The National Institute of Urban Infrastructure Planning (NIUIP) is being established at the Engineering University in Peshawar at a cost of US$3.0 million.  The Institute will start operations in 2006.  The Institute will undertake research and teaching in infrastructure planning and engineering. The Higher Education Commission in Pakistan is funding the project.

Institute's Objectives

Recent political developments in Pakistan offer unique opportunities to address the urban decay in Pakistan. The new constitutional amendments have mandated the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) to implement a plan to devolve power from higher tiers of government to local (district/union council) governments. This is a huge exercise in devolution of power and social engineering and therefore provides tremendous opportunities for improved and effective urban governance and management.

The new devolution plan has mandated local governments to assume responsibility for service delivery and infrastructure planning. This new mandate for local governance has created a demand for professionals in urban infrastructure planning and service delivery. Without the capacity to plan and deliver services, large metropolitan areas in Pakistan run the risk of not fulfilling their new mandate. Thus the need for the training of young highly qualified professionals in urban infrastructure planning is paramount. In addition, practicing planners and engineers are also in dire need of improving their skills to respond to the new urban challenges. An institute of urban infrastructure planning is therefore needed to bridge the gap in training and education of practicing engineers and planners, and urban managers of the future.

Canada-Pakistan Linkages

In December 2003, Professor Haider of McGill University, Montréal, Canada, attended the Urban Research Symposium in Washington, DC, which was organized by the World Bank.   The interactions with urban planners and engineers from the developing countries gave birth to the idea of establishing a new infrastructure planning institute in Pakistan.  Later in June and July of 2004, Professor Haider visited the National Institute of Urban Affairs and the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, both located in New Delhi, to learn from the experience of Indian planners.

Professor Murtaza Haider contacted UET Peshawar and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) with suggestions to address Pakistan’s urban challenges in a systematic manner. Dr. Sohail Naqvi, Executive Director of the HEC, was equally concerned about the urban decay in Pakistan.  Dr. Naqvi remained very supportive of this initiative from the beginning.  Professor Haider, who specializes in urban planning and is also an alumnus of UET Peshawar, offered his assistance and Canadian expertise in establishing a National Institute of Urban Infrastructure Planning to be based at UET Peshawar. HEC engaged Professor Haider under the reverse brain drain program to develop the proposal for the new Institute including details on curriculum, laboratory, and library.

With the objective to develop a centre of excellence for research and training in urban infrastructure planning, Professor Haider, in consultation with HEC and the administration of UET Peshawar, started defining the broad parameters for the proposed institute, which would undertake research in challenges faced by urban centers in Pakistan and will train doctoral and masters students by providing opportunities for research in an applied and problem-solving environment. In addition, the institute will also impart training to practicing urban planners and engineers to upgrade their skills.

Professor Haider adopted a two-stage strategy for developing the proposal for the Institute. The first stage comprised an assessment of the state of practice and education of urban planning in Pakistan. For this purpose academics and practitioners of urban planning in Pakistan and abroad were consulted.  These consultations led to the conclusion that there was a dire need for a centre of excellence in Pakistan that would become the nucleus of applied research and education in urban infrastructure planning in Pakistan. It was also concluded that the Institute of Urban Infrastructure Planning should be placed at the NWFP University of Engineering and Technology in Peshawar to benefit from its strategic location and existing resources.  The second stage involved outlining the administrative and other details of the Institute.

Research & Learning Facilities at the Institute

The Institute will be housed in a posh-suburb of Peshawar called Hyatabad.  The self-contained Institute will have a state-of-the-art campus with modern buildings, containing computer laboratories, library, high-speed internet access, seminar rooms, research space for doctoral students and visiting research fellows, modern hostel for graduate students, and semi-furnished residences for permanent and visiting faculty.

A state-of-the-art Urban Systems Laboratory (USL) will act as the empirical hub of the Institute. The proposed laboratory will make a significant contribution towards research in urban systems by providing the necessary infrastructure for research in urban systems, which does not exist currently in Pakistan.

Five Doctoral Students