Call for transforming Karachi into human-friendly eco city

A street gettogether was organized rganised at historic Denso Hall Walking Street by Dr Yasmeen Lari, the Chief Operating Officer of the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan.

The event brought together prominent personalities from all walks of life with an aim of making Karachi an eco-friendly city that values humanity.

The host of the event was Karwan Karachi’s founder and member, Rukn Arif Behlum, whose foundation laid in the year 2000 by the Heritage Foundation aimed to raise awareness about the city’s intangible heritage.

Shahnaz Ramzi, the director of the Heritage Foundation, revealed that the Rotary Club has been supporting the Foundation’s initiatives since its inception.

The initiatives included the cleaning of Denso Hall, provision of books for its library, and the construction of a bathroom.

Following that, an introduction to Humanistic EcoCity was given by Yasmeen Lari, which has now emerged as a role model for eco and heritage cities around the world.

With great enthusiasm, she advocated for active participation in Karachi’s transformation and promoted the ownership of the city by launching the community mobilisation programme "Meri Gali, Mera Sheher" (My Street, My City).

Through a slideshow presentation, she presented facts about the city’s vulnerable state, urban decay, heatwaves, urban flooding, heritage buildings in disrepair, and the complete lack of ownership.

Subsequently, she introduced projects like Kharradar Chowk’s development and green areas in Ranchore Lines, similar to the Eco-Street, which can be implemented to transform the city. In pursuit of these goals, she also offered probono design services from the Heritage Foundation.

The event aimed to create a collective responsibility among Karachi’s inhabitants to work towards transforming it into a human-friendly ecological city that cherishes its heritage.