Urban Planning — A Case Study in Pakistan
Urban planning in Pakistan hasn’t been adopted. It is adapted by British and Americans from the very start, but the reason why its urban dwellers still faced the problems is due to the implementation of different urban growth models. There isn’t a single planning model which imperatively defines its economic and environmental constraints. Instead of adopting self-created models that are sustainable to its environment, industrialization, economic stability, and infrastructure they opted out adaptation which most of the cases bring unprecedented chaos and turbulence in the cities.
City Lodhran has improvised its urban planning itself, unlike the majority of metropolitan cities of Pakistan. The City is well-connected to Bahawalpur, Multan, and Khanewal through a network of inter-city roads. The city is growing in two main directions. In the Northern direction, the city is growing along the national highway towards Multan. In the south, the expansion is towards Bahawalpur. And at the junction of these two major cities, Multan and Bahawalpur, in its location plays a significant role in shaping its economy and cultural environment. Historical background says that the specified area of this town is particularly recognized for its permit, workplace, of goods and accessories in the ancient times. Thus, small territory eventually grew up along the transportation of these two cities.
The city depicts its representation of Multiple nuclei model (Kahror Pakka, Duniya Pur, Lodhran), which was first suggested by McKenzie and later on expanded by Harris and Ullman, the model is itself the broader visualization of burgess concentric zone model. There is no proper CBD (central business district) in this type of model. CBD, the core dense part of the city where theaters, shopping malls, hotels, headquarters, and businesses are in the central location. All the main activities of cities, which leads to urbanization, grow from this core part. Thus, urbanization and expansion take place which further sprawl into the next adjoining loop. Region Kahror Pakka and Duniya Pur act as two nuclei. In these two regions, the central business function intermingles with residential, commercial and working-class zones.
Region Lodhran doesn’t fall to CBD criteria and due to separate geographical diversity, it deviates from the nuclei model and falls into Soriya y Mata’s contemporary Linear city development model. The reason for its parallel movement of urbanization strips alongside the river flow, railways, and linear transportation amidst the two main cities. Transparent zoning is representable near-linear development. Commercial and residential suburbs are intermixed near the linear development. This intermixing is due to the basic amenities which are mostly provided by its own agricultural and industrial resources. The whole district is an amalgam of three different models: concentric, multiple nuclei and linear. There might be certain forecasts for merging Lodhran region to Bahawalpur in the upcoming decade due to continuous and significant urban sprawling and relative closeness along with the expansion. And only the Sutlej river will remain there to distinguish two localities. There isn’t any specific distribution among blue collar and white collar, the reason being the limited resources, but political and authoritarian communities settle down at the proximity of urban sprawl. Few residential suburbs are located near the commuters zone or green belts. Witnessing the current situation, the city can easily provide suitable spaces to its residents as the niche of this developing region is deeply rooted in political stability.
Urban planning in simple ideology, through its broader concepts, comprise of technical and political aspects of any region which involves addressing basic human needs, health, welfare by providing planned spaces. In all the cases political processes dominate before going through all technical processes and then comes Space provision which is generally granted or authorized by the leader or political body of that specific region. Fortunately, the renowned political entities of the region have held control over the city and the position is well recognized through a foundation of industries and most of these industrial units are agriculture-based. The growing industrial infrastructure has changed the district’s natural landscape as well as the economic scenario with an occupational shift of farming and farm labor. So, along with the supervision of these farms, the body must be indulged in all other environmental and social affairs of the city which ultimately fulfills the Aims of urban planning and facilitate all the basic amenities of people. Thus the predominant political aspect between the two mainstreams holds the stability of the entire region.
Albeit with the least privileges and generalized economic environment doesn’t turn the region into a utopic landscape paradigm but its continuous linear expansion is not generating an impoverished community and made a sufficient place for its city dwellers to urbanize along the way.
Article by: Haris Saleem
