The Lahore Project aims to address the challenges posed by population growth, economic disparities, and environmental degradation through sustainable development practices. It emphasizes the importance of local action and collaboration in sectors such as land, economy, and environment to create equitable and thriving urban spaces. The project advocates for a shift from profit-driven urbanization to a model prioritizing human potential and ecological balance.

1. The Lahore Project
Vision
The Global Context*
* Based on Kamil Khan Mumtaz, ―Celebrating The Past, Designing for the Future‖ IAPEX 2012,

2. POPULATION GROWTH
VS ECONOMIC GROWTH
• Global population
growth rates have been
dropping, from 1.5% in
the 1990‘s to currently
1.14%.
• Throughout the same two
decades, world GDP
growth remained around
an average of 1.8%.
• As a result we should all
have been better off. We
are not.

3. INEQUALITY
• In eight years the GDP has only
once dropped to less than 2.3%,
and has been over 3% in the last
two or three years. This period of
great economic growth also
witnessed a great global economic
crisis, has resulted in
unprecedented concentrations of
wealth, and the dispossession and
impoverishment of millions. (see
the BBC documentary ―Poor
America‖)

4. HUNGER
Number of hungry people, 1969-2010
• Hunger and under-nourishment has
increased, so also has obesity and
illnesses associated with over-
eating.
• Today, one in seven people do not
get enough food to be healthy and
lead an active life, making hunger
and malnutrition the number one
risk to health worldwide -- greater
than AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis combined.
(http://www.wfp.org/hunger/faqs)

5. SOCIAL CRIME/INCOME DISPARITY
• ―… in states and countries where there is a big
gap between the incomes of rich and poor,
mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity
and teenage pregnancy are more common, the
homicide rate is higher, life expectancy is
shorter, and children‘s educational performance
and literacy scores are worse.
• The countries with the widest gulf between rich
and poor, and the highest incidence of most
health and social problems, are Britain, America
and Portugal.‖
• Kate Pickett (Senior Lecturer) and Richard Wilkinson (Visiting Professor)
lecture at York University's health sciences department. They are authors of
a new book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do
Better.

6. GLOBAL HAPPY PLANET INDEX
The Global Happy Planet Index
(HPI), measures life expectancy,
life satisfaction and ecological
footprint.
Over the past fifty years (1961 –
2004) while income disparities
between countries has increased
dramatically, countries that dropped
to the lowest position on the GNP
rating are the ones that rose the
highest (Mexico) on the HPI, while
countries that rose to the highest
positions on the GNP scale are the
ones that dropped to the lowest
positions on the HPI.
Andrew C. Revkin, NYT, October 4,
2005
http://www.happyplanetindex.org

7. GLOBAL HAPPY PLANET
INDEX
• Bhutan, among the world's lowest
household incomes, also has:
• lowest crime rates in the world;
• first non-smoking country in the
world;
• life expectancy increased by 19 years
from 1984 to 1998;
• a constitution and an elected
government;
• 60 percent forested;
• exports hydropower to India;
• one traffic free day (Tuesday) each
week.

8. AGRICULTURE
• The Green Revolution brought
about a rise in agricultural
productivity from the mid-sixties
to around 1980. But the use of
fertilizers, pesticides, tube-wells,
tractors etc. has been increasing
with diminishing returns.
• In fact crop yields have been
going down in the last two
decades. Moreover, the collateral
damage has included the
depletion of aquifers, soil and
water pollution and degradation
of the gene stock.

9. MASS EXTINCTION OF
SPECIES
• The Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass
extinction of both plants and animals. "The
current extinction event is due to human
activity.
• The Earth might lose half of its species in
our lifetime. We want to know which ones
deserve the highest priority for
conservation.―
• 40 years ago, ocean productivity began
declining, having reached Maximum
Sustainable Yield. Recent studies, clearly
show the emergence of a catastrophe,
the Tragedy of the Oceans.
http://www.aquaculture.co.il/markets/deterioration.html

10. MASS EXTINCTION OF
SPECIES
• In 50 years, the global spread of commercial
fishing, use of sonar and satellites combined
with 30 km nets, and reckless fishing practices,
have cut by 90% the oceans population of edible
fish, (e.g. Blue Marlin, Cod, Halibut and Tuna).
• With today‘s fishing practices, it would take
only 15 years to remove 80-90% of any species
that becomes the focus of the fleet‘s attention,
bringing it to the verge of extinction.
• Because of the current crisis, biologists at UC
Santa Barbara are working day and night to
determine which species must be saved.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2008)
co-author Bradley J. Cardinale, assistant professor of ecology,
evolution and marine biology (EEMB) at UC Santa Barbara.

