IFI Loans and the Failure of Urban Development
Between 1976 and 2003, the government of Pakistan has taken loans from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) for urban development projects. These loans amount to US$ 1,472.44 million (Rs 88.346 billion) and most of them have...
Traffic and Mass Transit Issues: Lessons from Other Countries
“It is very clear today that solving traffic problems by building more and bigger roads is like trying to put out a fire by gasoline” Enrique Penalosa, the mayor who solved Bogota’s traffic problems In...
Hawkers of Saddar Bazaar
A high-resolution version of these maps can be downloaded as a PDF file: Hawkers of Saddar Bazaar – Maps [PDF, 3.6MB]
Reconstruction of Earthquake Affected Areas
According to the 1998 Housing Census, there were 807,605 housing units in the twelve earthquake effected districts of Azad Kashmir and the NWFP. It is estimated that fifty per cent of this housing stock has...
Some Water and Sanitation Related Issues: Initial Thoughts
1. Observed and Documented Ground Realities 1.1 In the urban areas of Pakistan sewage schemes have been formally planned over the years to dispose into the natural drainage system. This reality is often ignored when trying...
A Partitioning of Clifton Beach
The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) has taken over the Clifton Beach and developed it from McDoland’s to the Salt and Pepper Restaurant. A stone embankment wall has been built on which people can sit and...
Social Housing Construction Company: Concept Note
Karachi requires 80,000 housing units every year for its growing population, backlog and replacement. The formal sector provides no more than 30,000 housing units. The demand-supply gap is met by the creation of katchi abadis on state land, densification of inner city low income areas or remains unmet.
The Orangi Pilot Project-Research and Training Institute’s Mapping Process and its Repercussions
This monograph deals with the process of development of expertise in the OPP-RTI and the communities it supports for mapping informal settlements and urban infrastructure.
Enacting Building Codes And Regulations
One of the major issues is the width of the roads which communities consider to be excessive. The reasons given for these widths are that they facilitate fire and health related emergency services. There is a need for a review of these regulations and standards for people have coped rather well with lower standards in slums, sometimes for well over three generations without being adversely affected.
