LAHORE: The Punjab government has introduced a bill aimed at drafting master plans for every district in the province in an effort to curb the unregulated expansion of housing societies across Pakistan’s most populous region.
However, critics — including some lawmakers and urban planning experts — warn that the proposed legislation would centralise power, stripping elected local governments of a key constitutional function and handing it to unelected bureaucrats.
What does the bill propose?
On March 7, the Punjab government tabled the Punjab Spatial Planning Authority Bill 2025 in the provincial assembly. The legislation proposes the creation of a central Punjab Spatial Planning Authority, tasked with approving and reviewing land use and urban planning policies for all 41 districts of the province.
The 18-member authority would be chaired by the Punjab chief minister, with Minister for Local Government Zeeshan Rafique serving as its vice-chairperson. It would include ten bureaucrats along with five experts and a director general, all appointed by the chief minister herself.
The law does not specify who these five experts would be. At the district level, the bill proposes the creation of District Spatial Planning Agencies, each to be led by the deputy commissioner (DC), the top administrative officer in a district. They would be responsible for recommending land-use plans and ensuring implementation.
The legislation also outlines objectives such as promoting sustainable development, renewable energy, conservation of natural resources, and equitable access to services while preserving agricultural land and reducing car dependency.
Why does govt say bill is urgent?
After its introduction, the bill was referred to the Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Local Government for review and is expected to be passed in the coming week.
During committee deliberations last month, the government argued for the need for a legal framework to halt the rapid and illegal conversion of agricultural land into urban sprawl.
A presentation shared with lawmakers on March 13 revealed that more than 225,000 acres of farmland had already been consumed by 6,000 private housing schemes across the province.
Officials cited this unchecked expansion as a major contributor to worsening smog in Punjab, where the capital, Lahore, consistently ranks among the most polluted cities in the world.
The new law, officials said, would help restore order by clearly designating zones for residential, commercial, educational, and recreational uses in each district. It would also establish a Central Business District (CBD) in every area.
However, during committee debate, the bill faced criticism — even from members of the ruling party.
Ahmed Iqbal Chaudhry, a member of the provincial assembly from the PML-N and the son of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, argued that the bill represented a top-down approach to planning, contrary to global best practices.
“Land-use planning should remain with local governments,” Chaudhry told the committee. “When local governments are absent, we quietly take away their functions.”
He also noted that the PML-N’s 2024 election manifesto had pledged to empower local governments by strengthening their administrative and financial authority.
Under Punjab’s Local Government Act 2019, drawing up land-use plans is a function of elected local bodies. But Punjab has had no elected local government since December 31, 2021, when the last term expired. Despite a constitutional requirement for devolved governance, elections have not yet been held.
The provincial government is reportedly in the process of drafting a new local government law to replace the 2019 act.
What is Punjab govt’s point of view?
“Let’s be realistic. Something like this has never happened before,” Zeeshan Rafique told The News. “Previously, housing societies were being built on green areas simply because there were no master plans. Only Lahore had one.”
He explained that in many districts, multiple entities were in the habit of developing overlapping land-use plans, creating confusion and inefficiency.
So far, the Project Management Unit (PMU) has developed and notified land-use plans for around 12 out of 41 districts.
However, Rafique acknowledged that the master plan for the Lahore division — which includes the districts of Lahore, Kasur, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura — could not be finalised, as the previous master plan is currently under litigation.
It remains unclear why these 12 plans were finalised before the Punjab Spatial Planning Authority Bill 2025 was enacted. The minister did not respond to this specific question at the time of filing.
Rafique argued that engagement with stakeholders — such as land developers, legal entities, and local bureaucratic administrators — had been sufficient.
He also insisted that the Punjab government could not wait for local bodies to be restored before finalising master plans.
Defending the proposal to appoint DCs — an office with colonial roots — as heads of District Spatial Planning Agencies, Rafique claimed that local government heads would also be included in these agencies. “DHA’s own act requires them to follow official master plans. Once those plans are finalised, they’ll have to comply,” he said.
There are at least five DHAs in Punjab: Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Gujranwala, and Bahawalpur.
What are experts saying?
Urban planning professionals have voiced concerns about the bill’s centralised structure and lack of democratic oversight.
“Planning is a local government function across the world,” said Dr Nasir Javed, an urban development specialist. “The planning needs of Murree are completely different from those of Cholistan. You can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach.”
He argued that the Authority should consist primarily of subject-matter experts such as urban planners, architects, economists, and environmentalists — not bureaucrats. Javed also criticised the decision to place DCs as heads of local planning agencies.
Environmental lawyer and activist Ahmed Rafay Alam echoed these concerns, adding that the constitution calls for building the capacity of local governments.
Alam also pointed out that the bill lacks any requirement for public input or environmental assessments before finalising master plans. Still, he acknowledged that the bill contains some promising elements.
