Pollution, Health and Pakistan’s Cities

In this episode, Adnan Khan (Chief Knowledge Officer, RADS) sits down with host Zuhair Khan (Country Economist, Pakistan IGC) to discuss how pollution is quietly driving one of Pakistan's most overlooked public health crises. The conversation traces its toll from child mortality rates to overall health outcomes and the frequency of average citizen's visits to a doctor, framing environmental degradation as much an economic and public health issue as an ecological one. They also unpack Pakistan's lopsided urban geography, outlining how cities like Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad which pack outsized populations into comparatively small footprints, intensify the downstream effects of pollution. The discussion ends with potential solutions, including rethinking how cities are planned and designed, with greater emphasis on walkability and public transport.