Modern Planning in Pakistan and

Abroad
 Master Planning in Pakistan – A
Historical Perspective
Legal Framework: There has been no Town and
Country Planning law at national level in Pakistan.
• In the beginning, the only legislation with provision
for the preparation of master plans by local
councils was the Municipal Administration
Ordinance (MAO) 1960.
• The MAO 1960 was replaced by Provincial Local
Government Ordinance (PLGO) 1979. It simply
carried forward the provisions of MAO 1960 about
master planning in almost the same words.
• Like the MAO in PLGO, only the urban local councils
were required to prepare master plans for their
jurisdiction Thus rural areas of the country received
no planning attention even under this Ordinance.
• However, it was in 1997 when the rural local
councils were also given a non mandatory task to
prepare and implement master plans for areas
under their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, none of the
rural local councils could prepare any master plan
due mainly to lack of interest of decision makers,
and weak institutional capacity.
• Recently, the Local Government Ordinance 2001
has replaced the PLGO 1979 as part of the
devolution plan of the current military regime.
 Under the 2001 Ordinance, a new system of Local Government
has been established, creating three levels of local government
administration.
 Each province has been divided into Districts by eliminating the
previous rural-urban divide.
 Each district comprises a few Tehsils / Towns which are again
divided into areas of Union Councils.
 Staff at each administrative level has been appointed by
elimination and merger of different existing institutions
functioning at provincial and local levels, for better governance
at the local level.
 Thus the Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMA) has replaced
the urban (e.g. Municipal/Town Committees) and rural (e.g. Zila
Councils) local councils.
 All the TMAs in a district are administratively linked with District
Government. However, in case of provincial capitals, a City
District Government (CDG) has been established by dividing the
city into different Town Municipal Administrations.
 Under the 2001 Ordinance, all the TMAs are required to
prepare a master plan for their respective areas and get it
approved from their respective Councils.
 However, this Ordinance does not provide for spatial
planning at the district level.
 Provisions for master planning can also be found as one of
the function of various development authorities or planning
agencies For example, these include Karachi Development
(KDA) Authority Order 1957, Lahore Development Authority
(LDA) Act 1975, and Quetta Development Authority
Ordinance 1978.
 Until recently these development authorities have been
working in parallel with local government institutions often
with overlapping jurisdictions and duplication of planning
powers.
 Since the reorganization of local government in 2001, these
development authorities have been made part of the District
Government but as a separate entity.
Preparation and Implementation of Master Plans:
Recognizing the need to arrest the ugliness and
haphazard growth of big cities of Pakistan and to guide
the future development in a planned manner,
the Government of Pakistan foreseen in the second five
year plan (1960-65) the need of preparation of master
plans for eleven major cities in the West Pakistan.
Lahore being the provincial metropolis of the biggest
province topped the list of selected cities. Hence, the
preparation of Master Plan for Greater Lahore marked
the beginning of master planning in Pakistan in 1961.

The second Master plan was prepared for Karachi during

1970 to 1974. Afterwards a number of master plans have
also been produced for various cities of the country
including, for instance, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi,
Faisalabad and Multan.
 Modern Planning Abroad
1. The Authoritarian Planning
2. The Utilitarian Planning
3. The Romantic Planning
4. The Utopian Planning
5. The Technocratic Utopia
6. The Technocratic Planning
7. The Organic Planning
Authoritarian Planning: It is basically a geometric
planning which emerged in 16th century
• under priestly dictators & absolute monarchs
who wanted to create an urban setting which can
emphasize their power structure in society.
• The principles of this kind of planning include a
long street, uniform blank front and an open
plaza for a monument or obelisk.
• However, when same principles applied to city as
a whole as a ideal “geometric” plans for political
capitals i.e. Washington, Brasilia, Islamabad the
plan become truly functional setting only for
government.
The Utilitarian Planning: With the continuation
geometric planning there emerges the utilitarian planning
which are basically the upshots of geometric extension of
the town.
• It is also termed as commercial utilitarian planning
because its major objective is to maximize the returns
from sale & rent.
• Since last three centuries large number of new towns
or town extensions developed on this theory that the
ideal municipal facilities should be provided on open
land where the large population to be housed with
maximum use of available space for built structures &
minimum space availability for parks, play ground &
open public spaces.
• The other aspect of utilitarian planning is the
encouragement of private sector investments in the
development.
Romantic Planning: When the utilitarian planning
practice become supreme in cities, there occurred a
revolt against it and a new philosophy took shape in the
form of a Romantic planning.
• The Romantic planning rejects the concepts of life that
makes a human being & its environment subservient to
either political power structure or mechanization in the
development of a city
• Positively the Romantic Movement in planning restored
the essential human values excluded from the
industrial and autocratic complex.
• These human values were associated with rural life
with more open spaces, clean air sunlight, vegetation &
other rural habitat which is favorable for a child to grow
in a healthy environment.
Utopian Planning: The Utopian planning at first refers
to the Thomas Moore’s classic work of Utopia in
which he exhibits the elements of all three types of
Authoritarian, utilitarian and romantic planning.
• An expression his work discussed about a
centralized political authority & geometric
formalism as well as his humane views on city in
which he describes a neighborhood unit as a center
of domestic and civic life.
• A part from Thomas Moore there is other Utopian
planners who have given their concepts on utopian
city or an ideal city both in form and function. New
Lanark, savannah, Georgia & Melbourne with a
large surrounding green belt.
Technocratic Utopia: The terms technocratic utopia was
first brought into literature by Bowler Litton through his
work “The Coming Race”.
• In this kind of utopia all human functions and activities
was set up in a large mega structure where every detail
of life is subject to absolute autocratic control.

