‘Metrobus project not a solution to transport mess’

KARACHI: Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus project is not a solution to address the transportation issues faced by people of the twin cities, Ambassador of Belgium to Pakistan Peter Clases said on Friday
“Even with brilliant planners if a society has people with no education, the planning is of no use,” Clases said, while addressing a seminar on urban planning.
Clases spoke of the destructive nature of excessive building of road networks.
He cited the example of Brussels, which was spared in both the World War I and II, but destroyed when planners built an underground network.
The ambassador expressed his concerns about the people whose livelihoods, depending on the transportation business as rickshaw and taxi drivers, are affected by the project.
The two-day seminar, titled ‘Planning for People’, aims to discuss urban planning issues related to the abandonment of the common people and to motivate policymakers, future architects and planners to think of the commune.
The seminar was organised in collaboration between Urban Policy and Strategic Planning of Sindh government, Hands, WaterAid and the NED University Department of Architecture and Planning.
Earlier, Professor Dr Han Verschure, Emeritus Professor KU Leuven, Belgium said that the presence of satellite cities is a clear indication of the indispensability of the commune, made of labourers, builders and construction workers.
Citing Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Tokyo as examples, Dr Han said these urban sprawls might look pretty, but were a nightmare for those who built them.
For sustainable strategic planning, it is necessary to create a balance between common and private.
The professor said cities are constantly in transition, and need visionaries to find solutions for the existing problems, which cannot be addressed separately or without context.
“We keep building without learning from the past. We can assume we didn’t know enough, but some may have known, so the destruction was deliberate,” the professor added, while speaking about the increase in the numbers of vehicles on the roads and its relation to climate change.
He spoke of the changing role of water in cities, and while pointing out the lack of green spaces in urban environments asked to look into water urbanism.
‘Water Urbanism East’ is a book by Bruno de Meulder and Kelly Shannon that deals with the expansion issues and infrastructure of large coastal cities, especially in Asia.
Dr Han asked planners and policymakers to have a common vision and to strategically prioritise projects depending on the local context.
NED Vice Chancellor Dr M Afzal Haque, in his speech, appreciated the arrangement of the seminars on urban and regional planning that have been happening since 2004.
Dr Haque lauded the role of the universities in spreading knowledge and spearheading change.
Lecturer at the NED University Rahat Arsalan presented the vote of thanks, and NED University Department of Architecture and Planning Chairman Professor Dr Noman Ahmed presented mementos to the guests.