KARACHI: Arif Hasan doesn't want Karachi to turn into a world class city. He wants it to be a pedestrian and commuter-friendly city.
The architect and urban planner was talking about his vision for Karachi at a seminar on the city's changing demographics and planning-related issues at Habib University on Thursday evening. He claimed that his vision was often criticised by people who think that no one will invest in Karachi if he is given a free-hand.
Hasan was discussing the definition of a 'world class city', as explained by Mahbubur Rehman in his paper, Global City - Asian Aspiration. According to the definition, a city should have iconic architecture by which it is recognised. This could be the tallest building or fountain in the world. The Karachi Port Trust tried to build the highest water fountain in the world - it was their contribution to turn Karachi into a world class city, he pointed out. They were, however, unsuccessful as the fountain was only the second largest in the world, he added.
During this discussion, Hasan, who has worked extensively on developing Karachi, asked how the image of a world class city dealt with the larger reality of a city. The reality, he claimed, included hawkers, immigrants and low-income families. The people who support high-rise buildings, he said, think that these skyscrapers will promote a softer image of Pakistan. He added that they often forget the reality.
According to Hasan, a builder did not think about how the city's transport is going to be affected or accommodate a 20-storey building. He claimed that Karachi was the only city in the world where public transportation had decreased because of an increase in private cars and motorcycles.
A survey taken by arifhasan.org shows that 56 per cent of the women in the city want to start using motorcycles themselves - at the moment only 11 women in Karachi ride motorcycles.
While talking about immigrant settlements in the city, Hasan said that it was derogatory to term those localities as 'slums' and should use the term informal localities instead. "All low-income settlements have extremely high densities," he said. "It's not a Karachi problem. It is a problem with all of the big cities in South Asia." He added that Karachi, Dhaka and Mumbai were three of the most dense cities in South Asia and they all had the same problems.
The density of the city, he said, had a profound effect on the shape and politics of Karachi. If Karachi continued to grow on the same scale that it was right now, then people's dependence on their religious and ethnic minorities or political organisations will increase, he predicted. He added that the city can absorb migration only if the government built the necessary infrastructure.
Developers and boards
Hasan also talked about the Sindh High Density Board which has 25 members out of which only two are professional architects while others are politicians.
Its objective is to turn katchi abadis into apartments.
The board also has the powers to decide where, when and how high-rises will be built.
"This is the antithesis of planning," said Hasan. "Karachi needs a planning department which can research and give proposals."
Published in The Express Tribune, November 29th, 2014.
COMMENTS (7)
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Also, if more people start walking, crime will be reduced. people are mugged when theives have an alone chance with them. most of our roads are sunsaan for walkers. look at lively ciites. they have people walking everywhere, so nothing is a secret. well be healthier aswell. every countries citizens walk. its just us who are apparenty too cool for it. India doesnt have pedestrian infrastructure, yet its citizens walk. at the rate of karachis congestion, i see walking being the easier option than driving a car in the next few years. I see people taking their cars out just to visiit a roadside shop a few lanes away. its ridiculous.
well how about we start a community organization to fix and build our own footpaths. since people arent willing to pay the government, im sure they would be willing to donate to citizens who are willing to show them their proper use of money. all we need to is show that the money is being spent on the footpaths instead of being stolen like governments do. Get an areas residents to pay 200 each and you could make enough to repaint an area or repave a footpath. its all about inititiavtive. and most pakistanis are willing to work for free just to fix our city up.
Well if someone is going to do it then Karachities will support him, at least it will reduce accidents ratio :)
i will wonder to see that, but to make Karachi pedestrian-friendly city, it is required to stop street crimes first, which you can't, because even our police is also involved in that kind of activities. otherwise, i appreciate your thoughts, and will love to be a part of it :)
First off all If you want to make Karachi pedestrian-friendly, we make to remove extra transport like qingqi rickshaw, extra buses from karachi. They are responsible in 80% of accident in Karachi. Second thing is our Traffic police, whenever you see them they are taking bribes only, not file any challan or report against them who broke signals or don't follow traffic rules. Please implement these two things if you want to make karachi a pedestrian-friendly city. Thanks.
To make Karachi pedestrian-friendly it is also necessary to make sure every street and every road has sidewalks and more importantly it is to make sure that they do not get encroached, which normally is the case in Karachi. As sidewalks (footpaths) get encroached, pedestrians must walk on the sides of the road and they get harassed by all sorts of vehicles and are at the risk of being hit by these.
High rise buildings are only going to make the problem of congestion much worse. Commuters suffer worst traffic jams during rush hours, most notable at the Plaza intersection on M.A. Jinnah Road. Even the most elite Share Faisal gets clogged. Only ground plus four buildings be allowed. And, those too should be interspersed with open areas spanning some type of playgrounds or gardens, if simply with lawns only. Otherwise, pollution is going to make life unlivable in Karachi. Moreover, planners should study cities like Madison, Wisconsin, USA that have traditionally maintained naturally occurring forests every mile or so to protect the environment. Well, Karachi has no such forests but vacant areas can still be apportioned to keep the air clean and to avoid unwarranted cramming.