South Asia: Pakistan and the Himalayan States - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 200

Hyperurbanization

for feasibility studies were awarded in 2007. The proposed
line would connect NWFP with China' s western rail head
at Kashgar.
Energy has been of paramount concern both for
industrial production and improvement of quality of
life. Water-generated power is of great significance but
alternative sources are being sought. Unfortunately ,
Pakistan' is coal is relatively poor quality , but natural gas
sources have been developed in Baluchistan and oil is
produced in Punjab. Natural gas pipelines link Islamabad,
Faisalabad, Peshawar, and Quetta. Additional oil fields
have been discovered in the south. At least 20 international
companies are involved in their exploration. However,
development has been limited by lack of security in both
Sind and Baluchistan.
Geopolitics is a vital factor in international trade.
For instance, up until recently , Pakistan has had very little
to do with India because of hostilities from the time of
partition and the clash over Kashmir. After six decades of
turmoil, a bus route via Kashmir was reopened between
the two countries in 2005. Imports and exports of food
and other products have also increased.
A natural gas pipeline has been proposed to run
from the Caspian Sea in Tajikistan via Iran to Pakistan
and India. Since the United States wants to isolate Iran, it
has pressured India to quit the deal, which it did in 2009.
In 2010, the United States told Pakistan that if it did not
quit the deal, it would not be given energy assistance.
The proposed alternative offers Pakistan electricity from
Tajikistan via Afghanistan' s Wakhan Corridor, thereby
avoiding Iran. This plan would strengthen both America' s
hold on Afghanistan and its geopolitical linkages with
Pakistan. Pakistan has yet to reply to the offer.
Nuclear power is one alternative. Pakistan' is first
heavy-water nuclear reactor was built near Karachi with
Canadian aid, in 1965. In 1974, when India exploded
its first atomic device, President Ali Bhutto pledged an
equal response: Pakistan would build an “Islamic
Bomb'' if it had to “eat grass'' to do it. In the 1990s,
another plant opened at Chashma on the Indus about
149 miles( 240 km) south of Islamabad. Fuel is provided
from a uranium enrichment plant at Kahuta, also near
Islamabad.
In 1998, Pakistan exploded an atomic device. India
responded with its own nuclear event. Non-nuclear
foreign aid has been repeatedly diverted to the country' s
nuclear program. Moreover, China continues to support
the program. This is all the more reason for India and
Pakistan to mend their relations and solve the problem of
Kashmir.

The spectacular growth of cities in Pakistan can be
summed up with the example of Karachi, which had a
million people in 1950. This rose to 8 million by 1991
and 12 million by 2007. Lahore, the second largest city ,
had 850,000 people in 1950, and now has nearly 7 mil-
lion. City growth in Pakistan is fast enough to be called
hyperurbanization .
Under colonialism, cities were created and supported
to serve colonial purposes. Along the Grand T Trunk Road,
towns were developed at river crossing points to function
as centers of control, administration, collection, and
distribution. With the introduction of railroads, urbaniza-
tion gravitated to rail stations and lines. Bypassed, small
communities were isolated, and many became deserted.
Expanded irrigation projects increased agricultural pro-
duction, but the Green Revolution and land reform
favored medium-sized farms. Very small farms were
absorbed. Large-scale, rural-urban migration ensued, and
towns became specialized in various agriculture-related
processing and manufacturing activities.
Three-quarters of Pakistan' s urban places are situated
in the Indus Basin (refer to Figure 7-3). Most of the
remainder, in the uplands of Baluchistan and NWFP , are
more like overgrown towns. In fact, it is the largest cities
that are experiencing the greatest growth. For example,
Karachi has grown by over 90 percent in the last 60 years.
Most of this growth was and continues to be from
in-migration. Afghan refugees have been major contribu-
tors to rapid growth in Quetta and Peshawar. Peshawar,
capital of NWFP and flush with Afghan refugees, is
growing at an annual rate of 3.3 percent and now has a
population of at least 4 million.
Karachi, the country' s primate city , continues to
grow by accretion of katchi abadis — squatter settlements
on the periphery . Efforts to decentralize people into
new “metro-villes” outside the city have been largely
unsuccessful. Land intended for the poor is purchased by
speculators, who leave it vacant. Even some of the low-
income participants, after moving into metro-ville housing,
sell their properties to upper-income buyers for immediate
monetary gain. Almost half of Karachi' s slum dwellers
reside in these pirated subdivisions.
The city government now concentrates on improv-
ing services and supporting self-help programs in the
katchi abadis and other poor areas of the city . Meanwhile,
the larger infrastructure is crumbling, resulting in
contaminated water, accumulation of refuse, and power
shortages for everyone. Acquiring potable water is a