The Search for Shelter

Citation preview

20

THE SEARCH FOR SHELTER

and the military cantonments control 2.1 per cent. The rest of the 56 per cent is controlled by various agencies of the provincial government and by the national parks (20.7 per cent). All the federal agencies (which include the military cantonments and the DHA) have their own development programmes, and building bylaws and zoning regulations while the city government has its own plans and regulatory institutions, in addition to the KMC, the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), the Malir Devclopment Authority (MDA), and the Lyari Development Authority (LDA). There is no coordination between these agencies except for overcoming issues related to utilities. The city government, by virtue of being governed by an clected council, is more influenced by community and citizen concerns than the federal agencies. In addition, federal agencies have the support of the powerful central government and its planning and financial institutions.

EvoLUTION OVER TiME With the 1947 migration, housing and related land issues surfaced. About 600,000 migrants had to be housed and many of them occupied the houses vacated by the departing Hindus and Sikhs, most of whom came from merchant and trading communities. They lived in lavish homes and beautiful neighbourhoods in what today is Karachi's inner city. The neighbourhoods where one plot housed a single rich Hindu family are now inhabited by numerous poor Muslim families. To house the increase in population, additional floors have been built in concrete over beautiful stone buildings. Many community buildings have also been occupied and converted into homes." Cargo terminals, the port, and the intercity railway network were also located in the neighbourhood of the old city. Wholesale markets and small manufacturing units were within the old city but formed no more than three per cent of its area. As Karachi grew, the wholesale markets, small-scale manufacturing, and their relatcd warehousing also expanded. In the process, the male-only migrant working class population increased to serve these facilities. Most of the two-to three-storey homes were pulled down and replaced by warchousing and commercial and industrial activities on the ground floor, with workers' accommodation on the five to six floors above. Many old buildings have also been converted into warehousing without being pulled down. These developments have also meant a large increase in the movement of' the number of' heavy vehicles in the narrow lanes of the inner city. This has meant further degradation and traffic congestion. As a result of this degradation, much of

KARACH'S LAND AND HOUSING ISSUES

21

ffand upwardly mobile population of the old city has relocated schemes developed by the boards and the theinew housing neighbourhoods survive cantonment in the old city, and where DA. Very few old " it is in a very hostile environment. The result of these changes they do, heen a massive increase in the value of land and property in the inner has the arkets and its working class are now located there. city because ting the markets to the bypasses of the city, which has Attempts at many times by the local government, have been resisted heen proposed operators and the Working-class population. by the market has received a lot of Since the decade of the 1990s, the inner city attention because of the enactment of the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994, under which a listing of heritage buildings was commenced. Advisory and technical committees have been set up under Department in listing and preserving the Act to assist the Sindh Cultural fhe old architecture of the inner city. How this has impacted land and property values has not been ascertained. Another result of the migration of 1947 was the unorganized invasions vacated of BoR land of the then periphery of the city." Some of these were with but those with political power stayed on and have been regularized the result that the invaders have become owners of valuable properties. These are now being converted into high-rise apartments, a phenomenon which will be discussed later. As the state reasserted itself, unorganized invasions were arrested. However, the demand for land for shelter remained and in the 1950s, a new phenomenon emerged. This was a joint venture between government officials, police, and middlemen to informally occupy BoR land and convert it into plots which were then sold at aftordable prices to the homeless residents of the city.a The majority of Karachiites live in settlements that have been developed through this process. However, in the last two decades, the process has undergone a change which will be discussed later. the

THE REsPONSE OF THE STATE responded to the crisis created by the 1947 migration through the Cslablishment of the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement whose by major work was around land and the allocation of properties vacated the departing Hindus and Sikhs to India. This led to the ereation of the Karachi Improvement Trust (KIT) in 1951 which was upgraded into the KDA in 1957. The function of the KIT was to provide basic services and The state

