Lahore’s Urbanization Crisis: Smog, Extreme Heat & Floods

Lahore was greener when you were growing up, or when you lived there long enough. The canal banks, the old parks, the tree-lined roads that make Lahore the “city of gardens.” Those days, the nickname is more of a memory now. Drive through any of the newer suburbs, and you'll see abundant roads, new housing developments, and little shade.

I am interested in seeing how this has changed the climate people experience here: summer heat waves, streets flooded in winter with precipitation and smog. The more I read, the more I realized that all three of them have the same origin.

Rapid Growth of Lahore

The Dawn analysis reveals that Lahore's population has almost doubled in about two decades. It now encompasses an area of approximately 1,770 square kilometers and is home to some 14 million people. The same piece defines Lahore as being 60 percent concretized, which is quite a statement on how much open space is there to absorb rain, or to cool the air.

A 30-year study conducted by Jabbar and Yusoff revealed that around 393 sq.km of green cover was converted to built-up area. It is a tremendous loss of land in one generation.

Lahore’s Growing Heat Problem

Concrete and Asphalt absorb heat in the day and release it slowly at night. This is the essence of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) concept, and it is evident in Lahore. A thermal stress analysis of the city was conducted using a satellite data set from 1994 to 2024, and most of the city was found to be in the “good” or “normal” range for the early years. In 2024, significant areas, particularly in the central and southern regions, were classified as in the ‘worst' category.

This is echoed in the ground readings. The researchers measured an average heat island effect of 5.5°C, and a peak of 8.3°C, during an average period of 36 days in the middle of 2015, with the greener areas of the city being significantly cooler. Everyone who has attempted a night's sleep on a June night in a place with lots of concrete will not be surprised.

The Smog Connection

Trees don't clean the air, but they attract dust, shade down surfaces, and cool a city. Remove them and throw in more cars and more commuting times, and the winter air will have a limited palette to work with. In 2025, Lahore recorded its highest-ever AQI of 394, and a PM2.5 concentration of 272 µg/m³ on 27 October in the same year. Smog guns and water trucks are attention-grabbers and will treat symptoms. The smog, the blanketed city, and the traffic remain as is.

When It Rains, It Floods

The other side of the same problem is evident during the monsoon season. If a city cannot absorb water then it must drain water; Lahore's drains were designed for a smaller, less built-up city. In 2019, during one rain, over 250 mm was recorded at Lakshmi Chowk in a day. The city’s average for the whole month of July is about 202 mm. The eight main drains, 76 tributaries and approximately 180 km of channels now make up a network that is significantly overloaded.

This is where climate change comes in because heavier rains are a fact of the matter. But all the blame should not be squarely placed on the sky. The Dawn piece is right that thinking of urban flooding as a climate narrative simply allows planners to get off the hook.

What is really productive?

This does not seek any Divine intervention. The Dawn article states that we have to prepare for a greening emergency, which says that urban forests, green roofs on built-up land, and rain gardens to restore the aquifer need to be promoted. The heat study from 2015 suggests the use of native trees for vacant lots and spreading a broad array of weather stations throughout the city to be able to know how hot the city actually becomes. The research indicates that, for flooding, it is necessary to have a proper drainage master plan and better-equipped agencies.

Final Thoughts

Lahore is no accident. It came about over thousands of small decisions: overbuilding a field, widening a road, cutting down a row of trees. Those decisions boil down to the heat, the smog and the floods. Fortunately, things can go the other way, too. A city which once acquired a reputation for its gardens can begin to put it to good use, but it will take years.