MEDIA OWNERSHIP, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, AND LAND CONVERSION IN PAKISTAN: A REVIEW OF POWER, URBAN EXPANSION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE

Abstract

The increasing climate vulnerability in Pakistan is also accompanied by an accelerating and mostly unregulated conversion of agricultural and peri-urban areas to private housing societies. The paper reviews the intersection of media ownership concentration and real-estate interests on the basis of political economy, agenda setting, framing theory, and urban political ecology. It has been analyzed that the phenomenon of cross-ownership creates strong incentives of market withdrawal and encouragement of housing projects and silencing of prudent ecological reporting, making the conversion of land to be normalized and thereby restricting the ability of the populace to examine pollution hazards with critical attention. Investigative reports, regulatory records, and examples of cases show how the promotional discourse of the modern way of life and construction of the modern world is trying to conceal the ecological expenses of deforestation, sealing soil, disappearance of farmlands, and higher flooding risks, especially with the 2022 flood disaster.

The review reasons that the alliances of these media with real-estates, which lead to regulatory capture, deteriorate journalistic independence and environmental governance. It concludes, that to combat the ecological risks in Pakistan, structural reforms, such as full disclosure of ownership, conflict-of-interest policies, and enhancement of independent environmental and media control mechanisms are important.