LAHORE: The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) on Saturday shortlisted three consortiums that meet the eligibility criteria for the preparation of Lahore's new Master Plan 2050.
The pre-qualifying consortium includes Dar Al-Handasah from Lebanon, Minehardt from Singapore and Nespak from Pakistan. The LDA has issued 'requests for proposals' to the consortium so that they can submit their technical and financial plans by October 19.
It may be mentioned that seven consortiums had submitted expressions of interest for the preparation of the Lahore Master Plan. These included Country Developers, Euro Consultant Pakistan, Shahar Saaz (Pvt) limited, Dar Al-Handasah, Minehardt, Pluto Planning from Turkey and Nespak Consultants.
In this connection, LDA Director General Ahmed Aziz Tarar said the new master plan would make Lahore a prosperous city. "It will be prepared for all urban and rural areas within the limits of the Lahore division. For the preparation of the new master plan, environmental protection, prudent use of resources, preservation of historical heritage, promotion of economic activities, and inclusion of all sections of the population will be ensured," he added. According to a LDA's document, one of the most comprehensive tools for analyzing the environmental impact of economic activity is the ecological footprint, expressed in global hectares (GHA), as the amount of land required by a person or community to sustain their use of natural resources.
"The assessment for Pakistan in 2007 showed that while the country's ecological footprint of consumption was small (0.77 GHA per person) compared to the global average of 2. GHA per person, it overshot the country's bio capacity (0.43 GHA per person) by nearly 80 percent. By 2012, Pakistan's footprint for consumption had gone up to 0.79 GHA and its bio capacity was down to 0.35 GHA, resulting in an overshoot of 126 percent. As expected, the net deficit is made up by depleting its own ecosystem resource stocks, or by importing resources from elsewhere. The result is continuous impoverishment, social disintegration, resource depletion, and environment degradation," said the document.
The qualified consortium will prepare a study to establish normative standards for consumption; propose measures to reduce ecological footprint; propose measures to increase bio capacity; and prepare sustainable solutions to meet demands of the society. The study area will be Lahore division, including all existing urban and rural settlements within Lahore division as per 2017 census data. It will also consider the settlements likely to become rural and urban settlements during the plan period.
The study area shall have two plans: a separate plan dealing with the whole Lahore region based on the principles of regional planning, i.e., the Lahore Regional Plan 2050. It will study the symbiotic (mutualism) relationships of human settlements with each other and with the ecosystem of Lahore region. Moreover, the study will apply all inter-regional planning analyses and tools to propose a balanced regional development plan for Lahore. The LDA will be entrusted to enforce the Lahore Regional Plan within Lahore Division.
The study will also prepare a set of plans: Urban Master Plans-2050 for 49 urban settlements, as listed in 'Amended Master Plan of Lahore Division 2016'. While, doing so the consultants will apply all contemporary master planning tools and procedures. The outcome of the study in the form of detailed master plans for all urban centres will provide the planning and development control framework for all urban centres/councils in Lahore Division.
The time period for the completion of the study will be 18 months from the date of signing the contract.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020