Addressing Urban-Rural Disparities in Pakistan: A Targeted Smart Village Model

Abstract

The urban-rural gaps are not peculiar to any specific region; rather, they are a global phenomenon. In this paper, we identified the gaps in the Pakistani context and proposed a smart village model for bridging the gaps. We have used secondary data, mainly from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) 2019-20 survey, to identify the urban-rural disparities, and we have focused only on four significant variables: education, health, ICT, and WASH. Our study identified significant urban-rural disparities in Pakistan. We have proposed a smart village model, comprising smart education, smart health, smart ICT, smart WASH, and smart awareness to bridge these gaps. The proposed model has the potential to improve the quality of life in rural areas, reduce the urban-rural disparities, and promote sustainable development in rural Pakistan.