Master plan for Peshawar: Planners asked to consider future needs, problems

PESHAWAR: Experts at a daylong workshop on Thursday asked the planners to keep in view the strengths, weaknesses, future needs and problems of the provincial capital while formulating the master plan for it.

An official handout said the University of Peshawar had arranged the workshop to come up with input to the 20-year master plan for Peshawar, which was once known as the city of flowers.

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Peshawar, had organized the workshop at the Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Archives Auditorium of the university in collaboration with the district administration.

The planning officers of all departments, including the Planning and Development Department, attended the event. Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Senior Member Board of Revenue (SMBR) Syed Zafar Ali Shah said that Peshawar had been a trade route to Central Asian states since ancient times.

“It is a historical city with rich Gandhara civilization that in the past was famous for its natural beauty, called the city of flowers, but today it is facing a host of problems,” he added. He lauded the provincial government to prepare the master plan for Peshawar with a vision for the next 20 years.

He said the participation of intellectuals and people from cross sections of life was essential to make Peshawar the most beautiful, peaceful, prosperous and environmentally friendly city as per the expectations of its dwellers.

“We all have a huge debt to pay to this city in shape of modernizing its infrastructure and reviving its past glory,” Syed Zafar Ali Shah maintained He urged the planners tokeep in view the strengths, weaknesses, future needs, problems and concerns of the city as well as all aspects of utilization of potential opportunities in evolving the master plan and formulate the most effective policy for brisk implementation.

He also underlined the role of media in addressing the core issues of this historical metropolitan city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and making the master plan a complete success in all respects.

Earlier, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, Chairman of the Urban and Regional Planning Department, University of Peshawar, told the workshop that Peshawar Vision 2040 would consist of four major parts whereas the interactive feedback from the public, opinion leaders and intellectuals would also be an integral part of it.

The event was also addressed by the deputy commissioner Peshawar and the registrar of the University of Peshawar who assured full cooperation on behalf of the district administration and all the universities in the preparation of the visionary master plan for Peshawar city.