Pakistan Middle Class Jumps to 55% of Population

[Riaz Haq]

Majority of the households in Pakistan now belong to the middle class, a first in Pakistan's history, according to research by Dr. Jawaid Abdul Ghani of Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL).

It's an important tipping point that puts Pakistan among the top 5 countries with fastest growing middle class population in Asia-Pacific region, according to an Asian Development Bank report titled Asia's Emerging Middle Class: Past, Present, And Future. The ADB report put Pakistan's middle class growth from 1990 to 2008 at 36.5%, much faster than India's 12.5% growth in the same period.

Source: Dr. Abdul Ghani

From 2002 to 2011, the country's middle class, defined as households with daily per capita expenditures of $2-$10 in 2005 purchasing power parity dollars, grew from 32% to 55% of the population, according to a paper presented by Dr. Abdul Ghani at Karachi's Institute Business Administration's International Conference on Marketing. Dr. Ghani has cited Pakistan Standards of Living Measurement (PSLM) Surveys as source of his data.

Source: Dr. Abdul Ghani, Karachi School of Business

Growing middle class is a major driver of economic growth, as the income elasticity for durable goods and services for middle class consumers is greater than one, according to a Brookings Institution study titled The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries.

Among some of the manifestations of the rising middle class, Dr. Abdul Ghani reports dramatic increase in the ownership of television sets, refrigerators and motorcycles in households in all income deciles in Pakistan.  At the same the total household assets have nearly doubled from $387 billion in 2001-02 to $772.6 billion in 2010-11 in terms of 2005 purchasing power parity dollars.

Consumer spending in Pakistan has increased at a 26 percent average pace the past three years, compared with 7.7 percent for Asia, according to data compiled by Euromonitor International, a consumer research firm. Pakistan's rising middle class consumers  in major cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are driving sales of international brand name products and services.  Real estate developers and retailers are responding to it by opening new mega shopping malls such as Dolmen in Karachi and Centaurus in Islamabad.

Pakistan's transition to middle-class middle-income country over the last decade mainly during Musharraf years represents a major tipping point for the country's economy. It is likely to accelerate economic growth driven by consumption and draw greater investments in production of products and services demanded by middle class consumers. Some of it is already in evidence in booming sales of durable goods (TV sets, refrigerators, motorcycles) AND non-durables (cosmetics, shampoo, toothpaste, processed foods, etc) in Pakistan's booming FMCG sector.

Related Links:

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Pakistan's Official GDP Figures Ignore Booming FMCG Sector

Musharraf Accelerated Human and Economic Development in Pakistan

Pakistan's Growing Middle Class

Pakistan's GDP Grossly Under-estimated; Shares Highly Undervalued

Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sector in Pakistan

3G-4G Roll-out in Pakistan

 

Pakistan Government Deploys Mobile Apps

 

Telecom and Media Boom in Pakistan

 

Mobile Money Revolution in Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

Excerpts of "Has the West Lost It?" by Kishore Mahbubani

This is also why many Asian countries, including hitherto troubled countries like Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines, are progressing slowly and steadily. In each of these four countries, various forms of dictatorship have been replaced by leaders who believe that they are accountable to their populations. Many of their troubles continue, but poverty has diminished significantly, the middle classes are growing and modern education is spreading. There are no perfect democracies in Asia (and, as we have learned after Trump and Brexit, democracies in the West are deficient, too).

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Pakistan is one of the most troubled countries in the world. Virtually no one sees Pakistan as a symbol of hope. Yet, despite being thrust into the frontlines by George W. Bush after 9/11 in 2001 and forced to join the battle against the Taliban, ‘Pakistan experienced a “staggering fall” in poverty from 2002 to 2014, according to the World Bank, halving to 29.5 per cent of the population.’25 In the same period, the middle-class population soared.

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When countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan have begun marching steadily towards middle-class status for a significant part of their populations, the world has turned a corner. Indeed, the statistics for the growth of middle classes globally are staggering. From a base of 1.8 billion in 2009, the number will hit 3.2 billion by 2020. By 2030, the number will hit 4.9 billion,27 which means that more than half the world’s population will enjoy middle-class living standards by then.

