With increasing urban populations, high vehicle miles have made the concept of a compact city imperative. A compact city is characterized by high-density development and mixed land use with no urban sprawl. City managers are trying hard to make their cities compact and livable. The potential conformance to a compact city development requires scaling before any significant intervention. Several studies have been conducted on the different aspects of the compact city in the developed world, but there is limited understanding in the South Asian context. This study aimed to fill this research gap and proposes a theoretical matrix to gauge the potential compactness of Lahore, Pakistan. It comprises some key attributes, such as landscape ecology, measurement of density, density distribution, transportation network, accessibility, dispersion index, and mixed-use land consumption, which were analyzed in this research. The data were analyzed using Geographical Information System (GIS) and ERDAS IMAGINE software to make a scaling matrix. The research findings show that Lahore is a semi-compact city, with high potential to become a true compact city. The paper recommends that the urban extent should not be extended until targeted colonization is achieved, and the spatial growth of the city should be managed by encouraging infilled development, high-density living, and public transport provision. This research will help policymakers, urban planners, and transport planners devising policies for compact city development.

Bus rapid transit (BRT) has emerged as an efficient and cost-effective transport system for urban mobility that offers safe and high-quality transport services for city dwellers. Recent research has widely discussed BRT systems’ performance evaluation, but such assessments have remained limited in the South Asian context, where users’ needs might be distinct. The present study addresses this research gap and evaluates the performance of the BRT system in Multan, Pakistan, based on the passengers’ perceptions and the BRT standard scorecard. The data were collected at 21 BRT stations, and a face-to-face questionnaire survey was carried out with 420 users. The BRT standard scorecard method was also applied by conducting an observation survey and semi-structured interviews based on the aspects as specified by the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP). The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software package was mainly utilised for data analysis. This research concluded that around 54% of passengers are highly satisfied and opted for BRT due to comfort. Cronbach’s Alpha reliability analysis concluded that most of the BRT stations possess the acceptable value (0.8 > α ≥ 0.7), with only six out of 21 stations categorised as unacceptable (α < 0.5). Multan BRT achieved overall 79 scores and classified as Silver-Standard BRT. The study suggests critical insights to improve the citizens’ mobility with the existing BRT system, serving as a benchmark for policymakers and transport planners.

Urban growth is a worldwide phenomenon, and urbanisation is increasing rapidly, particularly in developing countries. The high pace of unmanaged urbanisation and consequent low-density urban sprawl poses severe challenges to most big cities globally. Such growth features are primarily contributing to haphazard changes in land uses, leading to agricultural loss. This research adopts an integrated approach to analysing the urban growth patterns in Sialkot, Pakistan. It utilises Landsat satellite data and examines the change of land use and land cover (LULC) over 28 years (1990 - 2018). It estimates the agricultural area converted into built-up area during this time frame. Moreover, a spatiotemporal saturation analysis is also performed to analyse the nature of urban growth further. This change analysis is then compared to urban growth strategies introduced under previous urban master plans. The results indicate that the built-up area of Sialkot city has increased from 2,786.49 ha (28.89%) to 7,191.63 ha (74.56%) during the years 1990 - 2018. In comparison, the agriculture area has reduced from 69.5% to 24.84%. Similarly, the saturation value has decreased from 0.85 to 0.75, depicting the city is moving towards urban sprawl. The policy review and interview results indicate a lack of focus toward implementation of urban master plans, which has contributed to ribbon development in Sialkot. The study provides recommendations for concerned urban planning authorities to control urban sprawl in Sialkot.

Transport can significantly contribute to independent and healthy ageing, but in Pakistan—as in various other countries across the globe—many older adults are dependent on others. Age-sensitive transport environments are crucial for generating positive experiences among older adults. Notably, psychosocial experiences significantly impact public transport use. Thus, a thorough understanding of these psychological influences on public transport accessibility can encourage walkability and independent mobility. In the present research, we combine different data into a mixed-method study to investigate the psychosocial barriers to public transport use by older adults for daily travel in Lahore, Pakistan. The data include a questionnaire survey (319 older adults), semi-structured interviews (11 older adults), structured interviews with four experts and an analysis of relevant national-, provincial-, and district-level strategies and transport plans. The findings show how poorly perceived social norms, negative emotional responses, and perceived difficulty are significant barriers to using public transport services among older adults. Moreover, the existing transport plans and documents do not favour and cater to such psychosocial issues. Several strategic interventions that could promote walkability and public transport use are suggested. It includes activating social norms, raising awareness and information, providing social support, improving walking infrastructure and public transport services, pricing mechanisms, and offering specialised services. These initiatives, however, necessitate coordination among government authorities at the national, provincial, and district levels.

Transit-oriented Development (TOD) reduces traffic congestion and encourages high dense, mixed-use, and walkable environments. Whether Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) shaped TOD or not has not been well examined, though rail transit has been widely studied. Therefore, this study fills this research gap and investigates what kind of urban fabric has been created by BRT’s shaping of the TOD within 800 meters between 2012 and 2021 in Lahore using three TOD criteria: density, diversity, and design. This study conducted observation surveys and interviews with the officials of departments to evaluate the aforementioned TOD criteria, and the collected data were analyzed using ArcMap. This study concluded that population density, development volume, and land use for economic activities all increased after the BRT operation. Pedestrian paths were not improved or remain the same, signifying that the walkability and open space either remained the same or declined in the station areas. However, intersection density increased in some station areas. The evidence in this study indicates that density and diversity improved but design criteria remained the same or declined. Therefore, to achieve TOD, the government should give priority to improving the walking environment, for instance, by creating more pedestrian paths and open spaces.