The article reports on survey data from UNDP’s Pakistan National Human Development Report 2017, which found that most youth lacked access to public amenities like libraries (94% had no access), sports facilities (93%), and parks (78%). Additionally, only a small percentage of youth had attended live music events (3%), sports events (6%), or cinemas (3%), with 71% having no access to any of these. The author contrasts this situation with their experience in London, where they observe extensive use and maintenance of public spaces by the local council, highlighting the stark difference in opportunities for youth engagement between Pakistan and developed countries.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 2017, a survey conducted for UNDP's Pakistan National Human Development Report revealed that 94% of youth had no access to libraries, 93% lacked sports facilities, and 78% could not visit parks. Additionally, 71% reported having no exposure to live music events, sports events, or cinemas. Since then, Pakistan's economy has struggled, with little improvement in human development outcomes; the impact of Covid-19 and global economic downturn further exacerbated these conditions. Dr Faisal Bari suggests a repeat survey today would likely show similar results due to unchanged circumstances.
In contrast, while staying in London, Bari observed a local park managed by the local council where families often let their children play unsupervised, indicating a stark difference in public space accessibility and use between Pakistan and more developed nations.
Written for “Public Spaces Funding” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
NINETY-FOUR per cent of youth had no access to a library, 93pc to a sports facility, and 78pc to a park.
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cent → have → park
A whopping 71pc had no access to any of the above.
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71pc → have → above
These figures are from a survey conducted for UNDP’s Pakistan National Human Development Report 2017: Unleashing the potential of a young Pakistan, of which Dr Adil Najam and I were the lead authors.
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Najam → conduct → which
It was a national survey that highlighted a youth population with few opportunities for positive engagement outside their home.
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that → highlight → home
Since 2017, the economy has not been doing well.
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economy → do → 2017
We have not had any significant positive changes in national human development outcomes, and the impact of Covid and global slowdown has hardly been encouraging.
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impact → have → Covid
So, one would expect that since conditions have not changed much, a similar survey carried out today would show numbers that are not very different from those reported then.
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that → expect → those
I have been staying in London for the last couple of months.
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I → stay → months
The park is managed by the local council (local government).
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park → manage → council
It has a walking/ jogging track running along its almost kilometre-long perimeter.
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It → have → perimeter
The park has two multipurpose fields.
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park → have → fields
I saw them being used as cricket fields in August and they were converted into football and rugby fields in September.
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they → see → September
The park is utilised well.
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park → utilise → ?
Hundreds of children, parents, and dogs visit it every day.
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Hundreds → visit → it
Walkers, dog-walkers — most of whom pick up their pet’s poop themselves — and joggers are there round the clock.
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most → pick → clock
The tennis courts, play area, and fields get busy in the afternoon after school on weekdays.
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courts → get → weekdays
They are occupied throughout the day on weekends.
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They → occupy → weekends
Every afternoon, four to five groups of young people, with their coaches, have training sessions in the park.
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groups → have → park
On weekends, quite a few groups have picnics there too.
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groups → have → picnics
We have not had any significant positive changes in national human development outcomes.
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We → have → outcomes
It would not be an overstatement to say that the park defines the neighbourhood and its vibe.
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park → say → neighbourhood
It is a very family-oriented area and one sees that parents are comfortable allowing their young children to run around the park or ride their bike or scooters around the jogging track — often unsupervised.
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children → orient → track
A lot of credit for this goes to the local council.
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lot → go → council
The park does require significant upkeep for cleaning and maintaining the track, trees and plants, and the grassy fields.
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park → require → track
But, since residents can benefit from healthy activities, the council provides the needed services quite diligently.
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council → benefit → services
Walking down our area’s high street takes us to the local public library, which is also run by the local council.
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which → walk → council
Since we are a family of readers, and buying books is not cheap, we went in to check if we could be members of the local library.
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we → buy → library
All it took was proof of residence in the area to obtain membership cards free of cost.
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it → take → cost
We then had access to not just the local library but all public libraries around the council (six, I think).
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I → have → council
One person can borrow up to 20 books at a time for up to three weeks.
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person → borrow → weeks
If a book is not available at our library, we can request it from other libraries in the network that have it.
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that → request → it
Over the last two weeks, my daughter has read six to seven books.
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daughter → read → books
And she has had fun learning and managing her own library membership card as well as the activity of borrowing and returning books.
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she → have → books
I am a little worried that the speed at which she is going, she might not have much left to read at the library in a month or two!
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she → go → month
Providing access to books is just a small part of the services on offer.
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Providing → provide → offer
The library has very inviting spaces for sitting and reading, and even desks for writing.
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library → have → writing
It has free Wi-Fi and free access to internet-connected desktops for members.
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It → have → members
It also has at-cost facilities for printing and photocopying, and a decently priced cafeteria.
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It → have → printing
There are also some rooms and spaces that can be booked for group activities.
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that → be → activities
I have seen language-learning, meditation, and book-discussion clubs using these spaces.
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learning → see → spaces
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
