s one millionhousing for low income groups along with one million housing units onownership basis.• At Federal level, through PSDP a large number of official accommodationprojects pertaining to Civil Armed Forces (CAF)/Police/Judiciary, andessential government offices, urban development, housing accommodation,and water supply and sewerage will be undertaken.• The Federal Government under matching grants between federal andprovincial governments will continue to provide support for bulk watersupply & sewerage projects in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas,Nawabshah, Sukkur, Quetta, Faisalabad, Okara, Peshawar, Malakand,Muzaffergrah, Muzzaffarabad and other cities including coastal areas,urban areas uplifts projects in Ziarat, Loralai, Kohlu and Gwader.• The PSDP would continue financing water supply & sewerage schemes inlCT and construction of functional buildings/ structures and residentialaccommodations. The CDA will be focusing on development of roads /highways / overhead bridges / pedestrian bridges and continuedevelopment of residential sectors and to provide plots for construction ofhouses to reduce acute shelter problem in the federal capital.• Federal government will continue and expedite to provide houses to federalgovernment employees on ownership basis on their retirement.• For efficient delivery of water supply & sewerage services in urban areasefforts will be made to complete the on-going schemes and to recover thefull O&M costs; to initiate a phased program of rehabilitating the old watersupply and sewerage network; to reduce the water losses; and to integratethe planning and development of new water and sewerage projects.• To expedite improvement of katchi abadis /slums, the district governmentswill be activated to ensure participation of end-users in identifying problemsand in setting their own proprieties, district governments and urbandevelopment of respective areas/ cities.Urban DevelopmentDuring 2009-10, draft National Spatial Strategy will be finalized within the framework ofVision 2030 to safeguard the areas of national interest and provide guidelines aimed atmaximizing efficiency of human settlements. The current urban centers, which arealready congested and polluted, would not be able to absorb the envisaged enhancedeconomic activities and trade. Accordingly, as part of the National Spatial Strategy, it isenvisaged to diversify the growth of population and urbanization through out thecountry.The National Spatial Plans will be linked to provincial and local plans within a longtermregional planning framework to connect cities with the rural suburbs through theprovision of facilities, amenities and other infrastructure and services. This willenhance the thrust towards rural urbanization to minimize the congestion, pollution andAnnual Plan 2009-10 113

Physical Planning and Housingother typical environmental hazards in large cities. Characteristics of the cities asengine of growth are presented in Box 7.2.A National Trade Corridor (NTC) improvement program has already been launchedand in progress. The Corridor will be linked with establishment of new cities; logisticcenters (for retail and wholesale trade); special economic zones, industrial andtechnology parks; and cold chain/food processing centers. During 2009-10, theplanning of new cities will commence in conjunction with economic activities along themotorways and expressways. A program of upgrading of infrastructure within theexisting urban centers and existing intercity networks will also be undertaken.Box 7.2 Cities as Engine of GrowthCities are increasingly becoming engines of growth, centers of economic activity,knowledge.It is planned to develop cities as hubs of trade and commerce with higher levels andintensities of infrastructure and connectivity to the outer world compared to thepresent.The functioning of the mega and large cities will be improved through metropolitaneconomic planning across the entire urban region, bringing together the national,provincial and local government agencies, business and community leadership toformulate comprehensive plans and carryout coordinated targeted investments.Among other things, investments in urban regions including the centers will beenhanced through public-private partnerships and other innovative modes. This willfacilitate private sector involvement in value added services and products, andpromote industrialization with intensified marketing and financial mechanisms. Afocus will be the provision of local infrastructure including roads, clean drinkingwater, sanitation, basic health and education and electricity to enhance the qualityof life of the residents.Urban GovernanceMajor initiatives will be undertaken to improve the infrastructure relating to movement ofgoods and people. A holistic and multi-nodal approach will be initiated, which will resultin a quantum increase in the scale and quality of urban infrastructure. Besides, therecent innovation in governance is likely to affect the future of cities in Pakistan.Municipal finance has emerged as a core issues in the functioning of cites, whichrequire an increasing proportion of monetary, material and human resources to fulfillcivic aspirations. During 2009-10, new approaches would be explored to facilitate thefinancing of major infrastructure in large cities including financing in part by profitsgenerated by property development. An entrepreneurial approach, with involvement ofthe private sector, will be adopted on a citywide basis to promote metropolitan cities topotential investors. Accessing the capital markets through municipal or other bondissues, with or without government guarantee, would also need to be considered. Thiswould be complemented by price reforms to meet the cost of efficient serviceprovision, manage demand and generate cash to catalyze new investments.Water Supply and SanitationThe development of urban water supply would be based on meeting rapidly increasingdemand for household and industrial water, increasing investments in new waterAnnual Plan 2009-10 114

Physical Planning and Housingnational statutory framework would be developed as a starting point forcontract negotiations and must cover factors such as minimum qualitystandards and environmental parameters.• Regulatory framework at local level to address the quality, price, andrequired reliability of the service; the investment program; maintenance ofassets; and rights of access in the public domain. The skills of RiskAssessment to create an environment conducive to attracting the privatesector, and Forging Agreements with private service providers, also need tobe developed.The major PP&H sectoral programs to be implemented during 2009-10, are highlightedbelow:Sub-Sector PP&H Targets 2009-10• Prime Minister’s One Million Housing Programme for low income groups (Poor &low paid government employees)• Development of Residential PlotsTo facilitate development of 2,50,00 small each size residential plots in “site & ServicesSchemes” in urban and rural areas, for construction of houses by the allottees.• Water Supply / Sanitation / Seweragei) Urban Water SupplyIncrease population coverage from present 87 per cent to 89 percent.ii)iii)iv)Urban Sewerage & Sanitary DrainsIncrease population coverage from present 66 per cent to 68 percent.Rural Water SupplyIncrease population coverage from present 58 per cent to 60 percent.Rural SanitationIncrease population coverage from present 33 per cent to 35 percent.• Katchi Abadis Slums Up-gradationImprovement of environmental conditions of additional 0.250 million population in Katchi Abadis /Slums.• Government Employees HousingProvision of addition 2000 houses and flats from Government Employees in Islamabad &Provincial Capitals.• Government Offices & BuildingsConstruction of 0.20 million square feet covered area for federal / provincial governmentagencies & Civil Armed Forces.• Housing for Industrial WorkersConstruction of 1000 small size plots and houses / flats, by the Workers Welfare Fund.• Houses for Overseas PakistanisImplementation of on-going schemes in major cities by the Overseas PakistanisFoundationAnnual Plan 2009-10 116