PESHAWAR: Pakistan is considering a push toward high-rise urban development as the government seeks to curb uncontrolled urban sprawl, ease pressure on agricultural land and reform the country’s loosely regulated housing sector, the prime minister’s office said on Thursday.
Pakistan faces a housing shortage estimated at around 10 million units, while rapid urbanization has intensified pressure on infrastructure, services and farmland surrounding major cities. UN-Habitat says Pakistan’s urban population nearly doubled from 43 million to 75 million between 1998 and 2017, contributing to unplanned urban expansion and the loss of agricultural land around urban centers.
Pakistan has historically relied on low-rise, plot-based housing development, unlike neighboring India and many Gulf states where vertical urban expansion has become more common in major cities. Outside Karachi, high-rise residential culture remains relatively limited across much of Pakistan.
“Growing population and unplanned urban expansion are increasing pressure on agricultural land, for which a proper strategy is required,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, according to a statement issued after he chaired a meeting on housing sector reforms.
Officials briefing the meeting said the government would encourage “high-rise buildings and vertical expansion” in major cities as part of broader urban planning reforms.
Pakistan’s housing and real estate sector has long faced criticism over weak regulation, speculative investment and lack of urban planning, issues economists and development experts say have contributed to rising property prices, informal housing growth and inefficient land use.
Thursday’s meeting also discussed tighter oversight and digitization of the housing and development sector to improve transparency and attract investment, including from overseas Pakistanis and foreign investors.
“Housing sector matters will be digitized and automated to promote transparency,” Sharif said.
Officials also proposed mandatory registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for entities operating in the housing and development sector.
The government is additionally considering regulatory reforms aimed at simplifying procedures for credible developers and investors, while a proposed one-window system would seek to protect the rights of developers, buyers and other stakeholders.
Officials said strategies would also be developed to curb “unplanned expansion” of cities and improve master planning in major urban centers.