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No other region can show such a sharp contrast between its dysfunctional past and its functional future, but Southeast Asia is not an exception. South Asia, another strife-ridden area, now probably has only one dysfunctional government, Nepal. As documented earlier, even Pakistan and Bangladesh are progressing slowly and steadily. In the neighbouring Gulf region, the news focuses on the conflict in Yemen. Yet, next door to Yemen, another nation, Oman, has been gradually making progress for decades. Oman’s per capita GDP has increased from US $9,907 in 1980 to US $15,965 in 2015.33

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Take the Islamic world, for example. They feel that the West has become trigger-happy since the end of the Cold War, and they resent it. Even worse, most of the countries recently bombed by the West have been Muslim countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. This is why many of the 1.5 billion Muslims believe that Muslim lives don’t matter to the West. As indicated earlier, the West needs to pose to itself a delicate and potentially explosive question: is there any correlation between the rise of Western bombing of Islamic societies and the rise of terrorist incidents in the West? It would be foolish to suggest an answer from both extremes: that there is an absolute correlation or zero correlation. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. If so, isn’t it wiser for the West to reduce its entanglements in the Islamic world? Some of these entanglements have been very unwise. During the Cold War, the CIA instigated the creation of Al-Qaeda to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The same organization bit the hand that fed it by attacking the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. Sadly, America didn’t learn the lesson from this mistake. In an effort to remove Assad in Syria, the Obama administration transported ISIS fighters from Afghanistan to Syria to fight Assad.58 To ensure that the ISIS fighters had enough funding, America didn’t bomb the oil exports from ISIS-controlled zones in Syria to Turkey. Through all this, America declared that it was opposed to ISIS. In fact, some American agencies were supporting them, directly or indirectly.59

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[Riaz Haq]

Iron, steel output swells to 4.7m tonnes

https://www.dawn.com/news/1646475

KARACHI: The production of iron and steel, with billets/ingots mainly used in the construction industry, in the last 10 years swelled by 196 per cent to 4.777 million tonnes in FY21 from 1.616m tonnes in FY12.

H/CR sheets/strips, coils/plates, also known as flat steel products for production of electronics, surged to 3.296m tonnes in FY21 from 1.850m tonnes in FY12, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data of Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) showed.

Rising production of steel related products has led to higher imports of raw materials. For making steel bars, the country’s iron and steel scrap imports in FY21 rose to 4.719m tonnes costing $1.86bn from 1.568m tonnes valuing $538m in 2011-12, the PBS figures showed.

Besides, iron and steel imports swelled to 2.992m tonnes amounting to $1.959bn in FY21 from 1.755m tonnes ($1.4bn) in 2011-12.


Commenting on rising demand for steel bars, Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers Secretary General Syed Wajid Bukhari said steel bar production till 2011-12 was about three to 3.5m tonnes while the current demand now hovers between 6.5m tonnes to 7m tonnes.

He attributed increase in steel bar prices to soaring scrap prices in the world market to $550 per tonne from $300 per tonne while one dollar is now equal to 168 as compared to Rs85 in 2011-12.

He said gas price increased to Rs97 per unit from Rs15 per unit in the last 10 years followed by power tariff to Rs21 per unit from Rs6 per unit. Freight charges are 100 per high now.

Mr Bukhari was of the view that steel bar demand would soar to nine to 10 million tonnes by 2023-24 in view of rising construction activities.

Private sector consumes 80pc of total steel bar production as compared to 20pc by the public sector, he added.

Hassan Bakhshi, former chairman Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), said a multi-storey high project to be built on 1,000 yards plot with three floors for car parking requires around 1,100 tonnes of steel bars.

He claimed that steel bar demand has been on the rise due to 80pc construction work on highrise projects in Punjab while the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) has been creating problems in clearing new projects.

“Only 91 projects have been cleared by the SBCA in the last two years in Karachi as compared to 500-7,000 projects a year some 10 years back,” he said.

