Debate : How should Karachi permit more high-rise buildings?

SEPA can't just give the green signal even if the high-density board does.

KARACHI:

We wrap up here a five-part series debating how high-rise buildings will change Karachi under the new Sindh High Density Development law. A new board, headed by the chief minister, will grant builders approval for these high-rises. But construction cannot start without assessing their impact on the surroundings (in the shape of an EIA report). The EIAs are prepared by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency. SEPA could, as it has shown in the case of the 22-floor Noman Castello next to Karachi Grammar School, strike down permission for one. But then, it could also grant permission, as it did with a 66-story building in the same neighbourhood.

Urban experts Arif Hasan, Ahmad Rafay Alam and Arif Belgaumi comment on SEPA's responsibility, how its job is linked to the way we choose to use land in Karachi and how people should speak up if they don't agree with the decision to build a high-rise in their area. Please do tell us what you think as well. The entire debate is available online at tribune.com.pk.

DAY 5

Rafay Alam



Lawyer, environmentalist and activist

The job of Sindh's Environmental Protection Agency is to control pollution and promote sustainable development. It also grants environmental approval for projects requiring an IEE (Initial Environmental Examination) or an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment).

The regulations list what kind of projects require an IEE or EIA but the practice of the law is unclear as to the status of projects not mentioned in the regulations.

Although urban development schemes need to submit EIAs, there is no listing for high-rise buildings per se, and this is where a gray area emerges.

The gray area concerns projects not listed in the IEE/EIA Regulations but which are "likely to cause adverse environment affect". So the question arises as to whether a building can cause an adverse environment effect — and this is where objections like blocking sunlight or reducing amenity can be raised, as they were in the case of the building near KGS. Assessing whether a building will block sunlight or affect amenity is subjective and figuring this out depends on who is answering the questions. This is why the tower planned near KGS was rejected while others get the green light. The parents at KGS are disproportionately powerful and managed to have their questions on the adverse effect of the building next to KGS answered in their favour.

Arif Hasan



Architect & planner, activist, teacher, social researcher & writer

Our bye-laws and zoning regulations are borrowed from very different environments. If we look at Karachi's sun angles, and apply them to high-rise buildings on 40-feet wide streets, we will reject them and have far more liberal bye-laws. Land-use is also irrational given the fact that space is very differently used by Karachiites than what the zoning regulations require. There are many case studies on this.

Law unsupported by adequate rules, regulations and procedures, means very little. Much of Karachi's bye-laws and zoning is anti-poor, anti-street, anti-pedestrian, anti-mixed land-use and anti-dissolved space. Formally designed settlements learn, change and adapt to socio-economic reality. The Karachi city government planners understand these aspects well but there is little understanding of these issues by academics and planning professionals who borrow from what international agencies and western academics promote. We talk of inclusive cities but ignore the fact that the market makes it impossible. We talk of achieving high densities but fail to understand and deal with what determines land values. The process of determining land-use exclusively by land value has divided Karachi into four cities.

1. The Central Business District, the wholesale markets around it (dominated by the Gujrati-speaking businesses) and the working class that serves it.

2. The inner crescent dominated by the Urdu-speaking middle class with growing islands of Sindhi speakers.

3. The outer crescent of informal settlements which generate a substantial number of jobs through strictly illegal industrial activities but without which the city cannot function. These areas have a large minority of Pashto speakers, and;

4. The societies area and Clifton.

These four entities speak different languages, have different education and transport systems and do not come together except at Sea View. With manipulated land values protected by antiquated laws and the politics of extracting value out of land, these divisions are increasing.

Arif Belgaumi



Practising architect and teaches architectural design at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture

I completely agree with this observation. That is why there is a greater need for citizens to engage in the EIA process and to air their reservations and objections. The SEPA Act must also include in its application enough flexibility to accommodate divergent points of view.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2014.