The need of the hour is to upgrade the infrastructure in all cities and establish new cities in Punjab and Sindh.
ERFURT, GERMANY: This is with reference to Shahid Javed Burki’s article “Rising Lahore and recovering Pakistan” (July 29). I lived in Germany and then came back to Pakistan and noticed a stark difference between the two countries. In Germany, population and industry are spread out evenly across many cities, towns and villages, with each having their own industrial units, but in Pakistan, everything is concentrated in a few major centres. I cannot understand why our strategists and urban planners are so naive and want to concentrate everything in one city and region. Is it because of greed or lust of power? Why are people here always talking about making one city a hub and neglecting others? A country can only advance if its entire population benefits from the progress it makes, while in Pakistan, it is only Karachi and Lahore where every business is concentrated, while other cities and their populations are neglected.
The need of the hour is to upgrade the infrastructure in all cities and establish new cities in Punjab and Sindh, with the government devising a plan that enables reverse migration from Karachi and Lahore to other cities and towns. Only the spreading out of population and industry will help the entire population enjoy the benefits of progress.
Khurram Awan
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2013.
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