Dr Noman Ahmed is the chairman of the Department of Architecture and Planning at the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi. Considered among the foremost voices on Karachi’s cultural geographies and cityscapes, Dr Ahmed has been involved in academia, journalism, public policy and matters of metropolitan planning since the past 26 years. We speak to him about how the city’s built environment dovetails with environmental considerations

The British planned Karachi on a grid, harnessing the sea breeze of the city in their architectural designs. Have we bulldozed those design traditions?

The decline has started in the past 15-18 years, when open public spaces, parks and playgrounds and any kind of amenities were very brazenly violated. They were grabbed, there was unplanned densification, and there was the construction of undesirable residential units. This all happened in shoddy ways, but it meant that the city’s overall design pattern became very haphazard. As a consequence, low-income groups in particular were deprived of access to their spaces of relief.

Real estate values also shot up. Before, when we needed more housing, we’d expand the city. Kutchi abadis brokers would expand along their colonies. Because there was a functioning system of public transport, connectivity between various parts of the city was intact and people were not unduly hassled if they lived away from the city centre.

This is not the case anymore. In peri-urban areas, even in Surjani Town or other areas that are apparently planned, those living there are bearing many hardships. Two years ago, Arif Hasan Saheb and I conducted a research titled Karachi Rising on the reasons for densification. Many complained to us that the two to two-and-a-half hours that they spend in travelling in extremely shoddy, totally inhuman transport to reach their place of work was not worthwhile in any way.

From meticulous planning in the colonial era to haphazard, undesired developments in recent times, today’s Karachi is simply not geared towards handling climatic emergencies

It is an expensive way of travelling; a common labourer with typically spend Rs100-Rs120 on travelling expenses daily but earn about Rs400. This stratum will tell you that it is very difficult to make ends meet with such costs. This drag on their income, added with discomforts of various kinds, prompted them to make a move towards the city centre.

Thus began the densification of existing kutch abadis, albeit in very dangerous forms. All of this was being carried out in the informal sector, and so, there weren’t any rules or standards, there were no design systems or support, no technical advice. Even the kutchi abadis surrounding major posh neighbourhoods such as DHA grew very fast and densified in hotchpotch ways — Shah Rasool Colony, Punjab Colony, Neelum Colony, upper and lower Gizri.

But these kutchi abadis that we spoke of are exactly like pigeon holes — they don’t have any system of ventilation. The most dangerous thing is that a lot of buildings were constructed without any solid foundations. There are ground-plus-six buildings that have been built this way. If an earthquake were to hit Karachi, one can’t even begin to imagine the catastrophic damage that will be caused.

If we connect our discussion of the built environment with respect to the climate, then we’ll be hard pressed to find a location that presents liveable quarters.

They say about rivers that humans should not interfere with their natural course. Does the same hold true for wind? What happens to natural wind channels because of these unplanned developments?

Thankfully, there haven’t been many major changes to Karachi’s layout till now. But it is starting to change.

Because of the most-recent laws that have been introduced, and because of the developments that are being carried out as a result of the new legislation, the wind pattern of the city is being drastically affected. Some time ago, the Sindh Assembly had passed the Sindh High-Density Act — the law created a body to be headed by the chief minister. This body could declare any area high-density and allow high-density construction there.

Through this law, they first targeted Clifton and I I Chundrigar Road, which are both already very dense. And from there, it is spreading elsewhere. The NGO Shehri has documented this process extensively, and explained that the number of ground-plus-18 to ground-plus-22 constructions in high-density areas is growing at a rapid pace. When we look at it from the lens of wind, in many areas, this density is disproportionately high.

There can be absolutely no logic for creating such high density in an already congested cluster. The problem that will eventually arise — because its commercial as well as residential land — is that the quality of life, quality of built environment, and even chances of survival will be severely impacted.

There has been much work in the world of Karachi academia on population densities but perhaps not as much on heat densities ... is there a reason for that?

“It will be important to juxtapose and correlate meteorological data with the built environment. Met indicators tell us part of the reality, but when we dovetail it with the built environment, what kind of outcomes are being generated?

I agree with you, there hasn’t been much work carried out on the climatic attributes of the city, perhaps because the accepted wisdom was that Karachi’s sea breeze was a natural saviour. I think this heatwave has negated that — the low pressure that had built up over Karachi completely cut off the breeze.

