The Scale and Causes of Urban Change in Pakistan

This book is far more interesting than its title might imply. It should also be read by anyone interested in urban development because of the way it explains the social, economic, political and physical underpinnings of what census data actually shows. In documenting the diversity of urban change within Pakistan both in terms of regional differences and differences over time – and the multiplicity of factors that influence urban change and the complexity of their interconnections – it also serves as a warning to those who like to interpret urban statistics for any nation, but with little knowledge of that nation. For example, the current size and spatial distribution of Pakistan’s urban population has been greatly influenced by the Partition of British Imperial India in the late 1940s (which created Pakistan and which also caused very large migration flows to particular locations, especially to Karachi); by Pakistan’s division (as what was formerly East Pakistan became Bangladesh); by the civil war in Afghanistan; by the Green Revolution (and the locations where it was concentrated); and by Pakistan’s political structure. Immigration from India as a result of Partition increased Pakistan’s population by 1.8 million, and most moved to urban areas in Sindh and Punjab provinces (especially Karachi and Hyderabad). Many urban centres in Pakistan experienced population declines during this period – as Hindus and Sikhs fled to India – and this explains the drop in the level of urbanization in North West Frontier Province and the decline in population in many towns and cities there between 1941 and 1951. During the Afghan Civil war, 3.7 million Afghanis came to Pakistan and, although most were in refugee camps in peri-urban areas of North West Frontier Province and Balochistan, some 600,000 settled in Karachi. The population growth rates of both Quetta and Peshawar were also boosted by Afghanis during the 1970s, but much less so during the 1980s. Inevitably, these huge population movements brought many political conflicts – including those between long-term city dwellers and immigrants from India, between Pakistanis and Afghans, and between urban interests and rural interests.

The book includes a short section summarizing the scale and nature of urbanization in Pakistan (and within each of its provinces) within a discussion of the social, economic and political changes that caused or influenced this. The text concentrates on the period from 1951, although it is also rooted in an understanding of urban change prior to this – and of the very large urban changes that were caused by the partition of British Imperial India – which created Pakistan. This is followed by a large section comprising tables, mostly presenting census data and with a particular interest in documenting key trends over time. There are also two appendices: the first by Reza Ali discussing the changing definitions used for urban populations in different censuses and their implications, including a considerable undercount of urban populations; and the second giving the official urban definitions used in the 1951, 1961, 1972, 1981 and 1998 censuses.