Urban Policy Unit

The major objective for establishment of Urban Policy Unit is to work in an integrated manner towards improving urban governance in the province. It will focus on achieving integration at urban planning, and target capacity development of line Departments.

The Urban policy Unit will work as a demand responsive unit, fire walled from implementation, and will be resourced with sector experts capacitated to respond to the needs of the provincial departments and entities.

This unit will formulate economic regeneration and growth strategies for urban clusters and urban region, and will maintain Urban data set and GIS, and generate research and disseminate innovations in urban sectors.

Urban governance can be defined as the sum of the many ways individuals and institutions, public and private, plan and manage the common affairs of the city. It is a continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be accommodated and cooperative action can be taken.

It includes formal institutions as well as informal arrangements and the social capital of citizens.

The Global Campaign on Urban Governance proposes that good urban governance is characterized by a series of principles, which are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.

• Indicators are essential to assess the effectiveness of policies (eg. decentralization policy, gender policy)
• Indicators can help in monitoring if capacity building efforts yield the expected results (Value for Money; Cost-Benefit Analysis)
• The design of an indicators system can help creating a platform to involve civil society and private sector in local governance
• Indicators give us an objective set of data to feed the review of urban governance strategies when necessary
• Monitoring through indicators can provide an objective account of achievements of local elected leaders (for instance at times of elections).

A demand of responsive unit, catalyzing and supporting formulation of sectors policies, institutional reforms and capacity development in line departments, to manage urbanization; with improved accountability mechanisms.

Urban Centers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are engines of social, economic and cultural growth, providing improved standards of living for its citizens, and are globally competitive. A demand responsive unit, catalyzing and supporting formulation of sector policies, institutional reforms. This unit will formulate economic regeneration and growth strategies for urban clusters and urban region, and will maintain Urban data set and GIS, and generate research and disseminate innovations in urban sectors.

The Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has set the sectorial objectives of making the cities as vibrant urban centers which serve as engines of growth, and that requires sound urban planning, efficient urban management and well planned and well executed urban development, This may not be possible, given the capacity and governance structure of the existing institutions.

Achieving these sectoral objectives, requires a comprehensive reform program in the urban sector, For this reform process to be successful, the requirements are that it has to be comprehensive and well integrated into the overall system. In addition, it has to be professionally designed and implemented, as the overall system of urban governance in the 21st century has become a complex affair.

Last but not the least, the reform process has to be sustained over the next ten to twenty years. This necessitates that the reform initiative, must have a long term planning horizon, rather than short term or ad-hoc solutions.

Transportation

According to the 1998 census it had a population of just over two million, now estimated to be around 2.8 million (P&D Urban Unit). By 2033, the population is expected to rise to 4.4 million. Rapid population growth has been significantly impacted by Afghan refugee migration and internal displacement, resulting in approximately 280,000 Afghan refugees and a further 100,000 displaced persons currently living in Peshawar. As many of these have limited resources and opportunities, the pressure to maintain infrastructure development and service provision in accordance with the demand for housing, transport and basic urban services is therefore considerable. 

Geographical Information System

Good governance demands real time information and proper decision support systems to help guide the systems. These help guide the planning activities in an informed way and lead to proper management of assets and systems. In Planning for Urban areas and Management of Urban Systems, we need Information Systems that have a spatial and geographical dimension, which makes the data more relevant and easier to comprehend and utilize. Recent developments in the domains of GIS, GPS and remote sensing have come up with powerful tools. These advanced technologies can very effectively be used to handle the present day complex problems, related to optimum utilization of available resources and infrastructure.

Solid Waste Management

Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is considered a serious environmental challenge confronting local authorities in many countries around the world. This is especially true in developing countries. As a result of rapid population growth and the increased rate of unplanned urbanization in many cities of the developing world, the amount of municipal solid waste is increasing tremendously. Solid waste management is one of the major reasons of environmental degradation in Pakistan in general and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular. Solid waste management is not carried out in a sufficient and proper manner in collection, transportation and disposal or dumping regardless of the size of the city.

Urban Planning

Urban planning is a highly technical and political process concerned with the use of land and design of the urban environment, including air, water and infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas such as transportation and distribution networks. It guides and ensures the orderly development of settlements and satellite communities which commute into and out of urban areas or share resources with it. A consistent planning is concerned with thorough research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban design, effective public consultation, policy reforms, implementation process and efficient management. 

Water and Sanitation

Water and section (WATSAN) section of urban policy unit Provide overall guidance and technical input in the development of province wide policy on the water and sanitation sector. The section Provides assistance to the Provincial departments and LGs in improving the service delivery in the water and sanitation sector. The role also includes carrying out data collection, data analysis and other basic research in the sector at provincial level and providing International Best practice models. WATSAN section of UPU have been involved in carrying out various activates.