The Master Plan That Shaped Pakistan’s Capital Is No Longer Working
The blueprint has long struggled to address Islamabad’s unruly growth, and after six decades experts say it is due for a revamp.
Houses and buildings in a residential area in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Photographer: Asad Zaidi/BloombergAlong the tree-lined highway leading into Islamabad, billboards advertise housing developments that boast golf courses, water parks and towering sculptures of horse heads — markers of a real estate sector that has expanded the boundaries of Pakistan’s capital which was designed to be a haven from urban sprawl.
Islamabad’s master plan envisioned a city of the future for the country’s civil servants, grid-like and orderly in stark contrast to the original capital Karachi. The once-pioneering document created a capital city from scratch, but has since become the subject of a lengthy debate about how to regulate its unruly growth.