Lahore is a lot like Seattle
Posted by Ethan Casey on July 22, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Ethan Casey with Brig. (ret) Siraj and Aslam Mughal, Lahore Gymkhana, March 2009. Photo by Pete Sabo.
I’ve been writing and transcribing quite a bit lately, as I try to finish a draft of my new book by the end of the summer. I have a tentative title for the book (which I might divulge soon), and Pete Sabo and I are starting to talk about which of his many wonderful photos to use as an image for the cover.
On Tuesday I happened to be transcribing my conversation on March 21 in Lahore with Aslam Mughal, a very interesting man who, as it happens, has a professional background in housing and urban development. And it happened to be the day after Seattle, where I live, finally launched its long-awaited light rail line, which my Seattle friends Dennis and Eric and I discussed on and off throughout the day by email. (The three of us used to share an office; we’ve now moved our BS-and-procrastination sessions online.)
I sent them the following excerpt, which I think nicely illustrates how alike we all are – whether in Seattle or in Lahore – in our needs and aspirations:
“I came back in 2000, after eighteen years of just wandering around here and there, with the United Nations. And I’ve been trying to make certain changes in the system of Pakistan in my field, which is housing and urban development. But I failed. I mean, eighty percent of the population in urban areas, they cannot afford their own transport. Which necessitates that the public transport system should be strong. The pedestrians should be safe, the cyclists should be safe. They should be able to move very safely and securely and pleasantly. But a pedestrian cannot cross a road, even at the intersection, because the left turn is there. The people who have to travel on the buses, they cannot get the buses. And everything is being dictated by the car. I mean, where is the democracy?”
“Could there be a metro here, like in Delhi?” I asked.
“I don’t think we need a metro. I would go for a strong bus system, which we can afford and we can manage. Even that we are not managing properly.”
“Start with that.”
“Start with that! There is a very good model, where they have a bus system which is just like a railroad – two buses joined together. The infrastructure is changed and there are bus stations, proper bus stations like a metro.”
“Like light rail.”
“Yeah. But it’s very flexible, because you can shift the buses from here to there and there, and fix the road system. But first you have to make a decision that you plan and you do things for the majority of the public. This has not happened. So those eighty percent people – and housing also: eighty percent people cannot afford housing. But on the other hand, if you go out, there’s so much land subdivided, lying vacant, developed and semi-developed and fully developed, for speculative purposes.”
“In nearby suburban areas?”
“In nearby suburban areas of major cities: Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi. I’m talking about my field.”
“So you really have to have a political revolution, though, to …”
“To change things. And policy being formulated for the majority of the public. Once this decision is taken, everything will start working for the general masses.”
“Now, people speak highly of Shahbaz Sharif [Chief Minister of Punjab province and brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif] as an administrator.”
“Exactly. That’s the reason: because he’s hitting at the middle class, and the lower middle class, and the poor people. All his focus is on this segment of the population, which is really, really deprived.”
