Syed Mohammad Ali
The challenge for policy makers in our part of the world is to develop a strategy which can manage this ongoing accelerating urbanisation in a manner that the existing cities become more liveable, in addition to serving as engines of growth
While urbanisation in developing countries can encourage economic growth, rapid and unplanned urbanisation also creates major problems by putting pressure on housing, infrastructure, public services, and the environment.
Pakistans cities, for example are already accommodating some 35 percent of the total population, but with the urban population growth rate outstripping national population growth, that figure is set to reach 46 percent by 2025 and 64 percent by 2050. Increasing poverty has accompanied urbanisation in Pakistan, as a result of rural-to-urban migration and the lag in the formal economys capacity to absorb the growing population of unskilled labour, and the cities capacities to provide basic urban services.
In Karachi, which is now one of the largest cities in the world, more than half of the population lives in informal high density and environmentally degraded settlements (katchi abadis) or slum areas; 89 percent of the katchi abadi population has incomes below the poverty line.
The challenge for policy makers in our part of the world is to develop a strategy which can manage this ongoing accelerating urbanisation in a manner that the existing cities become more liveable, in addition to serving as engines of growth. In devising such a strategy, a fundamental shift in approach is however required of moving away from the practice of regarding municipal service delivery as consisting of elements or projects to be funded on a piecemeal basis towards a more holistic concept of managing cities as social and economic systems.
In fact, while they are unique, South Asian cities are also facing similar challenges, and do have much to learn from each other. The analysis of development dynamics since the 1990s in India very clearly shows that the process of urbanisation has become exclusionary in nature, as only a few large cities with a strong economic base are able to raise resources for development, leaving out small and medium towns.
With governmental investment in infrastructure and basic amenities declining in smaller towns over the years and their failure to attract private or institutional investment, the disparity within the urban economy is likely to increase in coming years, an issue which not only Indian cities but also other big cities in neighbouring countries also face.
Consider for instance the urbanisation process underway in Pakistans Punjab, which is well above the South Asia average, and is set to further increase in the coming years. The city of Lahore alone has a population today that is larger than the total urban population of Punjab in 1951. In 2009, Punjab had five cities with populations of over one million. Punjabs future will increasingly be an urban one. But whether our planners learn the required lessons from trends that have been emerging in India so as to make our ongoing urbanisation processes more inclusive remains to be seen.
Unfortunately, the trend of a centrally managed city with accountability not to citizens but upwards seems a common regional phenomenon. Dhaka, for instance, is managed through several line agencies that report to different line ministries at the central government level and also some services with direct responsibilities under the mayor, often with overlapping mandates. As a result the lines of accountability are blurred for the common citizen and even the coordination of services becomes very difficult. To address traffic congestion, Dhaka will need to coordinate between traffic police, roads infrastructure, land planning, and public transport, to name a few areas. But not all these areas are under the mayor many belong to central line ministries. Not surprisingly, real failures occur due to this confusion.
Given this prevailing situation, it should not be surprising to note that no city in South Asia delivers continuous water, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Water supply and sewerage coverage ranges from 46 to 70 percent across major cities of our own country. The water quality is also poor, and distribution networks are old and suffer from leakage and contamination. There is no real sewage treatment in any urban area; most is dumped into the sea or rivers through open channels, creating serious environmental problems. Furthermore, only 60 percent of solid waste generated in Pakistani cities is collected; most is usually deposited on open ground or in poorly designed dump sites on the outskirts of built-up areas.
Moreover, most of our cities do not have strategic development plans or programmes to support cultural heritage and the environment. The movement of people within most cities is difficult because of the absence of effective public transport. A backlog of 6 million housing units nationwide has resulted in overcrowding within the existing stock and the formation of many informal and illegal settlements with minimal basic amenities.
While the list of our common problems can easily become longer, it is also important to realise that the urbanisation process in Pakistan is not uniform, and it therefore does require flexible policies.
For instance, there are over forty urban areas in the Punjab including five major cities and several smaller cities eight of them with populations between 200,000 and one million inhabitants which is a unique case within the Pakistani context. An urban triangle of Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura/Lahore comprises 30 million people, and forms a potential growth pole or engine of growth. But realising this potential perhaps requires joint planning committees for this region, an issue that has not yet received much attention by urban policy makers.
The lack of a comprehensive vision, as well as governance and planning weaknesses, accompanied by inadequate investment in urban development can result in uncontrolled and unplanned development of cities and towns, deterioration in the urban environment and deficiencies in all forms of urban services.
Global experience suggests that creating cities that are accountable to their constituencies requires a systemic approach. First, cities need to be empowered. This empowerment includes giving cities clear responsibilities, own-sources of finance or tax base, and access to functionaries that report directly to city management. While devolution and the creation of city districts was a right step in this direction within the Pakistani context, the fate of this devolutionary process now hangs in the balance due to the current political compulsions.
The effective governance of metropolitan areas cannot occur by trying to fix the pipes, as they say, but by fixing the institutions that fix the pipes. It is this latter approach which must be adopted by all future major decision makers who have a say in urban policy making so as to ensure delivery of sustainable municipal services.
