URBANIZATION AND TOWN PLANNING

Prof. Dr. S. Shabih-ul-Hassan ZaidiB.Sc. CRP (UET, LHR); M.Sc. HSP (AIT, Bangkok); Ph.D.

URP (Birmingham University, UK) Dean, Faculty of Architecture & PlanningUniversity of Engg. & Technology, Lahore

Advantages of Town Planning

• Town Planning works as a tool for effective Urban Governance.• Town Planning is a profession of taking informed decisions, thus

decisions regarding future development of urban and rural areas are taken on the basis of facts and figures and not on personal whims.

• Maintenance of law and order is more effective in a planned area.• Public facilities and utility services enhance convenience for

people when provided in a planned manner.• The planned cities are beautiful in design and enhance local and

international tourism.• The planned settlements provide healthy environment and thus

help improve the health of the citizens.• The planned cities prove to be the engines of economic growth,

thus improving the national economy.

DEVELOPMENT DEFINED

The word development is defined as ‘the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or making of any material change in the use of buildings or other land’. (Cullingworth, 1982, p.78).

TOWN PLANNING DEFINED

• Town Planning can be defined as ‘the art and science of ordering the use of land and siting of buildings and communication routes so as to secure maximum practicable degree of economy, convenience and beauty’ (Keeble, Lewis, 1969)

Town Planning Defined

• Margrate Roberts (1974) defines planning as ‘an activity of making choices from among various options that lie open for future and securing the implementation of the chosen option’

• John Ratcliffe (1978) says that town planning is ‘concerned with providing the right site, at the right time, in the right place, for the right people’

Definition of Urban Area

“Any settlement with a population of more than 5000 persons living close to each other (at a suitably high density) and having an economic base other than agriculture is called as an urban area.”

Urban Rural Differences

• Population: Any settlement with a population of above 5000 persons is urban while less than 5000 is rural

• Density: Urban areas are densely populated while in rural areas the density is low

• Economy: The economic base of rural areas is Agriculture while in urban areas the economic base is industry, business and services

• Culture: Rural society is more close knit and homogenous society while urban society is more heterogeneous and modern

“National prosperity is nothing more than the sum of the economic

performances of individual cities in a

country.”

-Jane Jacobs

“Cities…… exist to eliminate transportation costs for goods, people

and ideas”.

-Glaeser and Kahn

"We make our cities and

then our cities make us."

-Winston Churchill

Urbanization Defined

“Urbanization is defined as a process or phenomenon by which urban fraction of population increases in a region or country.”

Thus urbanization phenomenon is represented by a change in the rural-urban divide of population in an area

Urbanization in Pakistan

Year Urban Rural• 1951 15% 85%• 1961 20% 80%• 1972 25% 75%• 1981 29% 71%• 1998 37% 63% • 2005 40% 60%• Future Estimate:• 2050 60% 40%

Factors contributing towards Urbanization

• Natural Increase of Population

• Rural-Urban Migration

• Reclassification of Rural areas into Urban

Magnitude of Urbanization

• U = Ni + Nm + R

• Ni = Bu – Du

• Nm = Pu2 - Pu1 - NiOr

• Nm = ΣFa1-n + ΣFr1-n

Where• U = Magnitude of Urbanization• Ni = Natural Increase of Population• Nm = Net Rural Urban Migration• R = Rural population Reclassified into Urban• Bu = Total number of births taking place in a year in an urban area• Du = Total number of deaths in a year in an urban area• Pu2 = Population of an urban area at the end of a specific period• Pu1= Population of an urban area at the beginning of period• Σfa1-n = Sum of all forces of attraction exerted by an urban area • ΣFr1-n = Sum of all forces of repulsion exerted by rural areas

R = Population of trapped villages in the urban sprawl

Problems due to Urbanization• Housing deficit and sub-standard Housing (Slums

and Katchi Abadies)• Pressure on Public Facilities such as Schools and

Hospitals• Pressure on Utility Services such as Sewerage and

Water Supply• Problems of Law and Order• Crime and Juvenile Delinquency• Traffic and Transportation Problems• Encroachments on roads, open spaces and parks• Unemployment in urban areas• Problems of social adjustment in urban areas for

rural migrants