Inputs into the Karachi Strategic Development Plan (KSDP) 2020 and URC Matters

URC’s Housing Related Position for Karachi

• The ADB mega cities project is all about projects. It is not about programmes and policy. Many of the issues around which it is building pilot projects have already been successfully carried out in Pakistan and the constraints in turning them into policy and implementation need to be removed. This is the real problem. The ADB projects will only burden us with debts and expensive unreplicable models.
• The cut-off date for katchi abadis is 23 March 1985. Since then more than 3.5 million people have been added to katchi abadis. The only rational thing to do is to extend the cut-off date to 30 June 2007. No other alternative will work. Trying to remove these settlements will create conflict and fragmentation of society – the last thing that Karachi needs today.
• As a matter of policy, housing units should not be destroyed since they will reduce the housing stock in a situation where there is already a large demand-supply gap and an increasing number of people in Karachi are now sleeping and living on the streets.
• Between now and such a time as we can close the demand-supply gap, informal settlements will still be required. We should plan for providing zones at socially and economically acceptable locations for the creation of settlements on the Khuda-ki-Basti model for a five year period. The model can be considerably improved both in planning and aesthetic terms.
• Land has become very expensive and also it is not available for low income settlements. However, there are huge areas of horded land. A heavy non-utilisation fee will bring this land into the open market. Its use should be decided on social considerations and not on land value alone.
• Given the changing sociology of Karachi the major demand in the next decade is going to be for low and lower middle income built housing units. These can be provided on the basis of a recovery of their cost at Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 down payment and a monthly payment of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 for a 15 year period. If the price exceeds this, it should be subsidised through cross subsidies from more expensive schemes for other income groups.
• The major problem for making the housing initiatives mentioned above successful is related to accurate targeting and to making speculation difficult. Models for both of these can be developed. The help of katchi abadi CBOs can be sought for targeting and collective ownership, design innovations and legal measures can be adopted for making speculation difficult if not impossible.
• Programmes such as CLIFF and land sharing are understandable for countries/cities where public land is not available. It is available in Karachi in abundance. Also, both CLIFF and land sharing have a history related to links between community organisations and NGOs. Such links do not exist in Karachi.
• The demolition of katchi abadis in key locations and their replacement by 8 storey apartment blocks is being proposed. This is because the katchi abadis are supposed to “eye-sores”. Eight storey flats are inappropriate for low income residents and have failed in the past so why should they succeed now? Another reason given for the construction is that they provide high density development. The highest densities advocated by the Karachi building byelaws can easily be achieved through individual units on 60 square yard plots in a socially pleasant environment. Regarding katchi abadis being “eye sores” we could begin a beautification programme for katchi abadis. Such a beautification programme will be far more cost effective, sustainable and socially responsive than what is being proposed. I have offered to be an honorary advisor to such a programme for two settlements to be identified by the CDGK.

URC’s Position Regarding Sugarland City and other Coastal Developments

Four Principles of Urban Planning

Urban Development (such as Sugarland City) has to be based on some principles of sustainability (which also includes equity and justice). Four basic principles are given below.

1. Planning should respect the ecology of the areas in which the urban centres are located.
2. Landuse should be determined on the basis of social and environmental considerations and not on the basis of land value or potential land value alone.
3. Planning should give priority to the needs of the majority population which in the case of Asia are low and lower-middle income communities, hawkers, informal businesses, pedestrians and commuters.
4. Planning must respect and promote the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the communities that live in the city.

If these four principles are not followed the city will not be able to withstand natural disasters; it will lose its natural assets; it will be divided into rich and poor ghettos which will be in conflict with each other; its landuse will be irrational and hence its transport systems will be inappropriate; and it will be socially fragmented and politically unstable.

Other Considerations

In the coastal areas in question the requirements of four different stakeholders have to be reconciled with each other, on the basis of social and environmental considerations, with profit seeking international capital. These stakeholders are;

1. The flora and fauna of the area. This consists of migratory birds, fish life and its nurseries, turtles, mangrove marshes (which are the outfalls of drainage channels) and mud flats that sustain fauna and flora. It also includes the potential of preserving some extraordinary scenic areas such as the region of the Hub Delta and the islands beyond it.
2. Fishing communities that have lived here for centuries and whose folklore and festivals are recorded in texts as old as the 11^th century and in Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s Sur Ghato.
3. The lower and lower middle income Karachiites who flock to these beaches in search of recreation and entertainment and the services sector (camel men, snack charmers, hawkers, jugglers, etc) that caters to their needs.
4. Land owning agencies and people.

To reconcile these interests, from the planning point of view, the following is required.

1. No reclamation from the sea or of mangrove marshes, mud flats or fish and turtle nurseries and the land that they require for survival should be permitted. Such reclamation will destroy the flora and fauna of the area. One of the major reasons of Karachi’s flooding during the rains is the encroachment on the mangroves of the China Creek backwaters by the KPT Colony.
2. The fishing communities should have access to the sea for fishing purposes and their traditional villages and land should be protected/ preserved. Also, lower and lower middle income groups and their services sector should have access to the beach. This can be done by following well-established beach development byelaws that are operative in our neighbouring countries. These byelaws will guarantee that no development will take place between the high water mark and 150 metres beyond it and that this area will be accessible to everyone (in the case of Maharashtra, this distance is 500 metres). Where a road exists along the coast, no development will take place between the road and the high water mark on the seaward side.
3. No sewage, treated or untreated, will be discharged into the sea.
4. The planning of the coastal area will be done on the basis of an urban design exercise keeping in view the four basic principles of planning and the considerations mentioned above. This urban planning exercise can only take place after the project has become an integral part of the Karachi Master Plan and adjustments in the plans related to the landuse, transportation, solid waste management, water, sewage and related issues are carried out.