Islamabad

• 1. Introduction

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  Islamabad drew more than 1.2 million people in 2004 for the annual Urs of Bari Imam. That gathering was bigger than the 1.1 million residents the city counts today. Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan, yet it ranks only tenth among the country's cities by population. It is also a young capital, planned and built in the 1960s along the Margalla Hills. Why would a country build its capital from scratch? Who drew the streets, and how do they work? And what lies beneath a city that looks so new?

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• 2. Why A New Capital

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  In 1947, when Pakistan became independent, the southern port of Karachi served as its provisional capital. In 1958 a commission was formed to choose a site near Rawalpindi for a permanent seat of government. It weighed location, climate, logistics and defence needs. After a long review of possible sites, it recommended the area northeast of Rawalpindi in 1959, and that area served as the provisional capital from then on.

  Karachi had two strikes against it. It sat at the far southern end of the country, on the Arabian Sea, while Pakistan wanted a capital that was easy to reach from every region. It was also a business centre, and it was considered unsuitable partly because business interests intervened in government affairs.

  The new site had advantages of its own. It lay closer to the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and to the Pakistani-administered sectors of disputed Kashmir in the north.

  The capital did not travel straight from Karachi to Islamabad. It moved first to Rawalpindi in the early 1960s, then to Islamabad in 1966, once the essential development work was finished. The city was established in 1967 and took over from Karachi as the national capital. In 1981 Islamabad separated from Punjab province to form its own Capital Territory.

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• 3. The Doxiadis Plan

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  A Greek firm of architects led by Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis drew the master plan for Islamabad. His layout was a grid shaped like a triangle, with its tip pointing toward the Margalla Hills. Pakistani legislators called the result their counterpart to Chandigarh, whose modernism they envied and whose underlying ideas Islamabad shares. Edward Durell Stone and Gio Ponti, two world-renowned architects, also became associated with the city's development.

  The Islamabad Capital Territory is divided into eight zones: administrative, commercial, educational, industrial, diplomatic enclave, residential, rural and green. The Capital Development Authority oversees planning and construction, while the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation handles local government with some help from it. Separately, the city is split into five major zones, numbered I to V. Zone IV is the largest. Zone I holds the developed residential sectors, and Zone II holds the undeveloped ones.

  Every residential sector has a letter and a number, and each covers roughly 2 km by 2 km. The letters run from A to I, and each sector divides into four numbered sub-sectors. The A, B and C series are still undeveloped. The E series, from E-7 to E-17, houses many foreigners and diplomatic staff. Sectors E-8 and E-9 hold campuses of Bahria University, Air University and the National Defence University.

  Sector F-5 matters to the software industry because two software technology parks stand there. All of F-9 is covered by Fatima Jinnah Park, and the Centaurus complex is a landmark of F-8. Sector G-5 has the Jinnah Convention Centre and the Serena Hotel. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, the largest medical complex in the capital, stands in G-8. The H sectors are mostly given over to education and health, and the National University of Sciences and Technology covers a major part of H-12. The I sectors are mostly industrial, except I-8, which is a well-developed residential area.

  The master plan drawn up in 1960 imagined Islamabad joined with Rawalpindi, the old colonial cantonment city, into one large metropolitan area. Margalla Hills National Park and the surrounding rural land were meant to be part of it. The two cities stayed under different administrations, since Islamabad belongs to the Capital Territory and Rawalpindi to Rawalpindi District in Punjab. Together they form a metropolitan area of over 5.7 million inhabitants. Islamabad is the hub of government, while Rawalpindi is the centre of industry, commerce and military activity.

  Four major highways were proposed to link the three areas: the Murree, Islamabad, Soan and Capital highways. Only two exist so far, the Kashmir Highway, which was formerly the Murree Highway, and the Islamabad Highway. Plans for Margalla Avenue are underway.

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• 4. Layers Of Time

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  The name Islamabad joins the word Islam to the Persian suffix -abad, which marks an inhabited place. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had already used that pattern to name many towns across the Indian subcontinent. According to a history book by Muhammad Ismail Zabeeh, the teacher and poet Qazi Abdur Rehman Amritsari proposed the name for this city.

