Two Newly Created Capitals: Islamabad and Brasilia

Abstract

The new national capitals of Islamabad in Pakistan and Brasilia in Brazil are the result of a similar decision by these two nations to shift governmental functions away from older and more settled regions to lesser developed regions in their interior (see figures I and 2). Since both of these countries are federal states, their commitment to the establishment of a 'created capital'1 in a region with no distinctive claim to individuality is by no means a unique political act.2 States of this type usually contain several regional cores. As a consequence, regional interests are commonly so divergent that no single core has a clear-cut claim to political superiority. Therefore, as Spate points out, 'The device of forming a neutral district, abstracted from the control of any of the states of the federation, and the building therein of a new city devoted specifically to federal administration is an obvious answer to the problem/3 'Created capitals' of the past have been relatively small in size,4 and uni-functional in nature; they invariably have been perceived by government 'decision makers' as small administrative cities rather than as large metropolitan centres capable of becoming primate cities or major regional cores. Devoted almost exclusively to the business of government and located in a part of the state not strongly identified with vested interests or commercial pressure, the 'created capital' has conveyed a feeling of locational and functional neutrality. In this way it has served to allay the fears of those members of the state who tend to equate excessive federal control with large, well-established metropolitan centres of political power. Both Brazil and Pakistan hope to achieve a higher level of national cohesion by rejecting their former capitals of Rio de Janeiro and Karachi for a new capital site. But while Brasilia, in many respects, can be compared with previous 'created capitals', with the emphasis of its planners on administrative functions and restricted urban growth, Islamabad is being developed as a multi-functional capital city which may, in time, become one of the largest cities in Pakistan. A comparative analysis of Brasilia and Islamabad brings into sharp focus the fact that the federal governments of Brazil and Pakistan have envisioned the character of their 'created capital' in quite different perspectives. Although both countries have sought an interior location for their new national capital, the form and function of each is very unlike the other. This study is the result of an attempt to comprehend some of the significant political-spatial factors which have been important in the development of two such widely divergent contemporary approaches to the concept of the 'created capital'.