• The technocratic plan mainly centered on the

technological inventions in construction method &
materials .

• Or the creation of simple vertical structure of hundred

or two hundred stories high.
Technocratic Planning: The technocratic planning
describes a process which is going on from last one
century;
• where mechanical services are increasing with huge
costs for providing water from distant sources, disposal
system of sewerage & garbage, paved streets, rapid
transportation systems, tunnels, bridges, multilane
highways & large parking lots.
• The aim of technocratic planning & ideas is to make
every urban activity, a function of a machine.
• In theory technocratic planning assumes that all human
problems are open to a technological solution and all
human needs can be met by invention of a mechanical
or electronic device that can stimulate them & satisfy
them or divert them to other channels.
Organic Planning: The concepts of organic planning
sprung out from rich knowledge of urban past and better
sociological understanding of the nature of cities.
• These are not considered as a work of art but the focal
point in development and expression of a culture.
• The organic means well organized with a dynamic
balance. Therefore organic planning seeks structural
answer to every function of city which is expressed in
both surface plan & design of buildings with needs &
ideals of a community.
• The organic planning conserves past urban forms &
prepares them to accommodate future needs. Venice,
Rome, New Delhi & Mecca can be the best examples.
Maps
 What is a map?
A map is a visual representation of an area or a symbolic
depiction highlighting relationships between elements of
that space such as objects, regions, and themes.

Map Making or Cartography:

Cartography or map making is the study and practice of
making representations of the Earth on a flat surface.
Cartography combines science, aesthetics, and technical
ability to create a balanced and readable representation
that is capable of communicating information effectively
and quickly.
 Map types:
In understanding basic maps, the field of
cartography can be divided into two general
categories: general cartography and thematic
cartography. General cartography involves those
maps that are constructed for a general audience
and thus contain a variety of features. Thematic
cartography involves maps of specific geographic
themes oriented toward specific audiences.
Maps for planning and development of urban
areas:
Maps are required by every Department/agency of
the Provincial and Federal Governments having
stake in development of urban area. Local
authorities, public undertakings, service
organizations require maps.
The institutions like urban development authorities, Local
authorities - Engineering and Health Departments, Power
Transmission and distribution agencies, Agencies for
Urban Water Supply and Drainage system, Survey,
Settlement and Land Records (City Survey) Department,
Agencies for city transport system, Fire Force, Police
Department - Traffic & Law and Order and Postal
Department requires the maps on daily basis. Whereas;
other institutions like Public Works Departments,
National Highways Authority, Railways, Housing boards,
Education Department, Health Department, Census
Department and Election Commission requires the maps
occasionally. Similarly the maps are required for different
purposes. Full topographic maps at different scales are
required by Urban Development Authorities for
preparation/ revision of Comprehensive Development
Plans, Zonal Plans (Sectoral Plans), Neighborhood Plans,
Sub-division Plans, Town Planning Schemes, etc. in the
local planning area.
 Process in planning - Best Practice:
Requirement of maps in terms of content, accuracy, scale, etc. in
planning and development of urban areas can be appreciated well
when the process involved in planning for physical development and
implementation is known. Planning urban areas, especially
metropolitan areas and cities, may have three stages, although they
can vary:
• Outline Development Plan (ODP) now re-christened as Perspective
Plan, at macro (city/town) level;
• Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) also at macro level. This
can also be called Master Plan;
• Zonal Plans for part of city/town to elaborate the details; and
• Town Planning Schemes at micro (local) level to implement the plan.
These levels are basically to perceive, conceptualize and see details
from city/ town level to part of city/town and local level. These levels
naturally require maps at different scales with different content with
one or fewer maps to see the area under consideration.
 Preparation of Master Plan:
Preparation of Master Plan at Metro/city level is
highly complex and needs multi- disciplinary team
of experts. However, the experts who steer the
work on planning are the physical planners. Before
embarking on making projections for demographic
aspects to estimate the land required to meet the
growth during the plan horizon, several studies are
carried out by physical planners apart from other
discipline. Most important planning survey is the
use of building and not only in the existing
developed area but also in the vicinity, what is called
Local Planning Area.