UN-Habitat Country Programme Document 2008-2009 - Pakistan

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is the world’s 7th most populous and second largest Muslim nation, after Indonesia, with a population of about 160 million. Current trends in urban development remain uncontrolled and unguided and are highly unsustainable.

Despite a well developed legal framework, a number of local good practices and significant national expertise, fragmentation and overlapping of responsibilities at all levels makes addressing these issues complex. Very little is achieved in implementing the existing set of policies covering human settlements and housing.

This situation has resulted in exacerbating urban poverty amidst a rapidly growing urban economy. The social unrest and instability in the cities is attributed to this gap between the rich and the poor in the urban areas.