Join the author, Faiza Moatasim, Assistant Professor of Architecture in Urbanism and Urban Design at the USC School of Architecture in discussion with Vinit Mukhija, Professor, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA.

The latest book by Faiza Moatasim is the first book to examine how city planning and modern urbanism emerge from the informal practices of both the privileged and the underprivileged.

Master Plans and Encroachments examines informality in the high-modernist city of Islamabad as a strategic conformity to official schemes and regulations rather than as a deviation from them. Moatasim shows how Islamabad’s master plan is not simply a blueprint that guides future urban

development or makes its violations apparent; it is used by both city officials and citizens to develop informal spaces that accommodate unfulfilled needs and desires of those living and working in the city.

The book highlights how low-, middle-, and upper-income people do not randomly build informal spaces; they strategically use architectural techniques to support their informal claims to space, which are often met with the government’s tacit approval. By focusing on those spaces in Islamabad’s urban fabric that are not part of its official master plan, the book demonstrates how planning actually works in complex ways.