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New: I write for Dawn on Pakistan's need to manage its urban transition.
I make three points in this article, summarised in this thread:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1518363/pakistans-urban-transition
I make three points in this article, summarised in this thread:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1518363/pakistans-urban-transition
Point 1: Cities are essential for economic prosperity. By bringing people and firms together, they unlock significant economic gains; they're also crucial when thinking about the broader structural transformation of the economy.
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Point 2: However, productive cities don't emerge out of thin air but are the result of public policy choices.* We need to do the same, both for people who already live in our cities, but millions more who will over the coming decades.
* although not necessarily.
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* although not necessarily.
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Point 3: So, what can we do? I argue that we need to prioritise three investments: institutionalising urban governments which are fit for purpose, a robust urban finance base to pay for urban infrastructure, and improving urban land rights.
/ https://www.dawn.com/news/1518363/pakistans-urban-transition
/ https://www.dawn.com/news/1518363/pakistans-urban-transition
Each of these deserves more thought.
There are two (other) points which I didn't make because of the word count, but I want to acknowledge:
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There are two (other) points which I didn't make because of the word count, but I want to acknowledge:
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(1) There needs to the recognition of inequity in the way our urban built environments are designed today. I do think that creating democratic urban governments could help in changing this, but we might need more radical changes to establish the right to the city.
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(2) I think (coherent, significant) investment in urban institutions could be Imran Khan's 'big project,' which @KhurramHusain talked about in this op-ed earlier this week, on par(-ish) with CPEC or the 18th Amendment.
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I need to publicly praise to @arifanoor72 for input, which made this op-ed readable.
I will leave it here. But, I will love any feedback. More so, if it is critical.
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I will leave it here. But, I will love any feedback. More so, if it is critical.
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Some relevant input from KPK: https://twitter.com/UPAKP/status/1198139055227199490?s=19
