KARACHI’S infrastructure and services management is constantly on the judiciary’s radar. Many issues have come to light during these deliberations; poor drinking water quality, absence of universal household services (especially to the urban poor), untreated waste being dumped into the rivers and sea, and the dismal performance of both older and new institutions that manage these perennial problems.

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has a listed consumer base of over 1.5 million retail customers, with a growing demand to expand its services to new developments along the suburbs and what were once agricultural lands in eastern and western locations. But KWSB may not be able to immediately extend its services to the many low-density, low-rise housing estates emerging along the M9 and N5 highways.

It goes without saying that no city can manage its services and infrastructure if it does not plan for future challenges, based on a dispassionate analysis of the present situation, and commit to follow through. One immediate task for Karachi’s urban planning team is to articulate the city boundaries and service jurisdictions for effective land management and provision of adequate infrastructure and services.

Public land is a social asset, not a commodity.

Almost all the previous city plans emphasised articulating urban territory, service provision networks and jurisdictional demarcation in a scientific manner. In the 1920s, A.E. Mirams came up with physically verifiable zoning for what is now called Karachi’s historic quarters. One of the main reasons that led to this initiative was a land adjustment dispute between the then Cantonment administration and the Karachi Municipality. Subsequent development plans addressed articulating the city boundaries and projecting land uses according to the respective times in which they were prepared. But trends show that these plans were overlooked and compromised in favour of ad hoc decisions that still haunt us.

Land transactions in Karachi and its environs are marked by poor decision-making, without scientific analysis. For instance, the provincial administration granted more than 12,000 acres to a military housing authority in suburban terrain predominantly for agriculture. Soon thereafter, a private realtor acquired huge tracts of land along the M9, thus creating immense pressure on already fragile water, sanitation and waste management mechanisms.

The limits of the Karachi metropolitan area, which previously extended to Toll Plaza, now stretch many more kilometres ahead. Distinctions between Karachi’s urban and rural territories are diminishing. The Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020 has no provision for expanding city boundaries to such unmanageable limits. Once developed, the managers and developers of new housing estates then exert pressure on infrastructure agencies to provide services.

Karachi has suffered immensely due to impotent land use controls, resulting in poor infrastructure provisions. According to the Karachi Development Plan 1986-2000, the city comprised 46,000 acres, with a sizable percentage of this land reserved for future usage. Current dynamics suggest that not only this but also adjoining lands have already been put up for sale through different real estate ventures, mostly low-density and low-rise in nature, which tend to accommodate fewer residents per acre.

Many negative types of fallout emerge from this peculiar approach. Truly needy households find it impossible to access affordable housing. Land use conversions are done without any land use plan, which is yet to be prepared and notified. Infrastructure/utility agencies are neither properly consulted nor informed about future schemes.

We can learn from better-managed cities. Many observers find that London stretches far beyond its conventional limits due to services, transportation links, economic potential, residential convenience and a distinct city sense that it generates for residents. However, in governance and management, the Greater London Authority and other stakeholders exercise scientific control on development trends and expected levels of services (all the way up to 2065).

Reinvigorating city centres, enhancing quality of life in suburbs, addressing housing deficits, modernising green belts and bolstering linkages with surrounding areas are key tenets of this urban planning attempt. Its mayor recently visited Pakistan to market London as a globally desirable choice for upmarket economic and commercial enterprises.

Land is an asset, not a commodity. Its utilisation must have social justice as its guiding principle, with government departments that own land acting as trustees of this asset. In order to promote transparency at all levels, agencies must endeavour to publish land records with all necessary information. Karachi needs a capable, independent and legally strong urban planning agency to manage its land and services issues.

The writer is a professor and acting dean, Faculty of Architecture and Management Sciences, NED University, Karachi.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2018