Now, all that remains of Monal, which once could host up to 1,500 diners at a time, is rubble. Last year, in a win for environmental campaigners, the Supreme Court ordered its closure and the destruction of its extensive layout on environmental grounds, seeking to protect biodiversity in its home, a reserve in the foothills of the Himalayas on Islamabad’s fringe that is 50 times the size of New York’s Central Park.
Quickfire urbanization and a population boom since Monal opened have taken hold of a city whose development from a small settlement was planned by Greek architect Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis in the early 1960s. A key concept was to maximize its then-lush green landscape for fewer than half a million residents.
But the number of people living in metro Islamabad stood at 2.3 million in 2023, according to census data — a more than 11-fold increase from about 200,000 five decades previously. By 2050, Islamabad could be home to 4.4 million people, according to government estimates.
“Like most cities in the developing world, Islamabad is facing insufficient public utilities, lack of affordable housing, commercial and office space, decaying public infrastructure, illegal and haphazard development and mushrooming slums,” according to the authors of a Pakistan Institute of Development Economics report on the city.
The site of the Monal restaurant on April 8: Last year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered its closure and destruction of its extensive layout on environmental grounds. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)“What was planned to be ‘a city of the future’ by its architect C. A. Doxiadis and named ‘Islamabad the Beautiful’ by its residents is turning into another case of urban decay.”
Environmental activists who spoke to Nikkei blame the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the body responsible for the management and development of Islamabad, for the damage to the green parts of the city. A CDA spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
As campaigners prepare to mark Earth Day on April 22, Islamabad’s pollution has accelerated dramatically. Last December was the most polluted month in Islamabad’s history, according to the World Air Quality Index, based on levels of PM2.5 particles that can enter the lungs: Islamabad’s index hit 250, a level classified as “very unhealthy” with a recommendation that outdoor exertion be avoided.
“A few years ago, when you drove into Islamabad, you could see lush green mountains and clear blue skies. Now, there’s a constant grey haze caused by emissions from vehicles and industries,” Muhammad Hassan Dajana, a climate advocate based in Islamabad, told Nikkei.
Islamabad replaced Karachi as the capital of Pakistan in 1967 under a “Master Plan” for a city based on a grid system developed by then-influential architect Doxiades. Spread over 906 square kilometers, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) is larger than Singapore.
It is the only planned city in the country and was once seen as an ideal urban model. But the city’s appeal, with relatively stable security, has continued to lure many Pakistanis, leading to the shrinkage of green cover due to ever-encroaching concrete.
While Islamabad never had major ancient landmarks and cultural sites like Lahore or business centers like Karachi, the city did offer greenery and closeness to nature. Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP), the main green zone located on the northern fringe of Islamabad, is home to a wide variety of plant and animal life, including leopards, wild boars, monkeys and numerous bird species.
“Islamabad remains the only truly livable urban city in Pakistan, thanks to the MHNP,” Nilofer Afridi Qazi, an environmental activist based in Islamabad, told Nikkei.
It was on a MHNP hilltop that the restaurant Monal opened for business in 2006, initially with 100 seats at tables sprawled across the park setting. Monal quickly became one of the most popular restaurants in the city, spreading across an even larger structure and employing hundreds of people.
That human encroachment ended last year, when the Supreme Court ruled Monal was in violation of wildlife protection laws, could no longer operate in the park and its location would have to be restored to its natural state.
Islamabad’s landmark Faisal Mosque is pictured amid city haze on April 8. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)Conceived as a walkable city, perhaps the only one of its kind in Pakistan, Islamabad is becoming an increasingly car-centric city, residents say, with an expanding road network adding to the concrete infrastructure as well as traffic pollution.
“I hike and walk regularly, but since 2023, the poor air quality in Islamabad has frequently forced us to stay indoors in the evenings,” environmental activist Qazi told Nikkei. “On a personal level, my allergies have worsened,” she said.
On the main highway into the city from its airport the view is no longer of green trees or open spaces, but of buildings under construction. Large billboards advertise real estate projects, and new housing schemes are rising on both sides of the road.
Aftab Alam Khan, an Islamabad-based expert on climate change, explained that trees and plants act as natural air filters, absorbing pollutants like carbon dioxide and particulate matter. “A decline in Islamabad’s green cover has reduced this filtration, contributing to increased air pollution levels,” he told Nikkei.