22

THE SEARCH FOR SHELTER

infrastructure in colonies and neighbourhoods developed under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Resettlement. The KDA had a mandate to plan, devclop. and dispose of various types and sizes of plots in the city from land acquired from the BoR. In the allotment process, considerable discretion was allowed to bureauerats and it has becn claimed that these powers were grossly misused, leading to corruption, nepotism, and patronage." The cost of these plots was kept at far below market prices and as such many of them, in the absence of a non-utilization fee, were held for speculation and remained vacant, many for over 30 years." In spite of the low cost. the lower-income groups found the schemes unaffordable as compared to the katchi abadis (informal settlements) developed by middlemen and found the process of acquiring them long, cumbersome, and being viewed by government officials with suspicion and hostility. The KDA schemes transformed rural land into urban settlements. Karachi's many master plans aimed at protecting the Malir oasis and green areas around Karachi, and developing its rural economy. However, both government schemes and informal developments violated these provisions. This led to the rural areas becoming increasingly unproductive. It also meant damage for the ecology of the Karachi region. One of the earliest attempts at re-housing migrant populations was through the crealion of cooperative housing societies. This happened in the 1950s. The migrants were from different locations in India. The cooperative societies were named after places where these people had migrated from. Thus, migrants from Bangalore created the Bangalore Cooperative Housing Society and those from Hyderabad established the Hyderabad Colony. Over time, the members of these cooperative societies decided to relax their rules and opened up their societies to the market. In the process, these societies have now become multi-ethnic. One of the important developments in Karachi was the creation of the DHA, which began as the Pakistan Defence officer's Housing Society in 1960. The DHA consists of 3,530 hectares of land and is the most elite area of the city. It contains luxury apartments and homes, schools, colleges, clubs, posh shopping centres with designer boutiques, and five and six star hotels. The functioning of the DHA is vested in two bodies: the governing body, headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Defence, and the executive board headed by the Karachi Corp Commander of the Pakistan Army. The housing society also holds about 18 kilometres of coastline and creeks, which are the nearest coastal areas to the city.2 The DHA controls more than 5 per cent of the metropolitan area of the city,

KARACHIr'S LAND AND HOUSING ISSUES

23

safes most secure area in the city due to which it sought-after, and is the fest, nart apar from the rich, by middle-class families from other parts of the city a result, its land values are increasing and much of its new as well. As development is held for speculation, skewing the land market in Karachi general and the DHA in particular. ing The government also attempted at providing housing through its many attenmpt was made under the Greater master plans. A very important Karachi Resettlement Plan (GKRP) in 1958 (for details see Appendix 2.2). a famous Greek planner, Constantinos The government appointed Doxiadis, as consultant. Two satellite towns, North Karachi, and LandhiKorangi, were developed at 25 to 30 kilometres from the city centre and the refugees in these towns. It was envisaged it was planned to resettle in that the planned industrial areas these satellites would provide jobs to the population. However, the industries did not materialize for more than twodecades and after constructing 12,000 houses instead of the planned 40,000, the project was discontinued. The Doxiadis Plan turnmed a high-density, multi-ethnic, and multi-class city into an ethnically and class-wise divided low density sprawi. The settlements of the new satellite towns consisted of working ciass., Urdu speaking residents. This factor made the inhabitants of these setlements staunch supporters of the MQM and they played an important role in the ethnic conflicts that plagued Karachi in the 1980s and 1990s. The Doxiadis Plan also created immense transport problems for those working in the city centre while living in the satellite towns. It is claimed in a number of studies that the population, by being shifted to the satellite towns, became poorer than before because of paying for transport costs from the satellite town to work areas in the city, difficulty in getting jobs especially for women in satellite towns, and the absence of a regular public transport service. Katchi Abadis developed over time on the junctions of the roads linking the city to the satellites and the natural drainage channels. Another attempt was made through the Karachi Development Plan (1975-85). The plan laid down the principles for distributing plots to low-income communities and individuals through the Metrovilles programme which was really a sites and services initiative with state subsidies to develop 10,000 plot schemes per year. These schemes did not achieve the desired targets and these plots remained unoccupied since they were unaffordable to low-income groups and the process ot acquirng them was long and cunmbersome. As a result of these initiatives, in the 970s and 1980s, the state developed over 110,000 plots tor low-income groups in addition to the development of 26,000 acres (1,040 hectares)

THE SEARCH FOR SHELTER

50

of Corrldors of Box 2.5: Notes on Proposed Commerclalizatlon Movement

The corridors cannot be seen in isolation: important transit corridors The Government of Sindh has commercialized change from residential to commercial. in Karachi, This involved a land-use cannot take place without a public Strictly speaking. such commercialization commercialization has been taking place alona hearing. However, informally. The government wishes to regularize this these corridors and behind them. for the future. This proposed land-use change and to grant permission is happening to the Commercialization cannot be seen in isolation from what built-environment in the rest of Karachi. of commercializing the corridors:

Repercussions

commercialization of the Apart from what has been mentioned above, the corridors has resulted in the following: will increase considerably The volume of traffic on these corridors cross; to difficult making these corridors to the city and all of them lead Three of these corridors are also exits from work areas. Their to low and lower middle-income settlements congestion will increase travel time for poor commuters and create

problems

in

exiting the city:

