Assessment of Urban Services Deprivation in Punjab, Pakistan : A District Level Spatial Comparative Analysis

This paper studies the level of the provision of urban services and examines the state of the urban services deprivation across the districts of Pakistani Punjab. To assess urban services deprivation, a multi-dimensional Urban Services Deprivation Index (USDI) has been formulated. This proposed USDI covers three dimensions of urban services deprivation; (i) Housing Conditions Deprivation (ii) Utilities & Municipal Services Deprivation (iii) Quality of Living Deprivation. Various indicators have been selected from Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014 micro-data to measure these sub-dimensions of Urban Services Deprivation and, subsequently, these three sub-indices have been consolidated into a composite multi-dimensional Urban Services Deprivation Index. Principle Components Analysis (PCA) has been used to assign the weights to each indicator in sub-indices and subsequently to each sub-index in the composite index (USDI).This study finds that a spatial clustering of urban deprivation among the Southern and Western district of the Punjab, whereas, the Northern and Upper cluster of districts are found as the least deprived. These findings highlight that the policy makers and government should prioritize and coordinate public investment on urban infrastructure for the deprived districts and the regions