Replug: Lahore's expansion

Lahore

Lahore is witnessing a new face of urbanization through housing schemes that sell smaller plots and houses on installments which are feasible for the middle class. According to a real estate agent, some eight new housing schemes were inaugurated in Lahore last year. The damage such ventures are causing to the environment has not been taken into account.

In the last twenty years, governments have started taking green initiatives to ensure that their cities become sustainable. The most popular definition of sustainability is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." (Don’t exploit your nature so much that your children have nothing to exploit.)

"Many schemes are on paper," says Ajaz Anwar, a painter, and conservationist. "They are just sold-out future investments, neither used for housing nor any commercial activity."

These schemes are on a huge expanse of fertile land, which otherwise could be used for farming but farms pay less than housing schemes. Pakistan has a food shortage, resource depletion, and over-population problem.

"These schemes lack an integrated approach and are isolated," says Imrana Tiwana, an architect and environmental/urban designer. Commercial centers, hospitals, institutes, and even office buildings should be near these residential units. Instead of loading the downtown further, these schemes should take the traffic and population away from it."

Schemes near the airport, Raiwind and Multan Road are usually lacked public transport past eight at night (good luck with emergencies). Furthermore, they compel the families to drive far away daily, thus expanding their ecological footprint. Petrol and CNG are expensive and diminishing plus automobiles are the most significant cause of greenhouse gases and climate change. So we are developing billion dollar residential areas on two assumptions — the residents will transport themselves safely and not devastate the environment in the process.

Existing housing schemes can teach us many lessons. Many posh localities, even Defence and Model Town, have villages that couldn’t be relocated. Hence, when the scheme maintains the households but not the villages within it, it isn’t sustainable. The location should be at least 150m from light industry and warehouses, and 500m from general industries. Otherwise, the community might have urban heat islands, industrial pollution and eventually a displacement issue.

These schemes are taxing Lahore’s main sewage which has not been updated for decades. Posh localities have waste management schemes. Some only collect waste to keep the society clean, leaving the waste treatment to WASA. How many housing schemes in Lahore incorporate agricultural systems, renewable power plants, reliable/green public transport, natural ventilation systems, and sustainable drainage and waste treatment plant?

"One huge drawback after a successful residential scheme is," says a Nespak expert "that a Phase two or extension follows swiftly." If you open the website of any of these housing projects, you will see no Environmental Impact Assessment report. EIA is meant to assess the environmental impact of a project and minimize it.

According to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997, it is mandatory for housing schemes to have an EIA. Article 10(1) of the Act demands EIA to be published in an English or Urdu national newspaper and a local newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the project.

Lawyer Rafay Alam states: "It is illegal for housing schemes not to get an EIA report and publicly declare it. Objections can be raised by citizens after seeing the report, and the Punjab Government can levy limitations on the project."

TNS called two of the largest housing schemes in Lahore and inquired if they have had an EIA done. After referring to several people, one directed us to their marketing manager and another to their corporate department. No environmental expert emerged, proving how profit-centric the business is.

An internationally acclaimed solution to urban sprawl is apartment towers. All around the world, cities are going up vertically and not horizontally. As buildings cannot outsize the Washington monument in Washington, basements harbor several (up to 80)floors. However, there is a commercial tax on apartment buildings in Pakistan that discourages investors. Plus the construction techniques, design, and the initial infrastructural cost are much greater.

This piece was first published in The News in September 2011.