The projects being promoted on the social, print and electronic media belong to Punjab while in Karachi, advertisement campaigns have been running for old projects which had been approved very late.

Pakistan Association of Parts and Accessories Manufacturers Association chairman Abdul Rehman Aizaz was of the view that auto assemblers and their vendors consume 15,000-20,000 tonnes per month of iron and steel in different forms which are used in making different parts by the vendors and the assemblers.

Bike production swelled to 2.475m units from 1.645m units in FY12, while jeeps/cars production rose to 163,122 units from 154,706 units in FY12.

Trucks and buses production in FY21 jumped to 3,808 and 570 units from 2,597 and 568 units FY12.

Domestic appliances and electronic products have shown phenomenal growth in the last 10 years. For example, production of refrigerators, deep freezers and air conditioners has swelled to 1.337m units, 109,029 units and 505,493 units from 1.062m units, 56,313 units and 240,338 units in FY12. Electric fans production rose to 2.498m units from 1.908m units.

[Riaz Haq]

Samsung TV plant begins production in Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1662359

ISLAMABAD: South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics has operationalised its first TV line-up plant in collaboration with a local firm in Karachi, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood announced on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, Mr Dawood shared photos of the facility and tweeted: “We congratulate Samsung Electronics on operationalising its first TV Line-up plant in Pakistan at Karachi in collaboration with R&R Industries. Initially, the unit will produce 50,000 TV sets and increase the capacity to 100,000 units within 2 years.”

South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics has operationalised its first TV line-up plant in collaboration with a local firm in Karachi, Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood announced on Monday.

Taking to Twitter, Mr Dawood shared photos of the facility and tweeted: “We congratulate Samsung Electronics on operationalising its first TV Line-up plant in Pakistan at Karachi in collaboration with R&R Industries. Initially, the unit will produce 50,000 TV sets and increase the capacity to 100,000 units within 2 years.”

Mr Dawood said the collaboration was in line with Make-in-Pakistan policy of the Ministry of Commerce. “I urge all our firms to partner up with leading international companies to set up units in Pakistan,” the adviser further tweeted.


R&R Industries Pvt Ltd had signed an agreement with Samsung to set up a plant in Karachi’s Korangi Industrial Area. The construction and fabrication of the factory has already been completed.

The local partner company believes the collaboration will create more than 700 jobs in Pakistan due to the vast nature of this project.

It is expected that the business revenue of the project will be approximately touch Rs5 billion per annum and an annual target of producing 50,000 TV units.

Samsung Electronics, founded in 1969, quickly became a major manufacturer in the Korean market. This soon expanded to Samsung becoming a leading global brand and has been one of the world’s leading manufacturer of televisions for the last 15 years.

It is also worth mentioning that Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC), a subsidiary of Lucky Cement Ltd announced, in July that it has entered into an agreement with Samsung Gulf Electronics Co., FZE (Samsung) for the production of Samsung-branded mobile devices in Pakistan. The production facility will be located at LMC’s existing plant which is expected to be completed by end December.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan to be the world's 7th largest consumer market by 2030

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/growth-consumers-asia-indone...

Asian countries are expected to exhibit the biggest growth of the consumer class among the world's 30 biggest consumer markets.
The consumer class is defined as a group of people who spend more than $11 per day.
Currently, 55% of the global consumer class live in Asia.
Nearly 76 million Indonesians alone will join the consumer class by 2030.
This will make Indonesia the fourth biggest consumer market in the world, behind China, India and the U.S.
Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines also expect big growth.

Between the years 2020 and 2030, almost 76 million Indonesians will join the so-called consumer class, a group of people who spend more than $11 (in 2011 PPP dollars) per day. This will cause the country to become the fourth biggest consumer market in the world behind the giants of the field – China, India and the United States.

Even today, 55 percent – or 2.2 billion people - of the global consumer class live in Asia, especially in the world’s two biggest consumer markets, India and China. Despite the fact that Indian consumer class growth is outpacing China’s, the latter country is expected to remain the biggest consumer market in 2030. This is according to data by research company World Data Lab, published by Brookings Institution.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2021/08/31/which-...

