Roundtable held to discuss urban development task force report

The rapid urbanisation rate in Pakistan, coupled with poor institutional capacity, has forced the policy makers to initiate dialogue and debate with all concerned stakeholder to help formulate an implementable policy for urban development The Planning Commission of Pakistan on Friday organised a roundtable conference to launch the 'Task Force Report on Urban Development' at Karachi.
The aim of the event was to share recommendations of the task force with various stakeholders. Dr Nadeem-ul-Haque, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, chaired the roundtable. It is estimated that that by the year 2030, 49.8 percent of Pakistan's population would be living in urban areas, and about 17 cities would become larger than one million people. It is a major challenge to absorb such a massive number of people in urban areas and provide basic amenities like shelter, food and employment.
The existing urban physical, social and institutional infrastructure is not equipped to face this challenge, which is why chaos in many aspects is apparent in the cities. However, despite all the negative conditions that make it very difficult for the population to live in cities, the ability to generate economic value has made the cities a popular choice for location. The economic activity in urban areas produces 78 percent of Pakistan's GDP.
Although the subject of urban development is a provincial issue and the subject of planning is a local issue, the immense contribution and, indeed, economic potential of urban areas to national trade and the economy gives the Federal Government of Pakistan good reason and strong basis to suggest areas of reform. This rapid urbanisation rate in Pakistan, coupled with poor institutional capacity, has forced the policy makers to initiate dialogue and debate with all concerned stakeholder to help formulate an implementable policy for urban development.
In this regard, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan constituted a Task Force on Urban Development chaired by Arif Hasan. Divided into five chapters, this report provides a comprehensive account of the urbanisation process, identifies major issues confronting towns and cities, analyse existing urban policies and makes eight recommendations to reform the urban sector.
To take further this discussion on urban development reforms, the roundtable conference on urban development was organised, which was attended by representatives of NGOs, donor organisations, urban policy experts, development agencies and local government. The conference commenced by a presentation on the Urban Task Force Report by Arif Hasan. This was be followed by comments on the report by participants. All comments and discussions were recorded and will be incorporated in the final draft of the Urban Task Force Report.