World Town Planning Day and Launch of the Book “National Urban Agenda of Pakistan; Policy Recommendations”
In 1949, World Town Planning Day, actually known as the international organisation for World Urbanism Day was founded by the late Professor Carlos Maria della Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires, a graduate at the Institut d’urbanisme in Paris, to advance public and professional interest in planning and to celebrate the accomplishments of planners and their contributions to their communities. Being town planners, celebrating the day dedicated to the profession has always been important as the profession is not well-known in the country and is not considered imperative enough so every year, it is celebrated at the national level with zest. It had been celebrated at NUST, UMT and LCWU in November and December 2019, organized by Gharana, IPP and Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies along with universities’ administration respectively. Town planners from all over the country took part in those events including renowned town planner Khurram Farid Bargatt (General Secretary IPP and VC Planning PCATP), Imtiaz Chandiyo (Chairman of Urban & Regional Planning Department Mehran University), Waseem Hayat Bajwa (DG Federal Government Employees Housing Authority), Dr. Tariq Mahmood (Principle of SCEE NUST), Planner Qadir Hasnain (PhD Scholar), Dr. Waheed (Chairman Urban & Regional Planning Department NUST), Taimoor ul Haq Abbasi (Director Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies) and Shafiq Akbar (CEO Gharana). Each participant had an intriguing topic to discuss and some very imperative points were highlighted through the presentations. Mr. Khurram Farid discussed New Urban Agenda, an initiative taken by the UN-Habitat and adopted by many countries except Pakistan, and launched a book in this regard to provide policy recommendations to formulate the New Urban Agenda of Pakistan. He highlighted its significance and need in the context of Pakistan and also expressed how the government can utilize the document in establishing its own policy in the context to achieve its set targets of Sustainable Development Goals.