[Riaz Haq]

Which will be the top 30 consumer markets of this decade? 5 Asian markets below the radar

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2021/08/31/which-...

Here is an overview of the five top movers:

Bangladesh (+17 positions), from place 28 to 11; future consumer class: 85 million (+50 million)
Global share of consumer class: 0.8 percent (2020), 1.6 percent (2030). Bangladesh’s consumer class is projected to more than double by 2030: Today, 35 million people in Bangladesh spend more than $11 a day. By 2030, it will be 85 million!
Pakistan (+8 positions), from place 15 to 7; future consumer class: 121 million (+56 million)
Global share of consumer class: 6 percent (2020), 2.3 percent (2030). Pakistan will add 56 million new consumers by 2030, for a total of 121 million. This means that in 2030, for the first time, every other Pakistani will be able to spend more than $11 per day.
Vietnam (+7 positions), from place 26 to 19; future consumer class: 56 million (+21 million)
Global share of consumer class: 9 percent (2020), 1.1 percent (2030). Vietnam’s consumer class will grow from 35 million to 56 million within this decade, which is a success story particularly of the middle-aged generation: Consumers between 45 and 65 years of age will contribute nearly 25 percent of Vietnam’s spending, as opposed to 20 percent today.
Philippines (+6 positions), from place 20 to 14; future consumer class: 79 million (+38 million)
Global share of consumer class: 1 percent (2020), 1.5 percent (2030). The Filipino consumer class is projected to grow steadily, from 41 million today to 79 million in 2030. By then, more than two-thirds of the Filipino population will spend more than $11 per day.
Indonesia (+2 positions), from place 6 to 4; future consumer class: 199 million (+76 million)
Global share of consumer class: 2 percent (2020), 3.8 percent (2030). While Indonesia is only moving up two places, it is experiencing a large gain of consumer class growth. Starting from an already large base of 123 million, Indonesia will have almost 200 million consumers in 2030, making it the fourth-largest consumer market in the world.
The big message of this analysis is that the consumer class is spreading across the world, and that many emerging markets will have large consumer markets where supply-chain-scale economies, digital platforms, and local preferences will need to be better understood and developed.

[Riaz Haq]

Household Appliances - Pakistan | Statista Market Forecast

https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/electronics/househol...

Revenue in the Household Appliances segment is projected to reach US$1,663m in 2021.
Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2025) of 9.08%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$2,354m by 2025.
With a projected market volume of US$97,974m in 2021, most revenue is generated in China.
In the Household Appliances segment, the number of users is expected to amount to 20.8m users by 2025.
User penetration will be 5.6% in 2021 and is expected to hit 8.6% by 2025.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to US$132.78.

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Household Appliances - Bangladesh | Statista Market Forecast

https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/electronics/househol...


Revenue in the Household Appliances segment is projected to reach US$988m in 2021.
Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2025) of 27.87%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$2,642m by 2025.
With a projected market volume of US$97,974m in 2021, most revenue is generated in China.
In the Household Appliances segment, the number of users is expected to amount to 56.4m users by 2025.
User penetration will be 16.2% in 2021 and is expected to hit 32.7% by 2025.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to US$36.69.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistani Motorcycles Market burnt out. In the third quarter sales have been flat from the previous year. Consequently, Year to Date September sales were 1.4 million, up 37.5% vs the 2020 and 13.0% vs the 2019, running towards the second all-time level, just below the 2018 record.

https://www.motorcyclesdata.com/2021/10/25/pakistan-motorcycles/

Motorcycles Market 2021 Trend
Pakistani two wheeler market is accelerating and recovering fast, following the lost reported in the 2020, when prolonged shutdown and lockdowns blocked the production and the commercial activities for a while.

This year the demand is back very fast and we can expect the market to be back on the pre covid track, when it was one of the fastest growing worldwide.

Sales speed up in the first half of this calendar year, when two and three wheeler sales have been 951.093, up a huge 66.8% vs the 2020 and +9.0% vs the 2019, hitting the new record as highest semester ever.

