PM advises vertical development in capital

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the Islamabad administration to encourage vertical development to preserve greenery in the city and boost construction, and asked that the maximum building height be increased to 500ft in the capital.
Prime Minister Khan issued the directives at a meeting on development work in Islamabad, which was attended by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Ali Nawaz Awan, CDA Chairman Amir Ali Ahmed and senior Prime Minister’s Office and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials.
A meeting participant said afterwards that the CDA and CAA should make their policies uniform and business-friendly, and provide developers ease of doing business (EODB) so they can build high-rises.
In the backdrop of building restrictions within 15km of Islamabad’s two airports, the prime minister also directed both authorities to make the procedure to approve site plans for high-rises easier, adding: “Fix timeline for approval of site plans and they should be approved in one month period.”
He also said: “Do not go horizontal, but encourage vertical development to preserve more and greener areas.”
Khan said building high-rises would also provide affordable housing as homes in high-rises would cost less than horizontal construction.
The maximum height allowance extended to a building in the capital is 420ft, for the construction of a luxury hotel adjacent to three already building 300ft towers in the
Centaurus building complex.
However, the CAA objected to the height of the building approved by the CDA, and its construction was halted soon after it began.
The prime minister asked the CDA to increase the maximum height for high-rises to 500ft.
When he asked CAA officials about their rules for high-rise buildings, they said they approve such construction on a case-to-case basis in view of aircraft flying area restrictions. In response, Khan remarked that this meant the CAA “has different rules for influential and ordinary persons”.
He said the authority should have uniform rules for everyone and problems should not be created for those who meet these rules.
He said there are many cities where 100-storey buildings stand within a 5km radius of airports, giving the example of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
He said that all areas other than those that fall under the funnel area of the two airports should be opened for the construction of high-rises.
Khan also directed CDA officials to expedite their work on revising the capital’s master plan and regularising banned construction in areas such as E-11, Banigala, Bhara Kahu, Shah Allah Ditta and parts of Zone IV as ordered by the
Islamabad High Court.
A senior CDA official said that the authority is preparing a revised master plan to regularise construction activities in prohibited areas under court directives.
“We are trying to come up with a new master plan a month before the stipulated time,” the official said.
He said the prime minister has sought that the minimum number of negative areas should be earmarked in the new plan where, for genuine reasons, high-rise buildings are not allowed.