Reviving Lahore

From the Left:
Yes, this is a big problem. Zoning curbs on vertical development lead to horizontal sprawl. As urban areas sprawl outwards they tend to push the lower income groups to the periphery. Avoidance of traffic becomes a great motivating factor and proximity to the city center creates high real estate value in the city core and affordability on the fringes. As traveling distances get larger and larger, the number of vehicles on the road and the addition of hard paved surfaces increase exponentially. This situation leads to depletion of the quality of life, a degradation of the environment and the segregation of the society based on class. There is only one solution…

Create a mass transit system allowing wide access to the masses. This will cut down somewhat on income and real estate value disparity between the city core and the suburbs. Encourage high density and high rise development in the city core and on the major transit nodes. This will encourage pedestrian traffic and lead to lesser use of individual vehicles. The pollution will go down, the environment will be stabilized, the population will be more diverse and the quality of life will improve.

For all of the above to work though, you need a coordinated effort to reform all the Public Works sectors: Planning, Building, Zoning, Transportation, Highways, Sewage, Stormwater, Telecommunications, Electricity & Gas.

Most humbly yours,
Left.


From the Right:
I somewhat disagree. Left has articulated the issues well but like all other leftists his solutions are impractical pie in the sky proposals. I have ten very specific & practical proposals that will take care of all of these problems. And they are:

1. Put a General in charge of Planning.
2. Put a General in charge of Building.
3. Put a General in charge of Zoning.
4. Put a General in charge of Transportation.
5. Put a General in charge of Highways.
6. Put a General in charge of Sewage.
7. Put a General in charge of Stormwater.
8. Put a General in charge of Telecom.
9. Put a General in charge of Electricity.
10. Put a General in charge of Gas.

When competent people with discipline and integrity will be in charge of all the departments, everything will fall into place. As our great Preshident would shay, “Thish will mosht shertainly take care of the Shity of Lahore”.

Regards,
Right.

This article has appeared somewhere before. The reference should have been there.
Two places that I can think of; either the Daily times or the The Friday times. I can`t recall where.
Mr. Nadeem Haque please let us know.

Nadeem:

I would attribute lack of tower cranes to the culture of Lahore. The only multistory housing complex of Gulshane-e-Iqbal (perhaps being used by Allama Iqbal Medical College as hostels) failed in the 80s, reportedly due to the weather conditions of Lahore and to the living habits of Lahoris. Subsequently, no one dared to build multistory buildings.

The situation would be similar in my Mardan. People are used to living in open spaces. they will choke to death in apartment buildings. Mardan, therefore, will never have apartments.

However, I think that fast spreading cities like Lahore (and Mardan) should start depending on multistory housing schemes for the simple reason that the adjoining area will offer more value as agricultural land. The environmental impact assessment should discourage change of land use from agricultural to residential/commercial.