In the third quarter sales have been flat from the previous year. Consequently, Year to Date September sales were 1.4 million, up 37.5% vs the 2020 and 13.0% vs the 2019, running towards the second all-time level, just below the 2018 record.

The competitive arena is dominated by Honda with sales up 52.2%. It is followed by United Auto (+10.7%) and Road Prince (+6.0%), the best local brands.

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A decade ago, Bangladesh two-wheeler sales were below 10.000 units per year. Then the industry evolved rapidly, thanks to the investments of new local brands – like Runner and Walton, Indians companies – Bajaj Auto, Hero Motor and TVS -, and Japanese – Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda.

https://www.motorcyclesdata.com/2021/03/12/bangladesh-motorcycles/

In the 2012 the market was already up 10 times compared with 5 years before, while kept steady growing until the 2016, when sales were not far from the quarter of a million.

However, the new policy established by the government in the 2017 changed the industry perspective immediately booming the demand, thanks to the cut of motorcycles price in a range of 20% (both for imported and local made models) and a new life started.

In the following years the market boomed up doubling volume to hit the 487,000 units in the 2018 and finally at over 549,000 units in the 2019.

While Japanese brands are growing, the market is literally dominated by Indian brands, with Baja Auto leader with near 33% of share, followed by Hero Motor and TVS. Honda is fast growing and hold a market share near 11%.

[Riaz Haq]

Cement Production in Pakistan increased to 4042 Thousands (4 million tons) of Tonnes in September from 3765 Thousands of Tonnes in August of 2021. source: State Bank of Pakistan


https://tradingeconomics.com/pakistan/cement-production

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In the last seven years, the production capacity of the local cement companies increased by 131 percent, while demand rose by 106 percent.

At the end of 2018, the production capacity stood at 5.80 crore tonnes, while the demand rose to as much as 3.10 crore tonnes.

Of the locally produced cement, the government uses 35 percent, commercial developers use 35 percent and individual-level small buyers use the rest.

From 2011 to 2018, the per capita use of cement increased by 97 percent to stand at 187kg. However, the country yet lags behind the world average of per capita use of 563kg.

Bangladesh is the 40th country in the world cement market now.


https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/bangladeshs-cement-industry-booming

[Riaz Haq]

Land Grab or River Revival? Inside Pakistan’s $7 Billion ‘Green’ City
The government wants to spend $7 billion to develop the Ravi riverbank, but opponents say that risks replicating the environmental and societal problems in nearby Lahore.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-01-19/pakistan-s-plan-...

Warraich is among dozens of landowners petitioning against the government's plan to build a megacity from scratch on the banks of the Ravi river, a once-thriving waterway that’s been depleted by pollution and dwindling water levels. The $7-billion endeavor would span 46 kilometers (29 miles) and include housing, commercial areas, hospitals and schools — creating a metropolis that could ease pressure on overpopulated Lahore and support its urbanization.

The Ravi Urban Development Authority, a government body created to manage the project, pitches it as a green initiative that will bring in much-needed resources to clean up the river. “The idea is to manage the area properly,” says RUDA’s Chief Executive Officer Imran Amin.

RUDA aims to build a man-made channel and a series of barrages along the Ravi’s path to control its water level, which the authority says will help conserve what limited flow remains and restore Lahore’s supply of groundwater. But some opponents are skeptical of those claims and what they see as a land grab by RUDA. The city’s high court halted the project last year — one ruling in an ongoing legal fight for the future of the river that could reach Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

“This is our property. We don’t want to sell it,” says Warraich, sitting on a white plastic armchair outside his farmhouse. “They are acquiring our land for a new city” where local residents won’t be able to continue farming, he says. “I don’t understand this logic.”

Pakistan’s leaders have been trying to develop the banks of the Ravi for almost a decade and Prime Minister Imran Khan has made the task a priority.

The Ravi river was instrumental to Lahore’s development, but today large pockets sit stagnant while other sections have dried up completely. A water-sharing treaty with India has limited its flow, while Pakistan’s own mismanagement has exacerbated the problem. For decades, the river has collected untreated sewage from Lahore, as well as industrial and agricultural waste.

