The growth in Pakistan's economy has increased the pressure on energy resources. As demand for energy exceeds supply, power outages and planned power cuts (euphemistically termed `load-shedding') are common. In addition to economic costs, energy shortages can also foster political instability. Repeated power failures have already touched off street demonstrations, rioting, and coup rumours. This unrest may be only a foretaste of things to come. --

Cities and Their Vital Systems asks basic questions about the longevity, utility, and nature of urban infrastructures; analyzes how they grow, interact, and change; and asks how, when, and at what cost they should be replaced. Among the topics discussed are problems arising from increasing air travel and airport congestion; the adequacy of water supplies and waste treatment; the impact of new technologies on construction; urban real estate values; and the field of "telematics," the combination of computers and telecommunications that makes money machines and national newspapers possible.