  Stone tools from between 100,000 and 500,000 years ago have turned up on the Pothohar Plateau, where the city stands. They are among the earliest Stone Age artefacts found anywhere in the world. Rudimentary stones from the terraces of the Soan River point to early people living there between glacial periods. Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Lone's excavations found relics and human skulls from about 5000 BCE, evidence of Neolithic settlers along the river. Small communities followed around 3000 BCE.

  The Indus Valley civilisation flourished here between the 23rd and 18th centuries BCE. Aryan settlers later migrated in from Central Asia. Armies led by Zahiruddin Babur, Genghis Khan, Timur and Ahmad Shah Durrani crossed the region on their invasions of the subcontinent. In 2015-16 the Federal Department of Archaeology and Museums, backed by the National Fund for Cultural Heritage, uncovered a Buddhist stupa at Ban Faqiran, near the Shah Allah Ditta caves. It dates to between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE.

  The Buddhist caves at the foot of the Margalla Hills are about 2,500 years old. The Islamabad Museum holds relics from the Gandhara period, a fusion of Buddhist and Graeco-Roman styles.

  The Gakhars built Pharwala Fort in the 15th century and Rawat Fort in the 16th. Rawat holds the grave of their chief, Sultan Sarang Khan. Saidpur village is supposedly named after his son, Said Khan. The 500-year-old village was turned into a place of Hindu worship by the Mughal commander Raja Man Singh. He built a series of small ponds named Rama kunda, Sita kunda, Lakshaman kunda and Hanuman kunda. A small Hindu temple has been preserved there.

  At Golra Sharif stands the shrine of the Sufi mystic Pir Meher Ali Shah. The shrine of Bari Imam was built by Aurangzeb. Shah Allah Ditta village is named after a dervish of the Mughal era and is estimated to be about 650 years old. The saint stayed in a garden beside the caves and was entombed there. In the village of Kanthila, an ancient stepwell is said to have been built by Sher Shah Suri.

  The Lok Virsa Museum, near the Shakarparian hills, now keeps the region's folk traditions on display. Its collection includes embroidered costumes, jewellery, musical instruments and woodwork.

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• 5. Landmark Architecture

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  Vedat Dalokay, a Turkish architect, designed the Faisal Mosque, built in 1986 at the foot of the Margalla Hills. King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia financed it, and the mosque carries his name. It has no dome. A large triangular prayer hall is flanked by four minarets, blending Arabic, Turkish and Mughal traditions. The mosque can hold up to 74,000 worshippers, and calligraphy of Quranic verses decorates its interior. It is described as the largest mosque in South Asia and the sixth-largest in the world.

  The Pakistan Monument, built in 2007, is shaped like a dome with petal-shaped walls. Those walls are engraved with images of other national landmarks, including the Badshahi Mosque, Minar-e-Pakistan and Lahore Fort. Murals inside the large petals draw on Islamic architecture.

  Gio Ponti designed the Secretariat Complex, and Edward Durell Stone designed the National Assembly. The Prime Minister's secretariat is based on Mughal architecture. The Saudi-Pak Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the city, is a beige tower trimmed with blue tile work in the Islamic tradition.

  The Centaurus, a seven star hotel, was designed by WS Atkins PLC and shows the modern side of the city. The Islamabad Stock Exchange Towers are another modern example. The exchange behind those towers was founded in 1989.

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• 6. Hills And Weather

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  Islamabad sits about 540 m above sea level, at the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau and the foot of the Margalla Hills. The city covers 906 km2, and a further 2717 km2 is known as the Specified Area. The southern part is an undulating plain drained by the Kurang River, on which the Rawal Dam stands. Islamabad lies 120 km southwest of Muzaffarabad, 185 km east of Peshawar and 295 km northwest of Lahore.

  The city has a humid subtropical climate with five seasons. Winter runs from November to February and spring covers March and April. Summer takes May and June, the rainy monsoon comes in July and August, and autumn fills September and October. June is the hottest month, with average highs routinely above 38 C. January is the coolest, at about 13 C.

  The records are dramatic. The highest recorded temperature was 46.6 C, on the 23rd of June 2005. July 1995 saw the highest monthly rainfall, at 743.3 mm. On the 23rd of July 2001 the city received 620 mm of rain in just 10 hours, the heaviest fall in a century. Snow never reaches the city itself, though the nearby hill stations of Murree and Nathia Gali see it.