In recent years, Pakistan has developed legislation to regulate water use amid warnings that the country will face water scarcity by 2025. According to a government study last year, only 39 percent of water sources across 29 cities were safe for drinking. Cleaning up the Ravi could help Pakistan forestall an impending water crisis — its basin is home to some 50 million people and the river irrigates about 7 million acres of land.

These short-term solutions, however, will run up against the climate clock. Most of Pakistan's rivers are fed by melting snow from glaciers in the Himalayas, which are set to shrink as the world heats up. As global average temperatures rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius — a highly likely scenario based on current trajectories — the volume of Himalayan glaciers will be halved.

Global warming is set to increase precipitation across Pakistan, but climate models show the seasonality and intensity of those rains will become less predictable. That's bad news for farmers given the vast majority of crops grown in Pakistan are dependent on reliable monsoon patterns. Though agriculture provides less than 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product, it employs 40 percent of its labor force.

Pakistan isn’t the first country to try and solve its environmental issues with more development. Governments have plowed billions of dollars into eco-city initiatives everywhere from Malaysia to Iceland to simultaneously boost economic growth and adapt to a warming planet. The projects are marked by common features including more efficient public transport, green spaces and wastewater treatment plants,” says Amin.

[Riaz Haq]

Land Grab or River Revival? Inside Pakistan’s $7 Billion ‘Green’ City
The government wants to spend $7 billion to develop the Ravi riverbank, but opponents say that risks replicating the environmental and societal problems in nearby Lahore.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-01-19/pakistan-s-plan-...



But critics worry that the new city, which RUDA says will take 12 to 15 years to build, will replicate Lahore’s problems instead of fixing them — especially its inequality. They also say the government’s focus on building a new city could lead to further neglect in parts of Lahore. As the city boomed, it has stretched west toward the Ravi, spawning packed settlements around the river. The area’s population density contrasts starkly with growing wealth at the other end of the city, where single-family houses built on large lots in private communities extend far enough to almost kiss the border with India.

Lower-income residents in Lahore bear the brunt of the city’s environmental woes, living in areas with dirty water and bad air. Meanwhile, wealthier residents are protected in housing developments that operate like private businesses with separate water supplies. “It’s a very sad reflection of what has happened to our city because it has been totally commercialized,” says Fauzia Qureshi, an architect and urban planner.

The question for residents like Warraich who are being pressured to give up their land is whether the potential improvements and compensation will be worth it. To create the proposed city, RUDA would sell land to developers, who would build on it under the government’s supervision. Opponents argue that the promised environmental benefits of Ravi City are being used to justify the government’s exercise of “eminent domain” — giving it the right to claim private property for public use — on land they fear will actually be used by private developers for commercial purposes. RUDA’s official land-use master plan sets aside space for a high-rise residential zone, business district, and area that will be called Sports City.

“There won’t be any forced acquisition,” says Amin from RUDA. “Unless it’s important where it’s [a] wastewater treatment plant or something which is necessary to be placed there and we will try our best” to give current residents “a fair market price.”

According to Section 45 of the Ravi Urban Development Authority Act, which outlines RUDA’s powers and functions, the authority may “use such force as may be necessary” to “eject any person in unauthorized occupation of any land or property vested in the Authority.” The document also gives RUDA power “to remove, demolish or alter” any building or structure as needed to realize development plans. There’s no guarantee that those plans will help restore the Ravi.

Raising the river’s levels by creating a channel and barrages will have “almost no impact” on Lahore’s groundwater levels, says Vaqar Zakaria, an environmental consultant. The city’s water table will keep being depleted unless groundwater usage by housing developers and factories is regulated, he says, something that isn’t addressed in RUDA’s proposal. “Those who are bigger and richer can bore and get the water from the ground and a poor man can’t afford to do that,” Zakaria says. Ravi City “is going to benefit a small number of people, and it's not going to add value to the average citizen.”

Environmentalists have also cast doubt on the other green pillar of the Ravi City plan: Lahore’s first wastewater treatment plant.