Planning of DHA housing scheme to conclude by Sept

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

The entire master and town planning process of the DHA City housing project is expected to be completed by September this year followed by fast-track development works in the area.

A meeting of the steering committee of the DHA City Karachi (DCK), presided over by Administrator DHA Brig Aamer Raza Qureshi, was held at the DHA’s Main Office to review and evaluate the salient aspects of the new satellite housing project to be built along the Super Highway on the outskirts of the city.

According to a statement released on Thursday, the steering committee was informed that the initial zonal and land use plan describing the concepts of major axes, green ribbons, the city centre, downtown area, principal amenities and individual residential sectors has been finalised.

The project area has been divided into 16 sectors and plots have been allocated in each sector. The exercise of allocation of plot numbers would be completed soon.

The meeting was informed that a road planning and construction plan of the project had also been finalised and that work on the construction of primary and arterial roads at the site was expected to start in the second half of the current year. The pre-qualification of contractors for the same will commence shortly.

The DHA administrator directed the experts involved in the massive master planning exercise to speed up their work.

He also asked the planning experts concerned to incorporate safety and security measures of the area as the most important factor of the planning parameter to ensure success and viability of the project.

Arif Osmani, the head project consultant, informed the meeting that a survey of the project land had been completed.

Dr Spiro Pollalis, the chief concept adviser, said that the master plan model of the DCK project was being developed with a pragmatic approach that focused on developing the DCK as a self-sustained, independent city with residential dwellings, commercial, business and entertainment facilities together with all required amenities and networks. He said that in the DCK, streets would have a width of 45-50 feet compared to 40 feet in the present DHA.

The master plan also caters for provision of a network of green parks, golf resorts, hotels, educational and health facilities, a specialised teaching hospital, a university, a cadet college, a theme park, shopping centres, an expo centre and an off-road race track, etc.

He said that the natural landscape of the DCK site had been maintained in the master plan and factors such as aesthetically pleasant landscaping, natural fragrance of flowers and shrubs, bio-diversity, natural air purification, noise filtration and maintenance of eco-friendly environment had been incorporated into the master plan model of the project.