  Three artificial reservoirs regulate the micro-climate: Rawal, Simli and Khanpur Dam. Khanpur sits on the Haro River, about 40 km from the city, and Simli lies 30 km to the north. Even so, water supply is strained, which has led to proposals such as the Ghazi Barotha water supply project.

  Margalla Hills National Park shelters Himalayan goral, barking deer and leopards, and it offers camping grounds for visitors. Loi Bher Forest covers 1087 acre along the Islamabad Highway. Rock climbers use several spots in the Margalla Hills. The oldest and most famous hiking route is Trail 3, which starts at Margalla Road in sector F-6/3. A steep climb of 30-50 minutes reaches the Viewpoint, and another 45-60 minutes leads to Pir Sohawa, where two restaurants, The Monal and La Montana, wait.

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• 7. Daily Life

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  Islamabad holds 0.8% of Pakistan's population but contributes 1% of its GDP. Its Large Tax Unit was responsible for Rs 371 billion in tax revenue, which is 20% of everything collected by the Federal Board of Revenue. The World Bank's Doing Business Report of 2010 ranked the city the best place in Pakistan to start a business. The Islamabad Stock Exchange later merged into the Pakistan Stock Exchange. At the time it was the country's third largest, with 118 members.

  Awami Markaz IT Park houses 36 information technology companies, and the Evacuee Trust park houses 29. A third IT park opened in 2020, built with assistance from South Korea.

  The Allama Iqbal Open University, the world's second largest general university by enrolment, teaches by distance from Islamabad. The city has more than twenty universities in all, including NUST, COMSATS University, PIEAS, Bahria University and Quaid-e-Azam University. In 2009 the city had 913 recognised educational institutions, from pre-primary schools to degree colleges.

  In 2008 Islamabad had the lowest infant mortality in the country, at 38 deaths per thousand against a national average of 78. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences was established in 1985 as a teaching hospital and national reference centre. Its main Islamabad Hospital has 592 beds. The Children's Hospital, with 230 beds, was completed in 1985. Shifa International Hospital was founded in 1987 and became a public company in 1989.

  The 2023 census counted 2,283,244 speakers across the Islamabad Capital Territory. Punjabi led with 1,154,540, followed by Pashto with 415,838 and Urdu with 358,922. Islam is followed by 95.55% of the population and Christianity by 4.26%, with Christians concentrated in the urban areas.

  Islamabad International Airport was inaugurated on the 20th of April 2018. It spreads over 19 square kilometers with 15 passenger boarding bridges, and it can host two double-decker Airbus A380s. The M-2 Motorway runs 367 km to Lahore, and the M-1 runs 155 km to Peshawar. The Faizabad Interchange, which links Islamabad to Rawalpindi, carries about 48,000 vehicles a day.

  Construction of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus began in February 2014 and finished in March 2015. It cost approximately Rs. 24 billion, shared by the federal and Punjab governments. The first phase opened on the 4th of June 2015 and runs 22.5 kilometres between Pak Secretariat and Saddar. A second stage of 25.6 kilometres, from Peshawar Morr Interchange to the new airport, was inaugurated on the 18th of April 2022. The full network now totals 83.6 km.

  Islamabad United won the first Pakistan Super League in 2016 and a second title in 2018. The Jinnah Sports Stadium hosted the 2004 SAF Games. Islamabad All Stars play in the Super Kabaddi League.

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• 8. Shocks And Safeguards

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  In 2004 Islamabad hosted the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit. A year later the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.6, damaged the city.

  The July 2007 Siege of Lal Masjid, known as the Red Mosque, opened a run of terrorist incidents. The Danish embassy was bombed in June 2008, and the Marriott was bombed in September 2008. In 2011 four incidents killed four people, among them Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, who was murdered.

  Today the city is rated one of the safest in Pakistan. An RFID-enabled surveillance system watches it with almost 2,000 active CCTV cameras. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network rates Islamabad as Gamma+, and the city has one of the highest costs of living in the country.

  Its sister cities now run from Abu Dhabi, Amman and Ankara to Beijing, Madrid, Seoul and Astana. The tie with Jakarta began in 1984 and was restarted in 2010.

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