The problem with your argument is that you can't do something on what you don't have. The fact that Pakistan has additional land and resources implies we have the option to do things with it. For example, we can build a wind or solar farm. You don't need the entire country to be arable.
Well you do have a point. But ultimately land and resources have to be consumed by the population. You may have enough land and resources now, but eventually the trend cannot be heading toward positive ends.
Bangladesh population is increasing at 14% while Pakistan's is increasing at 34% or so (as of 2012). I hope this is going to come down, this cannot be a great thing for a 'Naya Pakistan'.
Pakistan's estimated population as of January 1, 2017 was 194.9 million people,
[1] making it the world's
sixth-most-populous country, behind
Brazil and ahead of
Nigeria. During 1950–2011, Pakistan's urban population expanded over sevenfold, while the total population increased by over fourfold. In the past, the country's population had a relatively high growth rate that has been changed by moderate birth rates. As of 2016, the population growth rate stood at 2.10%.
[1] Initial estimates of the
2017 Census in Pakistan put the population at 210–220 million.
[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Pakistan
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Pakistan's total fertility rate (TFR --- the number of live births the average woman has in her lifetime) is reported by the UN to be 3.2. This is well above India's rate of 2.6 and far above the Bangladesh rate of 2.2 (which is only barely above the generally accepted replacement rate of 2.1). Pakistan's fertility rate is the highest of any of the largest countries and one of the highest in the world outside sub-Saharan Africa.
Average household size is very high, at 6.8. This is a slight decline from the rate of 6.9 in 1998. By comparison, more developed countries, such as in Europe and North America, tend to have average household sizes of from 2.2 to 2.6.
At the same time, Karachi is densifying in an unusual way: it is increasing its average household size. While the average household size is dropping modestly in the nation as a whole, Karachi's average household size rose from 6.7 to 7.3 between 1998 and 2011, meaning that nearly 10 percent of any recent density increase is
within housing units (it is not known whether this is due to higher local fertility rates or "doubling up" of family units in housing units).
As the largest metropolitan area of one of the world's largest nations, Karachi draws residents from the rest of the nation (and outside) to take advantage of its economic opportunities. Pakistan is not a rich country, with a gross domestic product (purchasing power parity) of less than $3,000 per capita in 2011. This compares generally to rates of $30,000 to $40,000 in the larger European Union economies, $40,000 to $50,000 in Australia, Canada, United States and Hong Kong and $60,000 in Singapore. However, incomes are higher in Karachi than in the rest of the country.
Hyderabad
Hyderabad (Pakistan, not India) is the second largest metropolitan region in the province of Sindh. Hyderabad's claim to fame is that it is growing even faster than Karachi. Between 1998 and 2011, Hyderabad grew from 1.4 million to 3.4 million, or 129 percent.
Other Areas
So far, the reported census results are limited to the provincial data and local data in the province of Sindh. However, in view of the strong growth rates around the nation, it seems likely that the count in the nation's second largest urban area, Lahore, will surpass 10 million.
Urban Growth in Pakistan
Finally, any review of suburban and exurban land use on Google Earth suggests that Pakistan is taking the advice of the United Nations in its
State of the World Population Report 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, which said (Note 2):
(a) expanding their city limits; (b) planning for road grids in the areas of expansion; (c) locating
the required 25- to 30-metre-wide right-of-way for the infrastructure grid on the ground
Radiating both from Karachi and Hyderabad, there are new grids of streets for housing and other development of a type that will allow the burgeoning cities of Pakistan to grow and perhaps even breathe at the same time.
Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris and the author of “War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life.”
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http://www.newgeography.com/content/002940-pakistan-where-population-bomb-exploding
Irrelevant.
These are arbitrary indicators. And they are available for all countries. You may as well compare Bangladesh with Myanmar. They have a similar GDP "per capita" to yours and they are right next to you. There is also Ghana, if you have the time.
Except the UN considers all the data seen in the previous article 'alarming'. Most of the Muslim population in the rest of the world do not want to see Pakistan headed down this slippery slope either.
