Good housing, well-reviewed schools, major hospitals, widely available public transport and plenty of job opportunities; these are the basic, and necessary, amenities that a city usually offers its people. It’s not uncommon to see people from towns and villages moving to larger urban centres in search for better job prospects in Pakistan. And this sort of movement often puts intense pressure on cities, even metropolises like Karachi and Lahore, due to population overload. That is why, more urban planners are looking for ways to have vertical expansion and growth of cities. In this blog, we will discuss the importance and many benefits of vertical cities in Pakistan.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
Benefits of Vertical Cities in Pakistan
Horizontal expansion of a city is the traditional way of building residential units on land. A large area is used for developing residential units. By vertical expansion, we mean more apartments, high-rise residential buildings in cities and skyscrapers built on a smaller area of land. This way, it can help less disruption of natural resources and provide better accommodation for more people. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of vertical cities.
- Promotes community living
- Walkable neighbourhoods
- Environmental benefits
- Accommodating more people
- Affordable housing
Let us discuss all of these points in detail.
Promotes community living
The advantage of building vertical cities in Pakistan is that it helps promote community living. People can share the many facilities that apartments and skyscrapers offer. Moreover, in an apartment people live together in a closely-knitted neighbourhood. This helps in greater bonding and enhanced security. In highly populated cities, tall buildings and vertical expansion can help address the issue of shortage of land and space and also fulfill the increasing demand for housing.
Walkable neighbourhoods
Another advantage of having vertical cities is that there is more space for other important structures that could benefit a community. For instance, instead of ten houses in a row, all those ten families can live in an apartment and the space can be utilized to have a family park, grocery stores, pharmacy and a bus stop.
The expansion of a city vertically can help utilize the space which would otherwise have been spent in building a lavish house, thus wasting precious land. If you want to shop for groceries, you don’t need to take out your car for it. You can easily walk into the neighbourhood.
Environmental benefits
The benefits of vertical cities in Pakistan are not only restricted to urban development. Through the expansion of vertical cities, you can also help your environment get better. With taller buildings, there is more space left on the ground, which you can utilize for adding more green spaces.
If all of the amenities are provided within an apartment, you wouldn’t need to take out your car for every little thing. This means less burning of fuel and the emitting smoke from cars which is harmful for the environment.
Moreover, apartment living also promotes sustainability. People share many facilities, which otherwise they would own individually in a bungalow. Residents can benefit from solar energy and windmills because of the height of the towers, which makes them ideal for installing solar panels and wind turbines. This way, they can produce their own electricity.
Accommodating more people
One of the numerous benefits of vertical cities is that it can accommodate more people. This is good news at a time when the world is seeing exponential population growth. To provide housing to all and to help cater to the ever-increasing housing demands, vertical cities come to the rescue.
Urban planners think that with more apartments or shared space and less bungalows or individual living, the problem of overpopulation can very much be addressed. In a single apartment, thousands of people can live together, while a bungalow can house a family of usually 4 to 5 members.
Apartments and tall buildings have not only more people residing in them, but they can also share the many amenities, which perhaps they can’t afford if they are living individually.
Affordable housing
Vertical cities can help create affordable houses for people. The vertical expansion of a city in a land-scarce world will not only have better environmental impact, but will also cut down on costs to build a house.
Many urban planners who support the concept of urban development of cities vertically argue that skyscrapers and high-rise buildings can accommodate more people giving them a better standard of living, while minimizing the costs.
High-rise apartments and tall buildings can help address the shortage of housing problems by providing better housing facilities at affordable rates.
Some of the benefits of apartment living include shared space and thus many things such as backup electricity, generator, rooftop garden, swimming pool and a gymnasium are shared by the residents of the apartments. Not only the facilities are shared but also their maintenance cost. This cuts down the living expenses significantly as everyone bears the costs equally.
It is expected that the future of urban development in the country is through vertical expansion in Pakistan. The government of Pakistan has relaxed some rules and regulations when building skyscrapers. Prime Minister Imran Khan is optimistic about building more affordable houses under the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme and other shanty towns.
He was of the view that the developers and builders would be encouraged to convert slum areas of the country into high-rise apartments. Take a look at the latest updates about the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme.
So, these were some of the many benefits of having vertical cities in Pakistan. You can also take a look at the CDA’s construction bylaws that promote vertical expansion in Islamabad. Check out these developed areas in Karachi, where you can find more high-rises, low-rises and apartments: Clifton, DHA and Gulistan-e-Jauhar. For more updates, stay tuned to the Zameen Blog, the best real estate and property blog in Pakistan. Don’t forget to write to us at blog@zameen.com and we will surely get back to you. Subscribe to the Zameen Newsletter appearing on the right hand side of the page.
