World Bank Assesses Urban Development and Financial Management Reforms in Secondary Cities
Representatives from the Directorate of Urban & Regional Policy and Strategic Planning, including Mr. Syed Jawad Muzaffar (Director DURPSP) and Ms. Naila Haque (Deputy Director Environment), Mr. Zulfiqar Ali (Deputy Director Housing/ Urban Planning) participated in an event as part of a World Bank review mission conducted from January 27 to 30, 2025.
The mission focused on Hyderabad and secondary cities such as Sukkur, Larkana, Nawabshah, and Mirpurkhas, to assess potential support for fiscal and public financial management reforms aimed at enhancing service delivery.
The evaluation covered key urban development areas, including:
🔹 Municipal Service Delivery
🔹Infrastructure Planning
🔹Revenue Enhancement Measures
🔹Urban Resilience Frameworks
The review examined:
🔹The essential services provided by secondary cities.
🔹The current state of service delivery.
🔹The financial management (FM) capacity and planned public financial management (PFM) reforms in these cities.
Meetings were held with Mayors, Deputy Commissioners, Municipal Commissioners, and other key officials to discuss existing challenges and ongoing initiatives. City officials identified priority areas for World Bank support, while site visits provided insights into urban infrastructure.
Analysis will shape project proposals to meet urban priorities.
Presentations on the master plans of the mentioned towns were delivered by the representatives of the DURPSP, highlighting key focus areas along with important aspects of the utility sector, revenue mobilization, resilience, and disaster management. These included demand analysis, sector challenges, and proposed projects outlined in the master plan to address utility-related issues in each town.
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Dr. Imtiaz Bhatti is a senior civil servant currently serving as the Director General of Urban & Regional Policy and Strategic Planning (DURPSP) at the Planning & Development Board, Sindh. With extensive experience in civil service, academia, and development sectors, he brings a pragmatic approach to governance reform, public finance, and sustainable urban planning.
Dr. Bhatti holds a PhD in Public Policy from The George Washington University, where he specialized in public finance. A Fulbright Fellow, he has also completed advanced training in behavioral insights at the Harvard Kennedy School and was ranked first nationally in the Senior Management Course at the National Institute of Management, Karachi, in 2022.
Under his leadership, DURPSP has advanced critical initiatives, including the approval and notification of comprehensive master plans for 17 secondary cities and the implementation of the European Union-funded Rural Growth Centers (RGC) Project. These efforts aim to address unplanned urban growth and foster integrated development in Sindh.
In addition to his government roles, Dr. Bhatti has contributed to academic discourse as a visiting faculty member at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, and has worked on development projects with organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, USAID, and the World Bank.
Dr. Bhatti is committed to creating practical and inclusive solutions for urban and regional challenges, focusing on sustainable development and improved governance outcomes in Sindh.
