Impact of Land Use Change on Built Environment of Planned Neighborhoods of Lahore: A Case Study of Wapda Town

Abstract

Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab has gone through major spatial expansions as a result of unrestrained and continuous population increase. The expansion is mainly towards the south and south-east directions focusing on the planned settlements. Land being an essential resource is in continuous transformation of land use which accommodates expansion and other activities within the residential areas of the society. Transformation of land use change in residential areas resulting in the formation of main residential streets into commercial streets is one such issue that greatly affects the neighborhood-built environment thereby overloading the existing infrastructural facilities. WAPDA town housing society, one of the planned societies located in the southern part of Lahore is selected as a case study for the stated problem. The purpose of this research is the identification factors causing land use change and their impacts on the neighborhood-built environment. The data was collected through physical surveys that enabled us to explore the transformation of the designated land use pattern of the society. A comparative analysis of residential and commercial property users has been done to evaluate the overall satisfaction level through Yeh's index of satisfaction. The study revealed that commercialization is detrimental to the built environment and negatively affects the resident's satisfaction. The findings suggest that policymakers should enact such laws which can strengthen land use management and maintain the quality of life for the residents of planned neighborhoods.