By the time 2030 rolls around, Karachi will be the largest city in the world, said Naila Mehmood. "Population density is the measure of number of people per unit area. In the last decade, Karachi has successfully reached the top for the largest historical growth of the world. The city has grown up to 8.7 million during 1998 to 2011."
Mehmood, a graphic designer and photographer by profession, was speaking at the last session of the second Karachi conference. She said that the lack of equality and conflict went side by side. The increasing population of the city has not only placed Karachi at the top of the world but has also changed trends and living standards for its residence. While talking about population, she said that the city's numbers were increasing every day due to lawlessness, migration and economics.
"Karachi's slums cannot be classified as marginalised neighborhoods," she said. "Many families in Lines Area, Jacob Lines, Muhajir Camp and other areas have no other option than to share their two-bedroom home with other families." She added that Karachiites were very enterprising people.
While talking about the city's women, she said that the women of Karachi wanted a positive change and lead a life separate from their kitchens. Mehmood used a series of visuals representing kitchens of lower-income families, she said that the one thing missing in these homes was a sense of privacy.
She gave the example of a small room where, Surraya, a domestic worker lives with her husband and nine children - she has to share her room with other family. "Her kitchen is just a stove which is placed outside her room," explained Mehmood while sharing photographs of Surraya's kitchen during her presentation.
While answering a question from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Farooq Sattar, Mehmood said that it was the state's responsibility to provide transport and security to the people because the population was increasing and the resources were not.
Dr Noman Baig, who is a postdoctoral research fellow, also shared his paper which answered many questions on how merchants negotiate with values of Islam and the universal spirit of capitalism.
"One problem which we go through in our city is the infrastructure but there is one kind of infrastructure whose damage is unbearable; the damage of moral infrastructure which is ideology," said Baig while explaining the value of the market place and need.
Drawing on the ethnographic research in Jodia Bazaar, the paper revealed the intimate relationship of the ways in which Karachi's merchant community gave charity. Ghareeb Nawaz Hotel, which looks like an ordinary restaurant is actually not a normal eatery but a 'Langar Khana' which serves a plate full of nihari and two naans for just Rs25.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2014.
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Karachi now has 0.03 acres of parks per 1000 residents due to MQM and PPP misrule. Compare this with New York which has close to 6 acres per 1000 residents.