Katchi Abadis
Analysis of Informal Settlements in Lahore
Analyzed informal settlements in Lahore to develop street-based strategies supporting adaptive urban systems and incremental transformation.
Research Project · KU Leuven
Role: Urban Research · Spatial Analysis · Mapping · Design Strategy
Team: Hana Khurshid, Job Schobre, Kriswanto Setiadi, Zuzanna Siedlecka
This project investigates informal settlements (katchi abadis) in Lahore through a multi-scalar urban analysis, reframing streets as critical social, spatial, and infrastructural systems rather than residual spaces. As Lahore rapidly urbanizes, informal settlements continue to expand without adequate access to light, sanitation, mobility, or public space.
By studying two settlements - Zia Colony and Shams Pura - the project proposes street-based interventions that improve living conditions while preserving the social and economic networks that sustain these communities. The work positions streets as tools for incremental transformation, enabling healthier environments without displacement.
Informal settlements are often treated as planning failures rather than living systems. Yet they function through highly adaptive social, economic, and spatial networks. This project challenges top-down redevelopment models by focusing on how people already live, move, and gather, and asks how design can strengthen, rather than erase those systems.
For innovation-driven practices, this work demonstrates how design can operate within constraint-heavy environments, translating limited resources into high-impact spatial strategies.
Lahore Growth
• Area (2019 ) : 1772 km 2
• Population (2019 ) : 12 million
• Second Largest city in Pakistan
• Largest economic hub of Punjab
At the urban scale, the project maps growth patterns, transportation networks, and the distribution of informal settlements across Lahore to understand how katchi abadis relate to infrastructure, employment, and mobility.
Analysis of Lahore's growth over the years
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Katchi Abadis in Lahore
Lahore Transportation Network
ZIA COLONY
Zia Colony - Urban Scale Analysis
Zia Colony sits at the edge of major urban infrastructure yet remains disconnected from basic services, highlighting how proximity does not guarantee access.
Green Space Analysis
Neighborhood Analysis
Bus Route Analysis
Proxomity Analysis
Zia Colony - Intermediate Analysis
Through our analysis we observed a lack of open space, overloaded streets and informal activity patterns
Historic Evolution
Built Map
Open Space Map
Activity Map
Zia Colony - Architecture Analysis
Through our analysis we observed streets as social infrastructures, encroachment, flooding, as well as light & ventilation issues
Streetscape
Streetscape Activities
Streetscape Internal Streets
Streetscape Internal Streets
Section of Internal Street
Housing Typology
SHAMSPURA
Shamspura - Urban Scale Analysis
Shams Pura is a dense informal settlement embedded within Lahore’s expanding urban fabric, shaped by rapid growth and limited formal planning. Despite its proximity to transit corridors and economic activity, the neighborhood remains underserved by basic infrastructure and public space.
Shamspura Analysis
Shamspura - Intermediate Scale Analysis
At the neighborhood scale, Shams Pura exhibits high built density with minimal open space. Daily life spills into streets, which function simultaneously as circulation, social space, and economic infrastructure, placing significant pressure on environmental performance and livability.
Historic Evolution
Built Map
Shamspura Activity Map
Open Space Map
3D Story Map
Shamspura - Architectural Analysis
At the street level, narrow passages, irregular plot boundaries, and ad-hoc construction create constrained conditions for light, ventilation, and drainage. These streets reveal both the vulnerabilities and resilience of informal urban systems, highlighting opportunities for incremental, street-based interventions rather than large-scale redevelopment.
Housing Typology
Section of Internal Street
Comparison
Comparing Zia Colony and Shams Pura reveals how similar pressures produce different spatial outcomes based on street width, density, and infrastructure proximity, underscoring the importance of context-sensitive intervention.
Section Comparison - Zia Colony (Left), Shamspura (Right)
Zia Colony - Design Proposal
Zia Colony’s proposal focuses on incremental transformation through street-based interventions. Rather than displacing existing residents, the design introduces small, adaptable architectural insertions that improve environmental conditions while preserving social and economic networks.
The proposal reclaims internal streets as shared infrastructure; introducing light, ventilation, drainage, and communal activity through modular housing upgrades and micro-open spaces considered across multiple phases. By working within existing footprints, the intervention strengthens resilience while allowing the settlement to evolve organically over time.
Key idea:
Streets as flexible systems that support daily life, climate response, and long-term adaptability.
Design Phase 1 - to create an organic road and communal area
Design Phase 2 - Start adding structure
Design Phase 3 - Slowly add more order to the chaos
Mark designated commercial zone areas keeping people's habits in mind
Have an area clear for future growth and activities
Shamspura - Design Proposal
The Shams Pura proposal operates at a larger urban and infrastructural scale, responding to its proximity to transit corridors and economic activity. Here, the design leverages connectivity and movement as primary drivers for improvement.
Interventions focus on restructuring key street edges and nodes to introduce programmatic layering—combining housing, commerce, and public space to activate underutilized zones. By enhancing connections to surrounding urban networks, the proposal aims to improve access, visibility, and economic opportunity while addressing environmental challenges such as drainage and heat accumulation.
Key idea:
Streets as connective tissue linking informal settlements to the broader city.
Celebrating connection and life on the roofs
Celebrating connection and life on the roofs