Development & Poverty
Karachi Violence
1. Background In the month of August, I interviewed 14 persons belonging to the violence affected areas of Karachi to get their views on the situation in their neighbourhoods and their perceptions for the reasons...
Report on ACHR – Kathmandu Visit
1. Programme August 02, 2011: Morning: Lumanti made a presentation of their work and issues. Detail discussions followed. Afternoon: Visited four informal settlements. Had discussions with community members. August 03, 2011: Morning: Meeting with Joint...
Karachi: The Housing Imperative
Thirty six point seven percent of Karachi’s land is currently utilised for residential purposes: 27 percent has been developed formally and 8.1 percent informally. The development process for the rest (which is 1.6 percent) is...
Karachi’s Demographic Change and its Social Repercussions
The most important statistics in a population census are related to the social indicators of the age group of between 15 and 24. This is because this age group represents both the present and the...
How People House themselves Today
1. Background Previously people either squatted or lived in informal settlements. The government regularised these settlements, evicted them and/or relocated them. Today most NGO and CBO work is around preventing evictions, making relocations more humane...
Local Government Reform in Pakistan: Some Issues
My talk is derived from my personal experiences of working in various areas of Pakistan (mostly in Sindh and its capital city of Karachi), some literature that I value important surveys that have been conducted...
Task Force Report on Urban Development
The past reluctance to accord urban development its due place in policy planning has led to a large urban deficit, adversely affecting all dimensions of the cities, such as liveability, competitiveness, financial viability and good governance. The government is now committed to make progress towards achieving a “developed, industrialized and just Pakistan.”
Motorbike Transit
Since 1989, mass transit options for Karachi have been studied to death and every time the same options surfaced. Only their capital and operating costs increase. Two technical options surface. One is the light rail....
Motorbike Mass Transit
The number of motorbikes on the road of Karachi increased from 450,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2004. In 2010, the number of motorbikes was one million. By 2030, the Karachi Transportation and Improvement Project...
CSO Consultative Group: Voices of the Poor, By the Poor, For the Poor
The poor have to interact with other interest groups and with policy makers. With other interest groups interaction is necessary because the poor do not live in isolation. Interaction with the World Bank in Washington...
Poorer than Before
Since 1970 I have been involved with development related issues, both at the national and international level. This involvement has been in land, housing, physical and social infrastructure and research into the dynamics of urban...
Retrieving the Wisdom of those in Need: Community Healing in Time of Disaster
In this paper I will try to put down what I have observed in my work with disaster situations. But before I do that, I must explain where I am coming from. I am an...