Traffic congestion has become a feature in Islamabad, originally conceived as walkable city. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)The main reason for the increase in population is better living standards in Islamabad. According to Gallup Pakistan, the capital has an 84% literacy rate and 97% of households have electricity supply, the highest levels in the country.
A sense of greater safety in the city has played its part. “Terrorist attacks in other cities of Pakistan caused more people to move to Islamabad after 9/11,” Sahar Baloch, a former journalist who has lived in Islamabad in three different decades, told Nikkei.
Data from WWF-Pakistan’s Richard Garstang Conservation GIS Laboratory show Islamabad’s overall built-up area has increased dramatically from 6,655 acres in 1990 to 45,638 acres in 2020. The built-up area increased by 1,300 acres per year over that period.
A study conducted by scholars for Pakistan’s Karakoram International University estimated that the forest area of Islamabad halved over the period from 1989 to 2019.
“According to the original Master Plan, construction is strictly prohibited in green zones of Islamabad, said Zainab Naeem, head of Ecological Sustainability and Circular Economy at SDPI, an Islamabad-based think tank. “However, these rules are being blatantly ignored.”
Residents are concerned that by 2030, Islamabad — located in an earthquake zone — will be transformed from a green city to a concrete jungle.
“Unchecked construction is damaging the city’s weather and livability. Islamabad lies on a fault line and was never meant to become a dense metropolis,” Baloch, the former journalist, told Nikkei.
The reduction in green cover and the proliferation of concrete structures that absorb heat in the daytime and radiate it into the atmosphere at night has contributed to rising temperatures in the city.
Temperature data from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) for the years 2015 to 2024 show a subtle but consistent warming trend.
With Islamabad temperatures already in the mid-30s C by mid-April, city resident Baloch is bracing for peak June temperatures to be once again well into the 40s.
“I can’t even sleep upstairs any more [in summers] due to the heat. I have to move to the basement at night,” she said.
But not everyone is against urban development in Islamabad. Some consider it essential to meet the evolving demands of the growing population.
Buildings under construction near Islamabad International Airport on April 9. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)“As the capital city, Islamabad attracts people from across the country. To accommodate this influx, the city must expand its infrastructure, housing and public services,” Muhammad Ali Ahsan, business development manager at Capital Smart City, an under-construction housing project on the outskirts of Islamabad, told Nikkei.
Some builders are now beginning to talk up a need to focus on sustainability.
“In Islamabad, the focus is shifting from building more to building smarter, where sustainability is embedded into the very foundation of urban growth in Islamabad,” Abdullah Khan, a local builder, told Nikkei.
“Most of the latest real estate projects in Islamabad are incorporating solar panels, energy-efficient designs and rainwater harvesting systems because there is a realization about the importance of sustainable development,” Khan said. Increasing numbers of Islamabad’s citizens are opting to install solar facilities on their rooftops in reaction to frequent power cuts and bloated electricity bills.
Construction projects have multiplied across Islamabad. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)Khan suggested that to protect further reduction of Islamabad’s green cover the government should focus on vertical housing, though the city’s proximity to quake zones presents a challenge.
“Government needs to encourage multistory apartment buildings to conserve space through policy decisions,” he said.
Ahsan, the real estate manager, added that balancing rapid population growth with livability has required some tough decisions by developers.
“In some cases, authorities have had to repurpose agricultural or forest land for housing or road expansion. To make room for new development, existing neighborhoods have also faced rezoning, which has disrupted community dynamics,” he said.
A dog makes its way through the site of the now-abandoned Monal restaurant in Islamabad on April 8. (Photo by Sohail Shahzad)Still, activists remain optimistic about protecting what is left of Islamabad’s green cover.
Qazi said the environmentally-conscious residents of Islamabad will continue to fight for their city. “Islamabad’s civil society has always defended its green character, and we will not stop now,” she told Nikkei.
As for Monal, it has found a new home 25 kilometers south of Islamabad’s city center — occupying the rooftop of a new retail and leisure development that hosts what it says it Pakistan’s biggest mall.
The article appeared in the asia.nikkei