MANAGING URBANIZATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES: A CASE STUDY OF LAHORE, IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Urbanization in Pakistan is very high. The spatial fabric of Pakistan showed that more than fifty percent of urban population lives in eight major cities. The environment of Lahore inundated due to inability of the city to manage urbanization and to get the benefit of it. Unfair clustering of population; due to break down of community and mass exodus of villagers from the rural
hinterland to urban centers, consequent rural-urban inequalities, gigantic expansion of city, inappropriate land use changes were common consequences of not taming the pattern of urbanization. Furthermore, urban sprawl and construction of truncated infrastructure misdirected state resources. Distension of environmental degradation cost heavily to the National Exchequer. The paper attempts to highlight qualitative and quantitative effects on urban environment of metropolitan city of Lahore in
the wake of poorly managed urbanization. Tools of urban development like land readjustment and their potential to manage urbanization, missing linkages in organizational setup and redundant distribution of work among different public organizations responsible for the development of cities were also discussed. Policy measures to be taken as bases for sustainable development of cities of regions of Pakistan as suggested in the light of finding of research.