11. GLOBAL WARMING
• Arctic summers will ultimately
become ice free. Arctic sea ice in
September, the month of
minimum ice extent, is now
declining by more than 11 percent
per decade relative to the 1979 –
2000 baseline period. Leading
Arctic models predict that Arctic
summer sea ice may completely
disappear within the next 30 years
and possibly as early as the late
2020s.

12. GLOBAL WARMING
• Sea ice coverage in 1980 (bottom) and 2012 (top), as
observed by passive microwave sensors on NASA‘s Nimbus-7
satellite and by the Special Sensor Microwave
Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) from the Defense Meteorological
Satellite Program (DMSP)..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oldest_Arctic_Sea_Ice_is_Disappear
ing.png
• Dr Maslowski's model, along with his claim that the Arctic
sea ice is in a "death spiral", were controversial but Prof
Wadhams, a leading authority on the polar regions, said "His
[model] is the most extreme but he is also the best modeller
around.
• "It is really showing the fall-off in ice volume is so fast that it
is going to bring us to zero very quickly. 2015 is a very
serious prediction and I think I am pretty much persuaded that
that's when it will happen."
• The ice would come back the following winter but its absence
in summer would encourage more shipping and oil
exploration in the Arctic and could threaten native species, he
added.
http://globalwarming.house.gov/impactzones/arctic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/8877491/Arct
ic-sea-ice-to-melt-by-2015.html

13. ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
• Ecological Footprint Ecological
Footprint of less than 1.8 global
hectares per person makes a country‘s
resource demands globally replicable.
• The United Nations‘ Human
Development Index (HDI)—which
measures a country‘s average
achievements in the areas of health,
knowledge, and standard of living—
tells us that an HDI higher than 0.8 is
considered ―high human
development.‖
• Combining these two indicators gives
clear minimum conditions for
sustainable human development and
shows how much more we need to
―think inside the box.‖
The only country that meets both criteria of high standard of
living and a small ecological footprint is Cuba.

14. ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
• The Ecological measures how much land and water area a
human population requires to produce the resource it
consumes and to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions.
• Since the 1970s, humanity has been in
ecological overshoot with annual demand on resources
exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year.
• It now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate
what we use in a year.
• We maintain this overshoot by liquidating the Earth‘s
resources. Overshoot is a vastly underestimated threat
to human well-being and the health of the planet.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/footprint
_basics_overview/
Qatar has the worst Ecological
footprint per person in the world.

15. RACE TO THE BOTTOM
• YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — To the
world's military leaders, the debate
over climate change is long over.
They are preparing for a new kind of
Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating
that rising temperatures there will
open up a treasure trove of
resources, long-dreamed-of sea
lanes and a slew of potential
conflicts.

16. RACE TO THE BOTTOM
• Mitsubushi executives had a plan
to seize on the impending collapse of
tuna stocks for their own profit. They
were buying up tons of tuna and
putting the meat in deep freeze, at -60
degrees celsius, in hopes of jacking up
the price after bluefins went extinct.
But the plan was apparently foiled by
the earthquake. Mitsubushi's
refrigerators lost power after Japan
was hit by a huge tsunami, ruining the
tuna steaks and dashing the company's
hopes of cornering the tuna market.
http://news.yahoo.com/ice-cap-melts-militaries-vie-arctic-
edge-072343565.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/12/bluefin-tuna-
extinction_n_924957.html

17. SUSTAINABLE HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
• Sustainable human development will occur
when all humans can have fulfilling lives
without degrading the planet. This, we believe,
is the ultimate goal. Two leading indicators
have identified how we can get there.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/fighting_
poverty_our_human_development_initiative/

18. WHAT IS TO BE
DONE?
WHEN IN FREE FALL
GET UNPLUGGED!
DESIGN PARACHUTES!
Organic farming, artisanal manufacture, zero waste, 100%
re-cycling, these are no longer life-style options. These
are the imperatives of survival.
Low-tech, low embedded energy
materials and construction methods;
Low-rise; buildings in high density
settlements;
Pedestrian circulation;
Animate and other forms of renewable
energy
Chaley Sharif

19. WHAT IS TO BE
DONE?
WHEN IN FREE FALL
GET UNPLUGGED!
DESIGN PARACHUTES!
This is not about romanticist traditionalism, or
celebrating tradition. It is simply about
survival, about doing the right thing.
Bina Jawad Khawaja Residence

