The unloved metropolis

No matter who is in office or who has ‘the power’, one thing is certain: Karachi’s continuing ‘orphaned’ existence, because of which over 20 million residents of the country’s most economically important city must suffer from conditions that have made the metropolis one of the world’s worst places to live for several years running. Last year, The Economist Intelligence Unit, the famous newspaper group’s research and analysis arm, ranked Karachi the fifth worst city to live in, with subpar scores on almost every indicator. Of the cities ranked lower than Karachi, two — Damascus and Tripoli — are in the midst of civil wars. Meanwhile, Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital which has been on the receiving end of Russian air strikes, was considered more livable than Karachi. But instead of pausing to think how bad they must be at their jobs that this is the public perception of Karachi, the city’s political and bureaucratic leadership happily continue to draw their salaries — and more — while outsourcing even the most basic civic services to citizens, including water supply, sewerage and garbage management.

While city mayor Murtaza Wahab recently tried to spin this as Karachi being a home for all orphans, using the term to refer to its ability to draw workers from across the country, and he is not alone in trying to make this inference to explain the city’s problems. But that argument is an oversimplification. As an economic centre, Karachi’s only rival is Lahore. Add to that its status as the country’s only major port city, and it is clear that Karachi’s ‘appeal’ is actually due to lack of alternatives. In fact, the massive corporate growth in Islamabad, Lahore and other northern cities would be inexplicable if Karachi were better managed. Karachi’s growth is thus inevitable, but its unlivability need not be. In a city with garbage-lined streets and dry water lines, we also have natural beauty such as mangrove forests and beaches, and the spirit with which philanthropists have tried to fill the gaps left by the government shows citizens know exactly what the city needs. Leadership just needs to deliver it.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2024.

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