Development & Poverty
The Housing Crisis in Central Asia
Background to the Mission Dutch Inter church Aid (DIA) has been working with problems related to homelessness and informal settlements in Almaty and Bishkek. In early 1995 it felt that it required professional advise on...
Participation By Whom?
Residents of informal settlements in Pakistan invest large sums of money in acquiring water and sanitation through community efforts. Where de-facto or de-jure tenure security exists, this investment is much larger. In the initial stages,...
Contribution for ACHR Newsletter – Habitat Issue
Twenty years ago the Habitat Conference accepted that the major problem in Asian cities was shelter for the poor who constitute over sixty five per cent of the population in urban Third World Asia. It...
Losing Their Census
In the absence of a fresh census, the projection of earlier trends into the nineties points towards a major shift in urban-rural demographic ratios, leading to significant political repercussions… Articles in the national press, letters...
A Case study of the Urban Basic Services Programme in Sukkur, Sindh Province, Pakistan
Executive Summary The large demand-supply gap in the housing sector in Pakistan has led the creation or unserviced or under-services squatter settlements or katchi abadis. It is estimated that over 40 percent of Pakistan’s urban...
Report on a Visit to the Shahjalal Housing Trust Project, Sylhet, Bangladesh
1. Introduction The Shahjalal Housing Trust (SHT) has been trying to set up a rental housing scheme in Sylhet with the support of Homeless International (HI). In this connection, SHT and HI have been in...
The Architect and the Built Environment
During the last century, and especially in the last three decades, major changes have taken place in the form and function of the built environment in both the rural and urban areas of Pakistan. These...
Agreeing to Disagree
A meaningful dialogue between the people of Karachi and the ruling party is becoming increasingly difficult. Karachi’s population seems to have lost hope in the system as it stands and is now looking for alternative...
Is There a Way Out?
(Completely alienated from the country’s political process and saddled with a corrupt and ineffective administrative set-up the city of Karachi has become a hotbed of every variety of violence and crime. Is the city doomed...
Options for Urban Poverty Alleviation Actions at Municipal Level for Sukkur (Pakistan)
Informal Sector in the City It is estimated that between 30 to 40 percent of the city labour force works in the informal industrial sector. This sector consists of small steel foundries, textile looms, textile...
The KMTP and its Impact on the Urban Landscape of Karachi
The Karachi Mass Transit Project (KMTP) has been planned by the Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) and World Bank consultants. It is to be built on a Build Operate...
Human Resources Development for an Affordable and Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Programme
This report is an assessment of existing Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Schemes (RWSS) in Sindh for use of community participation in design, implementation, operation and maintenance (O & M); and preparation of pilot projects...