20. The Lahore Project
Vision
Lahore Context
• Population: 8.5 million (Lahore
•
District)
Urban: 82 %
Large, Growing &
•
•
Rural: 18%
Growth Rate: 2.5% (national Young Population
and provincial: 1.9%)
• Densities
• Highest: 1500 persons per
hectare (Mustafabad)
• Lowest: 37 persons per hectare
(Jauhar Town)
• Average: 208 persons per
hectare.
• Age Profile
• Below 14 years: 39.2%
• Between 15 – 49: 50%

21. Economy
•Declining
• Occupations:
• Services: 38.8 %;
• White collar: 31 %;
• ‗lumpen‘: 19.5 %;
• Manufacturing: 10.4 % economic growth
• Employment by zone of residence
•
•
Primary: 4.4%
Secondary: 14.6%
•Non Productive
• Tertiary: 81%
•
•
Employment Participation rate: 27%
Unemployment
Occupations
•
•
Exceeds those employed by 27%
Female residents unemployment: 99% •Under-
• GDP: average growth rate declined from 6%
•
in the 1980s to 3% in the last five years
Incomes: Average Household Income for
Towns/Tehsils(Pak Rs/month)
Employment
• Highest: 43,397 in Cantonment
• Lowest: 22,26 in Muridke.

22. Physical Growth
Period Cumulative Average
Developed Growth Area
Pre-British
1850 – 1900
Area (km2)
23.8
68.7
per year (ha)
90
Trends:
1901-1950
1951-65
71.2
117.2
48
323
based on motorized
1966-80 175.7 390 circulation, a single central
1981-90
1991-2000
245.6
326.0
699
804
high-rise business district
2001-2006 397.8 1196 and cultural center, low-
density suburbs, segregated
and widely separated land-
use zones, and open-ended
growth in the size of its
population and physical
area are
Unsustainable

23. The Lahore Project
• a citizens‘ initiative that has grown out of the
strategic framework adopted by the Lahore
Conservation Society in 2006.
• to know who we are (identity), where we are
(environment), where we are coming from
(history), where we want to be (goals), and
how to act for the achievement of our goals.

24. Sectors
• While thinking globally, we must necessarily act locally. Moreover,
as individuals, each one of us has our specific spheres of interest and
expertise in which we can participate most effectively. Thus the
project is divided into focal areas or sectors.
• People;
• Land;
• Economy
• Environment
• Culture
• Physical Planning
• Utility infrastructure
• Transportation
• Social Infrastructure
• Governance

25. Methodology
• a space for the pooling and sharing of
information (Data),
• free and open discussion (Forum),
• formulation of strategies (Sectors) through a
process of informed debate and concrete plans
for action:

26. ISDP
(LDA‘s Integrated Strategic Development Plan for Lahore Region)
• ―Urbanization presents one of the key challenges and,
at the same time, opportunities in the new millennium‖
• ―Those cities that fail to plan ahead and execute the
plans will not be competitive in the globalized world.
Urban economies are contributing significantly more to
national exchequer and at the same time have become
key employment markets. Cities indeed are important
engines of economic growth and provide significant
economies of scale in the provision of jobs, housing and
services.‖ (our italics)

27. Rapid Pace of Urbanization
• a symptom of the present global ecological
crisis.
• principal cause is the modern development
paradigm.
• It is the pursuit of never-ending economic
growth that has resulted in over-production,
depletion of resources, waste, environmental
degradation, social disintegration and
dehumanization.

28. Global Capitalism‘s Vision
is
A Recipe for Disaster!
• We do not share this corporate business vision
of rapid urbanization as an investment
opportunity, and cities as employment markets,
whose expanding size provides economies of
scale for profiteers who are valorized for their
contribution to the national exchequer.

29. The City & its Region
• Cities process primary raw materials,
manufacturer secondary products and provide
services.
• Economically they are integrated with the
region that produces the primary products, and
the region to which they provide goods and
services.

30. Parasite & Host
• In a symbiotic relationship, the value of what
each takes from the other is more or less
equivalent to what it gives.
• In a parasitic relationship the city extracts
resources in excess of their rates of renewal
and re-generation, and produces toxic and non-
recyclable waste.

31. Our Goal
• Realization of our highest human potential.
• the greatest challenges of the new millennium is
the conservation of our humanity and our
environment
• Our humanity is defined by the universal set of
qualities and values that define what it means to
be ―human‖ – qualities such as Love,
Compassion, Justice and Beauty – not by
quantities such as gross national product,
monetary wealth and material possessions

32. Our strategy
• sustainable economy based on need rather than
greed;
• an economy in which
– extraction from resources does not exceed their
rates of renewal and re-generation;
– all that is consumed is fully recycled;
– toxic and non-recyclable waste is eliminated;

33. Our Vision for Lahore
A center of urbanity and civilization
A city that thrives in a symbiotic relationship
with its region.