From the Met Department statements and feedback, we understand that in terms of the day-time climate, the factor of the breeze (which acted as the city’s lifeline) was not only negated, but the consequent impact of the breeze was also denied. Usually, low pressure means that rainfall is just around the corner; but in Karachi, our dry spell seems to have stretched forever because there is so much atmospheric pollution in the city. As a result, we are deprived of any rain.

Perhaps a focal point of new climate-based research on Karachi could be the types of man-made interventions that can counter these low-pressure spells. These types of low-pressures which cut off the breeze will continue to form, whether its sea-to-land breeze or land-to-sea. Imagine in the winters, if a low pressure cuts off the land-to-sea breeze, then we are talking about a chilling cold wave. This is a terrifying prospect, since survival will be very difficult for the droves of people living in this city.

There is great scope in such research, but it will be important to juxtapose and correlate meteorological data with the built environment. Met indicators tell us part of the reality, but when we dovetail it with the built environment, what kind of outcomes are being generated? I think this research could be the need of the hour.

If we are indeed looking at a future with more low depression spells, should the absence of wind or the absence of the sea breeze be now assumed as a key factor in any development or construction?

In terms of devising a mitigation strategy, yes. Because now you have a precedent that it can happen; before, we weren’t even prepared to consider this possibility. We assumed that with the wind blowing, temperatures would also mellow down. But now, we know wind can be cut off and the damage that entails. We also know that the corresponding variables are mostly intact; they too are all man-made.

Take for example the indiscriminate rise in heat islands. There is an absurd increase in the number of vehicles on the road in Karachi and every car is a heat generator. When stuck in a traffic gridlock, the micro-climate of the immediate surroundings changes very quickly. These multiple heat islands need to be looked at.

The second factor to consider is that the shrinking of our public spaces has meant that there are fewer possibilities for tree plantation — this has to be looked into. Two clusters are very important: Malir River and Lyari River. The banks of both these rivers have drastically shrunk in the past 10-12 years because of developments of various sorts. Both rivers have become conduits of sewage rather than water.

First, you need to stop any kind of development on the river banks. Secondly, you need to start spot interventions of land reclamation.

The rivers lost land because garbage was dumped in them or there was construction; as a result, not only was the natural course of water impeded, but nearby utilisation factors were also compromised. In Lyari, for example, there were lots of trees planted on both sides of the riverbank. But they don’t exist in those numbers anymore.

It is important for Karachi that we take some tough decisions. Bank space on our waterways — particularly the two rivers — needs to be reclaimed and plantations started anew. This is key because plantations along river banks have double value: the first is for rainwater drainage, and second, the quality of environment in its immediate surroundings automatically starts improving.

Another suggestion I want to put forward is to fix local governance. The city is currently operating without any administrative framework, and has been operating this way since the last local government concluded its tenure. There is no governance or management structure. Such a gigantic city cannot be run like this.

We need to revitalise our local government institutions, irrespective of whatever format they adopt. A political debate is always sparked on the topic of local government and how much power they should enjoy, but the point is that whenever a local government comes into power, it’ll settle the issue of administrative responsibility on its own. Local governments have social value, and whenever they acquire power, they’ll be able to deal with all of these problems in a systemic way. Times when Karachi had a local leadership were always better times, irrespective of whichever political domination was in power.

From what was being reported in the press during the current heatwave, there was a sense of helplessness among common people about whom to approach, whom to ask for help from the government. In a local government system, I’d argue that they can still approach their local councillor and demand answers of them. This helplessness wasn’t only witnessed in low-income areas, but also middle-class areas. People were angry about what was happening, and it is important to revisit this factor.

Till such time that this legitimate right of governance is not returned to representatives of the city, I think it’ll be a huge problem to manage a city of Karachi in an emergency like this. This emergency was like boiling a frog — it was gradual. What if the city is hit by an earthquake, where things happen very fast? There will be total mayhem in that scenario.

Does academic research ever reach the corridors of power? If it does, are recommendations implemented or trashed?

Of course they are sent to the government, but nothing happens because there is no structure for incorporating them in policy. The government might appreciate the research conducted but since there is no mechanism for incorporating them on a long-term basis, the effort goes to waste.

The incorporation happens at the level of the city government. When the municipalities existed, in whatever form and whichever party, they were more receptive and more accommodating. Whether it was the MQM or the JI, their responses were better. In fact, a lot of their corrective actions were very useful. It’s a separate matter that their own sustainability was always under question, and so they could not take things forward. I think this heatwave should also become a reason for the revival of local government, as soon as possible.

The writer tweets @ASYusuf

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 5th, 2015

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