The institutional and urban design of Gwadar City

The institutional framework and urban design of cities in today's world is key to their future prosperity as centres of intellectual excellence and as propellers of global economic growth.

This project focuses on Gwadar city and explores the optimal administrative structure and policy initiatives feeding into its urban design that can help spur economic growth in the region along the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The study will carry out a review of the success and failure of new economic cities and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) around the world, supplemented by primary (qualitative) data collected from Gwadar.

The researchers consider ways to construct a competitive and efficient city, borrowing from the literature that focuses on examples from other countries that have undertaken similar projects, and with due consideration given to the local context of Gwadar city. The researchers aim to study policies and structures that will lead to the creation of a city that is not only friendly to businesses but equally rewarding in its cultural and communal character to its local inhabitants and new settlers.

This research aims to help policymakers, who will define the future of Gwadar and analysts and students, who are interested in the intersectional study of urbanisation, economic growth and the setup of SEZs. Additionally, consultative and dissemination workshops of the study aim to engage key stakeholders and citizenry in the important aspect of CPEC, to make Gwadar a competitive and sustainable city with the potential to spur economic growth in the country and to serve as a model for other SEZs and cities in Pakistan.