THE Sindh government’s recent decision to upgrade 100 katchi abadis, or informal settlements, in the province to the township level raises significant questions about how best to tackle the problem of housing the urban poor. Although luxury housing schemes for the rich are found in abundance across Pakistan, there are very few options for the urban poor. As a result, working-class people end up encroaching on public and private land; soon enough katchi abadis spring up, and with the passage of time, many of these are regularised by the state. While encroachments cannot be condoned, the fact is that until the poor have dignified and affordable options of finding shelter that is legal, the proliferation of urban slums and informal settlements will continue. In all, there are reportedly over 1,400 informal settlements in Sindh, with Karachi alone containing 564 katchi abadis, as per official figures. The Sindh administration’s intervention, though well-intentioned, appears to be ad hoc; more long-term solutions are needed to address the housing problem of the urban working classes.

As statistics show, Pakistan is a rapidly urbanising country. One figure says that by 2030, just over 45pc of Pakistan’s population will be living in urban centres. And because there is either no planning or ineffective planning to meet this large and steady influx of people towards the cities, encroachments and slums are found in all our urban areas. For example, around 50pc of Karachi’s population is said to live in slums; most of these are high-density settlements lacking proper civic facilities. But Karachi is not alone; even in a ‘planned’ city like Islamabad urban slums have become a major issue. For instance, last year the capital witnessed rioting when the CDA moved in to demolish a slum in one of the federal capital’s sectors. Not only is shelter a basic human right, but building sustainable cities is also part of the Sustainable Development Goals. What the provinces need to do is to offer affordable state land to the deserving poor so that land mafias and other unscrupulous elements are not able to exploit the citizens’ need for housing. If the urban working classes have dignified legal dwellings, with proper infrastructure, utilities and sanitation facilities provided by the state, in time, the problem of encroachments and urban blight in the form of slums should disappear. Moreover, to assess housing requirements on the ground, it is necessary that local governments are involved in the process.

Published in Dawn October 16th, 2016