Land use and transport are crucial to urban transformation and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, these sectors significantly contribute to environmental issues due to high energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. This research explores land use and transport integration in Lahore, Pakistan—a rapidly urbanizing city with rising energy demands and severe air pollution. Lahore’s air quality index (AQI) has reached critical levels, with PM2.5 concentrations exceeding WHO guidelines by over 50 times, highlighting the urgency for intervention. The study evaluates the impact of land use and transport integration on energy efficiency and CO₂ emissions along Lahore’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor while assessing Transit-Oriented Development’s (TOD) potential in South Asian cities. Findings indicate significant energy use variations across BRT stations, with central stations like Kalma Chowk featuring mixed-use zoning exhibiting lower energy consumption and emissions. Conversely, peripheral stations like Gajjumata show higher transport-related energy use, underscoring the need for better connectivity and mixed-use development. Stakeholder interviews highlight TOD’s recognized benefits but also reveal challenges such as fragmented regulations, financial constraints, and resistance to lifestyle changes. The study underscores TOD’s role in fostering compact, energy-efficient urban development, aligning with global research while addressing Lahore’s unique challenges. It provides valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners, advocating for stronger sectoral coordination, better land use enforcement, and a shift towards sustainable transport and energy efficiency. Strengthening TOD principles can help Lahore transition towards a sustainable, low-carbon future, serving as a model for other fast-growing South Asian cities.

Climate change has emerged as a global focal point, notably affecting vulnerable countries like Pakistan. The country faces heightened risk, prompting concern among many due to its susceptibility to climate-related hazards. An imperative challenge arising from this phenomenon is the necessary shift towards sustainable energy, particularly concerning energy consumption within the building sector. Buildings significantly contribute to daily energy usage and subsequent GHG emissions. In Pakistan, transitioning to energy-efficient building stock holds pivotal importance in mitigating climate change impacts. This hinges on establishing a robust institutional framework and regulatory structure centered around energy efficiency. While Pakistan possesses policies and national guidelines advocating for energy-efficient buildings, their practical enforcement and application remain inadequate. The inception of the Building Energy Code of Pakistan in 1990, based on ASHRAE 90.1 standards, marked a step forward. However, obstacles rooted in institutional weakness and limited capacity building have impeded its effective adoption and adherence. Although the Energy Provisions of 2011 introduced modifications, their scope remained confined mainly to commercial structures. This paper conducts an extensive assessment of Pakistan's existing institutional and regulatory framework for building energy efficiency and transition. Drawing on literature insights and stakeholder perspectives, an in-depth understanding of prevailing policies and institutions uncovers underlying reasons for non-compliance and limited implementation. Additionally, input was gathered from stakeholders through interviews, aiming to identify barriers obstructing the reinforcement of building energy efficiency measures in Pakistan. Discourse and narrative analysis, informed by literature and stakeholder interviews, revealed the significance of awareness, participation, coordination, capacity building, technical expertise, finance, and resources as key factors contributing to deficient compliance and implementation of existing codes and policy guidelines. This paper also proposes actionable recommendations to expedite the transition towards a sustainable, energy-efficient building stock in Pakistan.

This study examines the multiple determinants of public satisfaction with high-rise urban forms in Muscat, Oman, in the context of rapid urbanization and the need to protect and conserve culture. Based on a conceptual framework that included six latent variables—Cultural Harmony, Economic Benefit, Environmental Experience, Social Perception, Urban Connectivity, and Visual Appeal—data collected from city residents were analyzed using the quantitative technique of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The model results showed that all relationships were supported, with Urban Connectivity, Cultural Harmony, and Visual Appeal having the strongest effects on satisfaction. These findings indicate that public satisfaction with high-rise developments is influenced by the perceived integration of infrastructure, harmony with local architectural traditions, and coherently attractive views. Environmental Experience, Social Perception, and Economic Benefit had smaller, though still significant, effects, confirming the multidimensional nature of urban appraisal. This study therefore calls for a development approach that balances technical, environmental, cultural and tourism-oriented objectives. As such, this work contributes to the existing literature on urban and societal studies by examining a multifaceted model of urban satisfaction and providing beneficial recommendations to enhance the continuing debate on sustainable and contextual urbanism in the Gulf states.

The Volume 7 published for IJCI Journal.

Public spaces in informal settlements are often viewed as congested, unregulated, or residual areas, yet they play a central role in everyday urban life. This paper examines how public spaces are socially produced through everyday appropriation, interaction, and routine use in two informal settlements in Lahore, Pakistan. Using a qualitative comparative case-study design, the study draws on field observations, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, activity mapping, photographic documentation, and spatial interpretation. The findings show that streets function as multifunctional public spaces rather than simple movement corridors. They support livelihood activities, children’s play, domestic extension, informal mobility, social gathering, and community visibility. The results also show that public space use varies by gender, age, time of day, and settlement morphology, with everyday practices shaped by the interaction between street layouts, housing forms, public–private thresholds, and local socio-cultural routines. The paper concludes that informal public spaces should not be understood only as signs of disorder or planning failure. They are adaptive socio-spatial systems that support livelihood, belonging, and everyday resilience. Recognizing these resident-led spatial practices can inform more sensitive upgrading approaches that improve physical conditions without erasing the social relations and everyday uses through which public space is produced.