Urban sustainability has become a significant challenge globally due to rapidly growing urbanization and industrialization. Hence, this study was conducted to examine the existing urban development trends of metropolitan cities (i.e., Beijing and Karachi) of China and Pakistan in the context of urban sustainability. The development progress in both cities was examined through urban sustainability indices individually and compared with each other. An index system considering 36 indicators was developed based on social, economic, and environmental aspects. The six years (2012–2017) of data used in this study, were obtained from various governmental websites. Furthermore, the Urban Sustainability Index (USI) was evaluated using the statistical standard equal-weighted method. Results revealed that Beijing’s developmental progress is much better than Karachi in terms of socio-economic and environmental development, but there is still a need for improvement. While Karachi faces problems in all three sectors, each indicator of these sectors requires considerable improvement for attaining the top level of the Urban Sustainability Index. However, this study recommends that much attention is needed in the case of Karachi city, whereas Beijing also needs quality advancement in urban development.

Land use planning is a technical approach for developing and managing the land into various public interests to endorse sustainable socio-economic development. This paper focuses on socio-economic problems by improper allocations of urban land uses particularly in vertical development (High rise buildings). Taluka Qasimabad Town was selected as a case study to observe the existing urban land use trends. Spatial and Quantitative data were collected through detailed land use survey and formal interviews. The ArcGIS and SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) online software were used to analyze spatial and quantitative data. LRM (Linear Regression Model) was used for predicting urban land use change particularly in vertical development by the year 2050. In this context, yearly code and land use change variables were applied in LRM to predict land use change since 2007. The results were found that rapid change in land uses occurred in the study area, by which inhabitants are facing problems like privacy, insecurity, property devaluation, and orientation nearby their accommodations. This research can lead to suggest several ways to improve and enhance urban land use planning approaches for betterment of urban communities.

University is not only considered as an academic institution but it also plays a key role in the promotion of local tourism. The purpose of this study is to promote campus-based tourism and bring certain socio-economic benefits along with academic atmosphere. This paper has examined the campus tourism characteristics, desirability level of public (off-campus) and academic personals’ (on-campus) satisfaction. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China is selected to study the existing trend and socio-economic benefits of campus-based tourism. The data are collected from both local public or tourist (off-campus) and academic personals (on-campus) by questionnaire survey individually. The obtained data are analyzed in SPSS software. Finding the respondents perceptions’ significant impact to support the campus-based tourism, an ANOVA (analysis of variances) test is conducted. ANOVA test results indicated that there is mainly statistically significant impact between the groups of public (off-campus) and academia (on-campus). The ArcGIS software is also used and generated map to observe various famous tourism sites within campus. More specifically, the study outcomes revealed that mostly public and academic personals are mutually supporting to the development of campus-based tourism.

The aim of this study was to critically investigate the planning policy loopholes in five-year (7^th and 8^th) plans of Pakistan to develop agricultural-based industrial sectors in secondary cities of the Sindh Province, Pakistan. The study had conducted key informant interviews from agro-based industrial sectors to diagnose the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the 7^th and 8^th five-year plans. For that purpose, the study had conducted 30 key informant interviews by using the purposive sampling technique. The NVIVO software was used with content analysis method to get results of SWOT of 7^th five-year (1988–1993) and 8^th five-year (1993–1998) plans. The results revealed that high priority is given to the textile and sugar industries. However, there is an absence of planning policies for small and medium agricultural industries in secondary cities, fiscal reliance on central government, and reliance on foreign aid as weaknesses of the plans. Whereas the centralized planning system, political influence of federal government, weak agricultural infrastructure services in secondary cities, and cross-border war were the threats hampered in the execution of development plans. Considering these results, the study suggests development of planning policies in the five-year development plans to stimulate the agriculture industrial development in secondary cities and devolution of powers can help to achieve sustainable agricultural development.

Rapid urban developmental growth is a heated debate worldwide due to environmental challenges. This research has examined the spatiotemporal trend of informal built-up growth in Karachi city. Using a geo-information system, the past twenty years (2000–2020) trends of informal built-up growth are examined. For attaining the research objectives, geo-referenced high-resolution maps and satellite images are used for accuracy based spatial data. Karachi is divided into five different land use and land cover (LULC): formal built-up, informal built-up, vacant, water bodies, and green spaces. Spatial data of informal built-up growth change of five different years, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 are generated through acquired maps digitization using ArcMap. Subsequently, the gains and transfers of Karachi's informal built-up growth based on five years 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020 are analyzed using the Land Change Modeler (LCM) in IDRISI software. Also, land use land cover changes (LULCC) are predicted for the next 40 years (2020–2060) using the integrated Cellular Automata Markov (CA-Markov) simulation model in IDRISI. The results revealed that Karachi's built-up is expanding rapidly. Land conversion into the informal built-up area is alarming, as it has changed from 144.31 km² to 217.19 km² with 72.88 km² in the past twenty years (2000–2020) and has occupied green and agricultural land. Most informal built-up areas have transitioned from vacant (71.01 km²) land use land cover (LULC). The informal built-up area could expand from 217.19 km² to 317.63 km², with about 100.44 km² up to 2060. The planned and unplanned development will be towards the city's East (E) direction and will convert and ruin agriculture and vacant land. The present study provides suggestions to urban planners, administrative authorities, and policymakers to control informal growth and achieve sustainable development goals in developing countries.