chieving sustainable and spatially balanced development is a major challenge for most governments. A lack of reliable data, spatial as well as non-spatial, leaves decision makers in the dark. Policymakers and planners have been trying to find new and innovative ways to make development planning more effective. Spatial planning gives geographical expression to activities taking place on a local, provincial, national, regional or international level.

Spatial planning refers to the systems and approaches affecting the distribution of people and activities in space. Location is a fundamental aspect of spatial planning. It allows us to look at patterns and trends we might not understand otherwise. Evidence-based planning considering local development needs helps people achieve the desired spatial goals, including infrastructure development, urban development, economic activities, water management, transport management and environmental protection.

In the area of urban planning, spatial planning enables analysis and modelling for tasks like site selection, land use planning and suitability analysis, identification of most promising areas for further development, identification and regulation of areas restricted for specific development or activities; and impact assessment. Another benefit of introducing a spatial planning system is to integrate local and provincial level planning processes with national or regional plans and processes by building and using centralised big data, called “spatial data infrastructure,” and a “spatial lens.” Effective spatial planning also helps in making effective territorial plans, formulating policies and real-time monitoring.

The spatial plan concept may be looked at from various perspectives. On the one hand, spatial planning relates to planning and use of spaces or land. On the other hand, it looks at the macro-level interventions relating to development planning. Both perspectives have major policy and regulatory implications. By promoting the prudent use of land and natural resources for development, spatial planning helps secure community benefits. It takes into account local, national and regional needs. It has also become crucial for creating more stable and predictable conditions for sustainable investment and development. It guides medium- to long-term plans developed by federal, provincial and local governments.

At the regional or territorial level, the term territorial cohesion was introduced by the European Union. The European Commission considers spatial planning a public sector activity that refers to the methods used for creating a rational territorial organisation of land to influence the future distribution of activities in space by capturing current activities, their distribution and their relationships. The concept has helped in connecting territories and developing cooperation. The concept builds mainly on the idea of the European Spatial Development Perspective, which aims to contribute to sustainable development, promote equal distribution of resources among various regions and populations, and produce coherence in policies.

Land use and development of major physical structures are, by and large, regulated by governments. Otherwise, these would be controlled by market forces.

Spatial planning and governance are not possible without a legal framework. The use of land and physical spaces is guided by national or provincial spatial development visions, policies and strategies. In many countries, land-use planning and regulation are the responsibility of the local governments. There are some examples of a supra body being established in a think-tank role. Established through enactment, such organisations are empowered to formulate sectoral spatial policies and standards to resolve issues of spatial imbalance, steer the implementation process, monitor progress, provide the necessary support and guidance in implementation; and take corrective and preventive measures to achieve the outlined goals of spatially balanced socioeconomic development.

By promoting prudent use of land and natural resources for development, spatial planning helps secure community benefits. It takes local, national and regional needs into account. It has become crucial for creating more stable and predictable conditions for sustainable investment and development.

In South Africa, legal and institutional frameworks integrate all the organs of the government vertically and horizontally. Policies, strategies and plans of provincial and local governments are integrated through a national vision, a spatial development perspective and spatial development plans. In South Korea, a special legal framework is provided for effective planning and implementation of territorial and development plans. From macro to micro levels, comprehensive national territorial, provincial and city-level plans are followed. The central allocation of the budget is also closely linked to the performance and control of development projects. In Malaysia, a top-down strategy is followed by the federal government, which includes Vision 2030 and the National Physical Plan to coordinate economic, social and sectoral development policies in physical and spatial dimensions. The policies, strategies, and actions contained in the National Physical Plan are translated at the regional or state level and thereby into local plans and special area plans. In Poland, the National Spatial Development Concept 2030, developed under the law relating to spatial planning and area development, is an important national strategic document. In the United Kingdom, the London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area.

Public sector investment or the development budget plays an important role in the socioeconomic uplift of a country. Governments prepare short-, medium- and long-term development plans and frameworks to guide investments. All public sector investment plans must follow the same trajectory to achieve the desired socioeconomic development goals. Experience shows that poorly conceived or poorly managed programmes result in suboptimal performance and fail subsequently to make a valuable contribution to the economy. Traditional administrative structures and boundaries designed with a ‘silo’ approach make it difficult to integrate and govern planning.

