Planning for High Density in Low Income Settlements: Introduction to Four Case-Studies from Karachi

In many large Asian cities, planners have begun to clear informal inner-city settlements and replace them with commercial and middle-class neighbourhoods, seeking to project an image of modernity and prosperity to foreign investors. Low-income residents of these settlements are often relocated to high-rise apartments on city peripheries.

Evidence suggests that households in low-income apartment blocks running home businesses. Thus, low-income communities may grow poorer when relocated to apartments.

Governments justify the construction of high-rise apartments on the grounds that it is the only way to achieve high densities while adhering to building bylaws. Here we show that, on the contrary, planned settlements of individual houses could meet — and in some cases considerably exceed — the density requirements for low-income apartments in Karachi, Pakistan, while improving the physical and social environment.

The full Seminar Paper is available for download here: Planning for High Density in Low Income Settlements: Introduction to Four Case-Studies from Karachi [PDF, 291 KB]