Margalla EnclavePlots · Islamabad

Masterplan & land use

The masterplan, and what it does not add up to

Every render shows the lake. Fewer people have read Table 3.2 of the environmental assessment, which measures the plan against the CDA’s own standards.

What is planned

DHA markets three signature destinations. All three are worth understanding as plans rather than as facilities, because that is what they currently are.

Lake District

Planned waterfront district — DHA calls it the community’s signature destination. Envisioned, not built.

Bazar-e-Bazurg

A heritage-styled bazaar: traditional marketplace architecture with contemporary retail and dining.

Jacaranda Family Club

Planned club: pool, paddle courts, bowling alley, boating, banquet hall, Turkish, Chinese and rooftop restaurants, waterfront boat restaurant.

The Jacaranda Family Club deserves a footnote: DHA already operates a Jacaranda Family Club in DHA Phase-2, and it is where the first Margalla Enclave ballot was drawn in February 2025. A club of that name existing elsewhere is not evidence of one being built here.

The land-use table

Land useAcresShare CDA standardVerdict
Residential (plots, condominiums, parking)4,506.5945.07%50% maximumwithin
Commercial (plots and parking)604.116.04%5% maximumplots alone 4.91% — at the cap
Public parking467.004.67%5% minimumbelow the CDA minimum
Open and green (parks, nullah, lake)1,591.8615.92%15% minimumwithin
Existing graveyard15.780.16%2% minimumbelow the CDA minimum
Roads2,814.6628.15%23% minimumwithin

Pak-EPA Environmental Impact Assessment, Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Open the PDF.

Two observations a brochure would not make. Public parking is allocated 4.67% against a CDA minimum of 5% — a shortfall of roughly a third of a percent across a scheme of this size, which in a community built around a commercial spine and a mall is the kind of thing residents notice in year five, not year one. And commercial floor space sits at the cap: 4.91% for plots alone against a 5% maximum, 6.04% once commercial parking is counted.

Neither finding makes this a bad scheme. Both are the sort of thing you would want to know before choosing between a plot facing the commercial spine and one three streets back.

Plot counts

CategorySizePlots
Residential 25′×45′125 sq yd · 5 Marla1,709
Residential 35′×65′~250 sq yd · 10 Marla2,634
Residential 50′×90′500 sq yd · 1 Kanal2,647
Apartment parcelsfour footprint sizes128
Commercial plotsten footprint sizes388
Petrol pumps, hotel plot, mega mallspecial parcels4

Pak-EPA Environmental Impact Assessment, Tables 3.1 and 3.2. Open the PDF.

Note the 128 apartment parcels and the four special parcels — two petrol pumps, a hotel plot and a mega mall. Those shape the character of the scheme far more than any render does, and they rarely appear in a sales conversation.

Last checked . First published .

Which block suits what you want?

Commercial spine, park-facing, or three streets back — they are different products at different prices.