International experience has shown that vertical and horizontal integration have the potential to break down such silos. Vertical integration requires that the federal, provincial and local governments work in harmony and close coordination to support and complement one another. Horizontal integration may be achieved by connecting the various departments/ ministries of a government using a shared platform. Developing a centralised big-data infrastructure is essential for integration and close coordination. Vertical and horizontal integration help solve the planning puzzle and avoid duplication.

In Pakistan, most development plans and programmes are funded by the federal government through its Public Sector Development Programme. In provinces, Annual Development Programmes are prepared by the departments in accordance with their mandate. The federal, provincial and local governments are therefore all involved in deciding the overall development portfolio of a province. In addition, public-private partnerships support some large-scale government projects with private funds. A piecemeal approach in such a situation can result in duplication of effort and waste. The absence of a centralised database makes it hard to grasp the overall development trends. Therefore, building big data within a central coordinating department is necessary. Spatial Impact Assessment can then help identify and optimise the impacts of all plans.

Why is spatial and integrated planning so important for public sector planning and policy formulation? The development of a special economic zone or an industrial estate can help explain this. SEZs provide a quick-turnaround platform for business and trade. The success an SEZ demands close coordination among all tiers of the government. Identifying the most viable location is a critical factor for success. The most suitable location is linked to close-by trade corridors, markets, transport networks, population, labour force, public and private infrastructure as well as the support required to make doing business easy. This involves the federal government, inter alia, notifying the SEZ status and leveraging tax incentives, providing guarantees to protect the investors and providing facilitation for ease of doing business. The provincial government is responsible for providing administrative support, identifying and providing land, constructing basic infrastructure, and providing utilities like electricity, gas, water supply and sewers, maintaining local roads and ensuring workforce security. Most of the industrial estates in the Punjab have not performed well enough to grow into thriving industrial clusters. This has been due to inappropriate selection of location, poor design and/ or a disconnect with major networks and trade corridors. In discussing the regulatory and institutional framework for IEs in the Punjab, the World Bank Group has also reported issues in the selection of the most suitable site – political influence, poor site investigation, ignorance of market demands, environmental issues, and ignorance of social concerns. The Punjab Spatial Strategy 2047 has also highlighted that the absence of a location selection mechanism and policy in the Punjab has had a significant cost. Lack of coordination between various tiers of the government is another important factor in such failures.

Making public sector planning decisions is not possible without a centralised database. Spatial big data, a digital platform, needs to be built in government entities dealing with the planning relating to development. Such databases normally rely upon both spatial and non-spatial data. This informs planners about past, present and future development activities and trends. The use of GIS enables dynamic query and analysis, the display of information and more user-friendly representation. Data infrastructure is useful because it allows one to effectively plan and allocate resources while taking into account their spatial implications. The use of technology also supports e-governance.

Many countries around the globe are using spatial and integrated planning systems. They have prudently planned and prioritised their needs and built well-thought-out infrastructures like roads, airports, transport systems, irrigation networks, energy projects, health and education facilities, and basic municipal infrastructure.

It is heartening that the Punjab government has introduced a spatial planning system. The Punjab Spatial Strategy 2047, developed by the Planning and Development Department with the assistance of the Urban Unit, was approved by the cabinet in 2019. It is hoped that, once fully implemented, the new system will help in planning and prioritising investments in the public and private sectors. There is a dire need to introduce a robust legal and institutional framework at the provincial level to support this. A centralised data infrastructure is yet to be built to help integrate federal and provincial level plans, align policies and improve inter-government and intra-government coordination.

Considering the limited and shrinking fiscal space, adopting evidence-based decision-making is necessary. Missing the opportunity can have detrimental effects for the province and the country.

The author has served in the Punjab government as senior chief of spatial planning and in federal government in several senior positions. He has also been a consultant and focal person for various UNDP, ADB, Oxfam Novib, UNIDO, ILO and World Vision programmes.  He can be reached at ravian696@gmail.com