KARACHI: Karachi has always been known for its multiculturalism and tolerance. Lack of planning is one of the major reasons for the problems that the city is nowadays faced with.

This was said by distinguished historian Dr Hamida Khuhro while talking about a book she co-edited ‘Karachi: Megacity of Our Times’ at an event organised by the Oxford University Press (OUP) on Saturday to commemorate Independence Day at an OUP bookshop on Khalid bin Waleed Road.

Dr Khuhro commenced her talk by saying that the book first came out 16 years ago on the occasion of Pakistan’s 50th anniversary. It was heartening to know that the demand for the book had increased, especially abroad. She said it was reassuring to know that the younger generation was also interested in the second edition of the book. Going down memory lane, she said 16 years back Karachi was a much more relaxed city but sadly today it’s described as ‘the most dangerous city in the world’.

Speaking about the hard work that went into publishing the book, Dr Khuhro said when she and the co-editor Anwer Mooraj started working on it, the first thing they debated over was its name. After much deliberation they decided on ‘Megacity’ that later caught on. She said in the book there’s a map mentioning current and future megacities of the world, including Mexico City. Ever since its publication, Karachi has burgeoned into a huge metropolis.

Shedding light on the problems confronting Karachi, Dr Khurho said there was no master plan or future plan to know what kind of a city it’s going to be. There was a big issue of migration as people from the countryside as well as from abroad began to pour in. They started living on available land as a result of which slums sprung up all over. This caused problems because there were not enough facilities to cope with such a situation. She commented planning should not have been a problem if we had applied our minds.

Then Dr Khuhro informed the audience on the salient features of the book. The body of the book was a kind of nostalgic exercise — how the city grew, its history, etc. “It used to be a children-friendly city. There were tram rides from Soldier Bazaar to Keamari for two annas… It was the safest and most pleasant of all the metropolises — Bombay, Calcutta etc — developed by the British,” she said. After the inception of Pakistan, Karachi was made the country’s capital and at the same time the influx of people into the city was witnessed. There were attempts, such as coming up with the idea of developing Nazimabad, a little off-centre, to have buildings for the capital but it didn’t work out. On the whole, she added, planning for the future was found lacking.

Dr Khuhro said the book also talked about how much Karachiites were fond of theatre and cinema. “It was a culturally active city.” She emphasised that the city had always been a multicultural, tolerant one. After that she read out a passage from the book.

Dr Khuhro argued that despite the poor law and order situation (gang warfare, sectarian strife) Karachiites would live through that, but they would have to get involved in the solution-finding process.

Replying to a question after her talk, Dr Khuhro said not everyone could leave the country. “We are still subcontinental people, multicultural and tolerant.” She mentioned whatever change had occurred in other countries had happened through citizens.

She also highlighted the need for improving the education system.