Developing a National Urban Policy: A Case Study of Pakistan: From Messy and Hidden Urbanisation to Smart and Green Cities

Abstract

Pakistan is urbanising at a faster rate compared to several other south Asian countries. As World Bank has described, urbanisation is characterised as ‘messy and hidden’, as it is mostly haphazard and informal in nature and a large share of population, living at the periphery, remain undocumented. Pakistani cities also lack adequate basic infrastructure. The existing policies are unable to cope up with growing challenges. Against this backdrop, Pakistan recently adopted National Urban Policy (NUP) to achieve a sustainable future. This chapter describes Pakistan’s urban challenges and the possible role of NUP in solving these issues and guide it towards a sustainable and greener future.