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Riaz Malik
ISLAMABAD: With the legal challenge still pending, Islamabad’s governance structure remains locked in a prolonged institutional limbo—where authority has expanded without corresponding democratic oversight, deepening concerns over accountability in the capital’s urban management system.
The issue stems from a June 2025 Islamabad High Court judgment that ordered the dissolution of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) under Section 52 of its Ordinance and directed the transfer of municipal functions to the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (MCI) in line with Article 140-A of the Constitution. However, the ruling was suspended in November 2025 by a division bench, leaving Islamabad’s governance framework unchanged into 2026.
Since then, and amid the continued absence of elected local government since 2021, the CDA has steadily expanded its operational reach beyond its traditional planning mandate into core municipal functions. These now include urban planning approvals, municipal service delivery, water management oversight, sanitation coordination and development regulation—responsibilities typically associated with elected local bodies under Pakistan’s decentralisation framework.
This expansion has been accompanied by intensified enforcement activity across the capital. CDA-led anti-encroachment drives in areas such as Noorpur Shahan (Bari Imam), H-9 (Rimsha Colony) and adjoining informal settlements have drawn sustained public attention and civil society scrutiny. Media reports from these areas have documented large-scale demolition of structures, with residents reporting sudden displacement, loss of housing and livelihoods, and limited rehabilitation support. In several reported cases from Bari Imam settlements, enforcement operations have also triggered protests, legal challenges and severe distress among affected families, underscoring the social costs of rapid urban clearance drives.
Alongside its growing municipal footprint, the CDA is also undergoing a significant institutional shift toward an **investment-driven urban development model**. In recent engagements with the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) and potential foreign investors, the authority has discussed attracting external capital through public–private partnerships and joint ventures.
These discussions include opening sectors such as urban infrastructure, hospitality and large-scale development projects to foreign and diaspora investment, with officials positioning Islamabad as an investment-ready international city. The CDA has also indicated interest in structured PPP frameworks to finance major urban schemes, signalling a move from pure regulation toward development facilitation.
This dual shift—expanding municipal control while simultaneously acting as an urban investment facilitator—has effectively repositioned the CDA as both city manager and development gatekeeper. Policy observers argue that this convergence concentrates regulatory authority, service delivery and investment facilitation within a single federal body, further blurring institutional boundaries.
Experts warn that while this model may improve project execution and attract capital inflows, it raises deeper questions of transparency, institutional balance and democratic oversight. With elected local government still absent, decision-making over land use, services and development remains centralised, leaving limited space for citizen participation.
As legal proceedings continue, Islamabad’s governance model increasingly reflects a consolidated system shaped by administrative expansion rather than devolved representation, with the CDA emerging as the central actor in both municipal governance and urban investment strategy.
