ISLAMABAD, June 5: A high unemployment rate, increase in food and fuel prices and a deteriorating law and order situation in urban have been the major contributing factors in urban poverty.
The Planning Commission task force on urban development has suggested tackling urban poverty through sustained initiatives with a focus on technical education, vocational training and skill development of its youth and the workforce.
Pakistan’s patriarchal leadership is challenged by the young and women. This is a major cause of domestic violence and strife, including gender violence.
There is direct conflict between the aggressively upwardly mobile lower-middle class and the entrenched rent seeking rich which to a large extent is manifest in manipulation of the land and labour markets, says the task force report.
The report estimates that 55 to 60 million more people will be added to urban areas by 2030. The growing urbanisation has positioned cities to play exceedingly important role in the national economic and social development; therefore, the
process needs to be supported and managed efficiently, it suggests.
Exploring the state of urbanisation in the country, the report states that the cities are now contributing overwhelming to the country’s GDP – over 78 per cent – but accelerating urbanisation has also aggravated urban deficit which is eroding
livability, productivity and efficiency of urban areas and degrading urban ecology.
The report suggested to improve the business environment and competitiveness and promote local urban economy through expanding inner-city markets, promoting cluster development, improving urban governance, providing skill development, allowing autonomous local governments and managing power shortages.
Additionally, urban poverty is on the rise and the increasing gap between rich and poor is leading to growing social instability and discontent among a large segment of society, particularly youth. The report suggested reframing urban strategies aiming at inclusive and holistic urban development.
Almost all the cities in the country are faced with acute shortage of land which has resulted in extremely high land prices and thus stalled the pace of urban development.
The raw land is held by influential groups who tend to hoard it for speculative purposes. Additionally, dispensation of available land is often wasteful due to flaws in existing land use regulations, planning standards and the prevalent informal processes.
The report argues that other sources of urban land supply should be explored for efficient use of existing land resources such as unlocking land in the custody of government and resorting to high density compact city development of re-development.
In view of the legal context following the 18th amendment in the constitution, it has been argued that urban development would now largely be undertaken by the city governments. Therefore, efforts should be made to bring greater administrative and financial autonomy for the local governments in the ongoing restructuring process.
Evaluating the efficacy of planning and zoning regulations, development standards, land registration and transfer procedures, rent control laws, property tax etc., the task force report notes that the flaws in the regulatory framework have severely constrained land supply and abnormally raised its prices given the strong demand for business and residents to locate in cities.
The report argues that the present focus on expanding urban infrastructure should shift to increasing productivity and efficiency of the existing networks by reforming the institutions that mange the infrastructure and facilitating them to adopt innovative engineering and maintenance techniques.
The Planning Commission task force on urban development has suggested tackling urban poverty through sustained initiatives with a focus on technical education, vocational training and skill development of its youth and the workforce.
Pakistan’s patriarchal leadership is challenged by the young and women. This is a major cause of domestic violence and strife, including gender violence.
There is direct conflict between the aggressively upwardly mobile lower-middle class and the entrenched rent seeking rich which to a large extent is manifest in manipulation of the land and labour markets, says the task force report.
The report estimates that 55 to 60 million more people will be added to urban areas by 2030. The growing urbanisation has positioned cities to play exceedingly important role in the national economic and social development; therefore, the
process needs to be supported and managed efficiently, it suggests.
Exploring the state of urbanisation in the country, the report states that the cities are now contributing overwhelming to the country’s GDP – over 78 per cent – but accelerating urbanisation has also aggravated urban deficit which is eroding
livability, productivity and efficiency of urban areas and degrading urban ecology.
The report suggested to improve the business environment and competitiveness and promote local urban economy through expanding inner-city markets, promoting cluster development, improving urban governance, providing skill development, allowing autonomous local governments and managing power shortages.
Additionally, urban poverty is on the rise and the increasing gap between rich and poor is leading to growing social instability and discontent among a large segment of society, particularly youth. The report suggested reframing urban strategies aiming at inclusive and holistic urban development.
Almost all the cities in the country are faced with acute shortage of land which has resulted in extremely high land prices and thus stalled the pace of urban development.
The raw land is held by influential groups who tend to hoard it for speculative purposes. Additionally, dispensation of available land is often wasteful due to flaws in existing land use regulations, planning standards and the prevalent informal processes.
The report argues that other sources of urban land supply should be explored for efficient use of existing land resources such as unlocking land in the custody of government and resorting to high density compact city development of re-development.
In view of the legal context following the 18th amendment in the constitution, it has been argued that urban development would now largely be undertaken by the city governments. Therefore, efforts should be made to bring greater administrative and financial autonomy for the local governments in the ongoing restructuring process.
Evaluating the efficacy of planning and zoning regulations, development standards, land registration and transfer procedures, rent control laws, property tax etc., the task force report notes that the flaws in the regulatory framework have severely constrained land supply and abnormally raised its prices given the strong demand for business and residents to locate in cities.
The report argues that the present focus on expanding urban infrastructure should shift to increasing productivity and efficiency of the existing networks by reforming the institutions that mange the infrastructure and facilitating them to adopt innovative engineering and maintenance techniques.
No comments:
Post a Comment