Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan - Planning Commission

International conference on “Framework for Economic Growth, Pakistan”Answer by Emiel A. Wegelin, GIZ Program Coordinator, and Cities’ DevelopmentInitiative for Asia, Philippines:Before I answer the questions we need to bevery clear about the concept ofdecentralization. Good public service is theright of both rich and poor alike. It isimportant for us to ensure that poor peoplecan transform environment, reduce cost andcorruption to a small fraction through highquality technical support and innovation. Italso shows the importance of high qualitytechnical support capacity. There must be apartnership between the informal sector andthe local government. Innovativepartnerships between the government andagents involved can address the problem ofthe poor with participation. Shifting urbanpolicy from pure providers to sharingresponsibilities and mobilizing localresources for co-implementation isimportant.Answer by Belinda Yuen, Urban Development and Local Government Unit, World Bank:Yesterday Dr. Nadeem mentioned about theissue of change. Change is necessary indeed.At the same time we underscored a pointthat it is a complex issue and we need toplan it comprehensively. For example tounderstand the issue of law and order weneed to understand the factors and drivers ofthe issues. We need to identify factorsbefore going for solutions. All this requiresleadership, commitment and champions toplan urban development very differently.We need to plan differently to integrate theurban planning and agencies involved. Weneed to build livable and viable cities.Answer by Philip Auerswald, Professor, George Mason University:We talked about problems of housingmarkets and housing finance. Generallyspeaking whether it is issue of physicalspaces or marker spaces there needs to bephysical space in a city for investment tohappen. It is important to create mechanismsto promote and encourage the type ofdevelopment which will be beneficial to thecountry, and that’s the planning we shouldthink about. Violence and crimes are alsoimportant problems in cities. To deal withthe crimes we need to develop opportunitiesso that people participate in communities.Traffic accidents are another source ofviolence we need to look at.Answer by Dr. Nuzhat Ahmad, Director AERC:We need to create more job opportunities sothat people get diverted from violence. Roleof the state needs to be improved. Anotherimportant thing to look at is family ties. Wehave conducted a research on violence andfamily ties. I think family ties are breaking.Basics of family values are important andwe need to look at that.Answer by Tahir Shamshad, Member Planning, CDA, Islamabad:We have a big gap in social and culturalplanning of the city. Social and culturalplanning is being focused by CDA in futureplans. Physical planning actually causedsocial segregation. We have adopted abusiness management system and a systemto deal with paper-less public managementsystem. Now we coming up with a phasewisemass transit system and purchasingnew busses for Islamabad. Within next six56