This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Dowall, D. E. Articles by Ellis, P. D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Urban Land and Housing Markets in the Punjab, Pakistan

Institute of Urban and Regional Development, University of California at Berkeley, 316 Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA, dowall{at}berkeley.edu

Peter D. Ellis

Sustainable Development Department, The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA, pellis{at}worldbank.org

Well-functioning urban land and housing markets are critical success factors for achieving robust economic growth. This paper provides an overview of urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province of Pakistan. It describes the characteristics of well-functioning markets and argues that the Punjab’s present markets are not performing adequately. In fact, there exists a range of impediments to efficient urban land and housing market performance: excessive public land ownership, inadequate infrastructure services, weak property rights, pervasive public- and private-sector rent seeking, counter-productive urban planning policies and regulations, costly sub-division and construction regulations, limited financing for property development and acquisition, rent controls and inadequate property-tax-based revenue-generating mechanisms. The paper concludes by suggesting that a prioritised comprehensive reform agenda is needed to improve urban land and housing market performance in Punjab Province. The analytical and conceptual approach used to research this paper is based on standard neo-classical economics. Therefore, the paper does not address broader political economy or structural issues. Consequently, the paper’s contribution should be viewed as limited in scope.

Urban Studies, Vol. 46, No. 11, 2277-2300 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0042098009342599


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?