{"id":102037,"date":"2025-04-24T17:52:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T12:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/?p=102037"},"modified":"2025-04-24T17:52:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T12:52:29","slug":"sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html","title":{"rendered":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule permitting cafes in residential zones challenged"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Karachi: A coalition of public interest organisations has filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) challenging a controversial land-use amendment by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) that allows commercial activities\u2014such as cafes and recreational spaces\u2014within residential areas without public consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The petition, jointly filed by the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan (PILAP), Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (Shehri-CBE), and the Urban Resource Centre (URC), argues that the amendment to SBCA\u2019s 2025 land-use regulations undermines residents\u2019 rights and weakens transparency in urban planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/ghani-promises-revisions-to-sbca-rules.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ghani promises revisions to SBCA rules after ABAD\u2019s reservations<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amendment redefines the term \u201cresidential use\u201d to include cafes, restaurants, and recreational facilities, eliminating the legal requirement for prior public notice or objections from nearby residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential neighborhoods. They contend that the regulation could lead to increased noise, traffic, and pollution\u2014issues already plaguing many Karachi localities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe removal of public input from the zoning process violates citizens\u2019 constitutional rights to a clean, safe, and peaceful living environment,\u201d PILAP stated in a press release. The petition demands that the SBCA reverse the amendment and reinstate safeguards that ensure fair and participatory decision-making in land-use changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbca-kda-target-illegal-commercial-use-of-homes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SBCA, KDA to take action against misuse of residential properties<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This legal action follows mounting public criticism of Karachi\u2019s urban policies, with civil society groups warning that unchecked commercialisation is eroding the city\u2019s livability. Earlier this month, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Pasban Democratic Party also filed similar petitions against SBCA\u2019s modifications to the Karachi Building and Town Planning Regulations 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SHC is expected to hear the petition in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karachi: A coalition of public interest organisations has filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) challenging a controversial land-use amendment by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) that allows commercial activities\u2014such as cafes and recreational spaces\u2014within residential areas without public consultation. The petition, jointly filed by the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan (PILAP), Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (Shehri-CBE), and the Urban Resource Centre (URC), argues that the amendment to SBCA\u2019s 2025 land-use regulations undermines residents\u2019 rights and weakens transparency in urban planning. Read: Ghani promises revisions to SBCA rules after ABAD\u2019s reservations The amendment redefines the term \u201cresidential use\u201d to include cafes, restaurants, and recreational facilities, eliminating the legal requirement for prior public notice or objections from nearby residents. According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential neighborhoods. They contend that the regulation could lead to increased noise, traffic, and pollution\u2014issues already plaguing many Karachi localities. \u201cThe removal of public input from the zoning process violates citizens\u2019 constitutional rights to a clean, safe, and peaceful living environment,\u201d PILAP stated in a press release. The petition demands that the SBCA reverse the amendment and reinstate safeguards&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":60971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15015],"tags":[64143,64141,9071,34422,64140,64137,64139,64142,7590,5642,64135,64138,2068,6874,64136,64144],"persona":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-102037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-legal-taxation","8":"tag-cafes-in-residential-zones","9":"tag-citizen-rights","10":"tag-commercialisation","11":"tag-karachi-development","12":"tag-karachi-zoning-laws","13":"tag-land-use-amendment","14":"tag-pilap","15":"tag-public-interest-litigation","16":"tag-residential-areas","17":"tag-sbca","18":"tag-sbca-2025-regulations","19":"tag-shehri-cbe","20":"tag-sindh-high-court","21":"tag-urban-planning","22":"tag-urc","23":"tag-zoning-challenge","24":"cat-15015-id"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SBCA\u2019s land-use rule challenged in SHC - Zameen News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule challenged in SHC - Zameen News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pakistan Real Estate News &amp; Pakistan Property News &amp; Latest Updates - Zameen News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZameenPK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T12:52:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T12:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samra Zulfiqar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ZameenProperty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ZameenProperty\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samra Zulfiqar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule challenged in SHC - Zameen News","description":"According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule challenged in SHC - Zameen News","og_description":"According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html","og_site_name":"Pakistan Real Estate News &amp; Pakistan Property News &amp; Latest Updates - Zameen News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZameenPK","article_published_time":"2025-04-24T12:52:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-24T12:52:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Samra Zulfiqar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ZameenProperty","twitter_site":"@ZameenProperty","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Samra Zulfiqar","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html"},"author":{"name":"Samra Zulfiqar","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9810bc80e0f6830dcb87310b88ef6293"},"headline":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule permitting cafes in residential zones challenged","datePublished":"2025-04-24T12:52:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-24T12:52:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html"},"wordCount":297,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg","keywords":["cafes in residential zones","citizen rights","commercialisation","Karachi Development","Karachi zoning laws","land-use amendment","PILAP","public interest litigation","residential areas","SBCA","SBCA 2025 regulations","Shehri-CBE","Sindh High Court","urban planning","URC","zoning challenge"],"articleSection":["Legal &amp; Taxation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html","url":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html","name":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule challenged in SHC - Zameen News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-24T12:52:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-24T12:52:29+00:00","description":"According to the petitioners, this change poses a serious threat to the privacy, environmental quality, and safety of residential...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Sindh-Highcourt.jpg","width":1170,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/sbcas-land-use-rule-challenged-in-shc.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"SBCA\u2019s land-use rule permitting cafes in residential zones challenged"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/","name":"Pakistan Real Estate News &amp; Pakistan Property News &amp; Latest Updates - Zameen News","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Zameen.com","alternateName":"Zameen","url":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/upload\/2015\/09\/Zameen.com_-_Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/upload\/2015\/09\/Zameen.com_-_Logo.png","width":600,"height":300,"caption":"Zameen.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ZameenPK","https:\/\/x.com\/ZameenProperty","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/zameenpk\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/9810bc80e0f6830dcb87310b88ef6293","name":"Samra Zulfiqar","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Samra-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Samra-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news-cdn.zameen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Samra-96x96.jpg","caption":"Samra Zulfiqar"},"description":"Samra Zulfiqar, a real estate analyst at Zameen.com, is passionate about finding projects that offer buyers the best returns. Her keen insights spotlight the market\u2019s most promising opportunities.","url":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/author\/samra"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102039,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102037\/revisions\/102039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102037"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zameen.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=102037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}