This Presentation is based on Affordable Housing Models, the Asia Scenario
Housing is a number Game encompassing the population, area, and population density having challenges of food clothing and shelter
• Land size/area remains the same for a country, but demand land is always on the rise for producing “Food, Clothing and Shelter”, the basic “Social Needs”.
• The world population in 1804 was 0ne billion (bn), by 1900 was around 2 billion, 4 billion by 1974, and today in the year 2022 it stands at 8 billion, and by 2050 expected to be 9.8 bn.
• Malthusian Theory of Population Growth in full action.
Pakistan:
• In 1970, the population of Pakistan was 58 mn, today it is 230 mn., and by 2050 it is projected to exceed 380 mn., while the land area will remain the same at 882,000 Sq KM.
• In 1970, the population density was 66 Persons/Sq KM. Today it is 261 Persons/Sq KM (four Times increase since 1970), by 2050 it will be 430 Persons/Sq KM (eight Times increase since 1970). Are we aware of the Challenge: The same land area was to serve one person/sq.km in 1970, it needs to serve 4 persons today and by 2050, about 30 years from now to 8 persons.
Answer: It simply demands for an efficient use of land to increase land productivity per Sq. KM in terms of yield of wheat, cotton, and housing, through improved planning, densification, and high-rise housing.
➢ Asia-Pacific represents:
>1/4th of the world’s population, including China, nearly half of the world population resides in this region.
> Nearly ½ of the world’s poor live here.
> The region is faced with a massive housing shortage. Nearly the entire urban shortage is in the low-income category.
➢ Awareness: Housing has become a popular political slogan since the 90s.
> “Housing for all”
> “Slum Free Cities”
> “Maang Raha hai har Insaan – Roti, Kapra, aur Makan” (Every human demands food, clothing and shelter), etc.
➢ Delivery: In a few countries there is SOME, but in most it is NONE
Each country in the region has its own geo-socio-economic parameters, and all of them face a common challenge of “shelter-less poor”.
Housing for all – is now beyond any Political Slogan:
• Fifty percent of the population lives in rural areas while the remaining 50% live in urban and peri-urban areas.
• The previous government’s program on housing did not address rural and peri-urban issues.
• Though urban habitats are normally considered to be of “pakka” or permanent type, the hard fact is that all the big cities have slums, known as “katchi abadis”, and these are not less than 40-50 percent of the metropolitan cities population.
• The slums are sprawling, and Even the villages and rural habitats are turning into worse slums over the years.
• Pakistan is currently facing an overall housing backlog of around 11-12 million housing units.
• The urban housing shortage is estimated to be around 4 million, while the rural and peri-urban housing backlog is around 7-8 million.
• Average Household Size in Pakistan is 6.5 persons, while India and Bangladesh are at around 5. With the shrinking of current household size, such as in India and Bangladesh, the same population would need more housing, meaning that there is a much larger housing backlog under the surface.
• Year-on-year housing need of Pakistan: Based on the Country’s population of over 230 million, with a population growth rate of 2.0% and household size of 6.5 persons per household, the year-on-year incremental housing needs is 7 lacs units/year, which includes both urban and rural areas.
• Pakistan needs to build at least 1 million (10 lacs) housing units/year just to cover up the existing backlog plus the incremental housing needs. Not delivering on housing needs is no choice to carry anymore. Stakeholders need to understand the challenge, learn from the “best practice cases” from the region and the globe, and work on deliverable and sustainable plans.
The housing backlog is increasing BUT housing delivery does not move beyond public announcements Past:
• Housing, as a political slogan, first appeared in Pakistan through Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s famous slogan of “Roti, Kapra aur Makaan”.
• Then, three former Premiers, Mr. Junejo, Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani and Nawaz Sharif announced some housing programs, like PM. Junejo to build One Million and PM NS to build 5 lacs units per year respectively.
• Delivery on these promises was not seen since no institutional, administrative and legal platforms were made for execution.
• The Govt. of PM Junejo did make a very humble start, but could not take off, then PM Gillani just announced their intention, but without any activity on this announcement, the Govt. of PM Nawaz Sharif did do some table work through the Housing Steering Committee, Chaired by Mr. Ishaq Dar, of which I was also a member. Nothing moved beyond the drawing table.
Recent:
• PTI Chairman Mr. Imran Khan asked Mr. Zaigham M. Rizvi to prepare PTI Housing Policy, made housing as part of PTI’s Election Manifesto and formally announced PTI Housing Policy at ABAD House, Karachi on July 04, 2018.
• While in power, PM Imran Khan initiated by setting up a Housing Task Force, and made Zaigham as its Chairman.
• While announcing the Housing Policy, he declared in front of Builders/Developers that the Govt. would play the role of ‘Enabler and Facilitator”, while the execution of the program would be done by the private sector.
• The program and the policy have a focus on Affordable Housing for wider coverage of low-income segments and with a wider geographical coverage around the country thus covering rural, peri-urban, and urban housing.
• In addition to the Federal Housing Task Force, similar setups were also made in provinces.
• For on-ground delivery of the program, the execution authorities were set at Federal and Provincial levels.