Pakistan can revitalise ageing neighbourhoods through China's urban renewal model

Pakistan can revitalise its ageing neighbourhoods by adapting China's people-centred urban renewal model, which focuses on upgrading existing communities, improving municipal services and strengthening climate resilience instead of relying mainly on demolition and urban expansion, experts say. Abida Parveen, Town Planner at Shehersaaz, an architectural and urban planning firm, told Wealth Pakistan that Pakistan should preserve, rehabilitate and upgrade ageing neighbourhoods instead of allowing valuable urban assets to deteriorate. "We have to preserve, conserve and upgrade our old buildings through biophilic design, in which green roofing is important," she said, citing the Aga Khan Trust for Culture's heritage-led regeneration of Lahore's Walled City as a successful local example.