Lecture on urban renewal at IVS

Farhan Anwar presents 'Karachi BRTS Project: An Opportunity for Urban Renewal' paper at IVS

KARACHI: There are nearly 13.5 million mechanised trips made each day within the port city, of which about 42% are made by public and 58% by private transport, according to urban planner Farhan Anwar.

Also, 1,000 new vehicles are added each day in the city, due to which the metropolis is getting overcrowded. However, in the smart city age of today, Anwar pointed out that the metro cables are triggering an amazing urban renewal in cities such as Medellin, Columbia.

In such smart cities, the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model, according to him, interfaces urban public transit projects with social, environmental and financial aspects of urban renewal.



Anwar was delivering a lecture on 'Karachi Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project: An Opportunity for Urban Renewal' at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture on Monday.

"In Karachi, we presently see the BRTS project being implemented," said Anwar, adding that while transit-related benefits are being calculated, the fear is that we may be missing out on a unique opportunity to detail the BRTS project with an exciting programme of urban renewal in Karachi, based on the TOD model.

The TOD model, he said, is a form of urban development that clusters a greater mix of land uses around high quality transport services. The transit mode, train, light rail or bus terminal, is designed to be the focus of the development and locally becomes the community 'heart.' "It is where people shop, meet, relax and live," he said.



In a chaotic city like Karachi, he pointed out that the BRTS is extremely good. "But, we need to have a larger footprint and larger agenda attached to these BRTs," said Anwar, adding that the concept of the TOD can help with that.

For example, in Canada, he said that the areas near BRT station of at least 600 metres are identified and then developed where automobiles are discouraged and large pedestrian spaces are formed. "The distance that a person is willing to walk to take transit defines the primary area within which the TOD should occur," he said.

The distance, he explained is equivalent to roughly a five-minute walk or 400 to 600 metres and around the station there is potential for 125 to 250 acres of land for transit oriented development.



For example, in the construction of the Green Line BRT - from Surjani Town all the way till Tower - a BRT station near Hyderi market can be considered a space for the TOD. Likewise, in BRT Redline - from Safoora till Tower- stations at Gulshan and the University of Karachi (KU) can also be considered a space for TOD.

"It is imperative that the transit system go through the University campus," he said, adding that for the Redline BRT, maybe KU's feeder service can be lined with the transit system.