Pressure for commercialization also in corridor form, on areas behind the corridors will increase, creating a city of high-density ribbons of commercial, industrial, and services sector development. These will cause environmental degradation and disturb land and real estate

values The absence of infrastructure wil create problems for sewage disposal, water supply, and electricity, further burdening an already over-taxed system. What should be done0? If

the corridors have to be commercialized, the following is necessary: Only one side of the coridors should be commercialized, including the area behind that side; Limits to that commercialization in linear terms should be identified; With revenues from commercialization, plots should be acquired for amenities, car parking, and other related functions; The land-use changes that have taken place should be clearly identified. Those that are not environmentally degrading should be regularized and others should be offered alternatives through a redevelopment plan. Still others should not be ragularized and given the option of moving out into other areas, where they are developed in consonance with a Karachi structure plan.

Source: Anwar (2013b).

KARACHl'S LAND AND HOUSING ISSUEs

tudy of the Case Stuo 2.6: Box

51

cro-Habib/Web Playground

General Officer Commander in Chief of the British Indian Army Gen 1938, the in Karachi to be used as a In lease for the web Ground sanctioned a lease facility. In 1976, the Web Ground became a part of the eational sports Redevelopment Project where it was retained as a recreational However, in 20002, the Ministry of Defence violated the agreement by ility. lease I for the land to the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) for issuing a 99-year purposes. In 2006 the AWT then leased the land to Macro-Habib, imercial with commercial interests, that entered into an Pakistani company a joint andels-Vereniging (SHV) Holdings (who operate Steenko greement with establishin a cash and carry store on the land. The NGO, acro stores) for up this issue and wrote a series of letters to SHV Holding Shehri, then took which went unanswered. Various articles and protests in the print in Holland attention to the illegality of the deal between AWT and Macro. In edia drew Court demanding a halt to the 9007. a local resident filed a case in the High store carry and the reinstatement of the Web construction of the cash and which High Court issueda status-quo order Ground as an amenity plot. Ine by continuing the construction work on site. As a resut Macro openly defied by the case, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took suo of publicity generated an order commanding Macro-Habib to remove its moto action and passed Despite this, Macro-Habib is still operating premises to an alternative site. no sign of relocating the store. Shehri notes from the same site and shows if Dutch giant would have been able to conduct that 'it remains to be seen the itself the same way in its own country'. Environment's website. Source: Shehri, Citizens for a Better

52

SHELTER THE SEARCH FOR

Box 2.7: Current Trends development company based Bahria Town is a privately owned real-estate founded in the late 1990s and has been in Rawalpindi. The company was then. t has developed six gated developing gated communities since Rawalpindi, Bahria Islamabad, Bahria Lahore communities namely, Bahria Tovn and Bahria Golf City. Bahria Nawabshah. Bahria Karachi, Bahria Spread over 16,000 hectares-40.000 Karachi (BTK) is the largest of these. acres have been acquired throuoh acres of which it is reported that 23,000manipulatirng laws through the Malir of clever encroachments in the form p0Ssession the land originally was-it whose Development Authority under one million people and the total cost of the is estimated to house around This land has been acquired through political project is a little over $1 billion. for centuries by villagers. Most of them patronage and much of it was owned their pastureland. BIK has acquired this were herdsmen and this land was means. All this has beern done with the support of land through questionable poor settlements, BTK has allegedly also the police. Apart from bulldozing as shrines, temples, and a Buddhist bulldozed many historical sites such vicinity. This was largely done with support of the stupa present within the manipulating its laws through passing Malir Development Authority (MDA) by of the law, namely; the Disposal of amendments that violate other sections MDA Act. Section 17 of the Colonization Piots Rules 2006 framed under the The Supreme Court took notice of this, Act of 1912 has also been violated. of properties. BTK's formed a committee, and stopped the transfer water supply to Karachi. The development also encroaches upon the new housing problem and the evictions mentioned above are creating a Court in a recent project is creating a major ecological disaster. The Supreme billion) for the land that it has case (2019) has fined BTK Rs 460 billion ($3.2 bureaucracy. acquired with the help of Sindh's political establishment and it is claimed Many other gated schemes are being built around Karachi and way. that this land also has been acquired in a similar Dawn, 18 April Sources: Fahim Zaman and Naziha Ali, "Bahria Town: Greed Unlimited,' March 2014; A. 2016; 100,000 win right to buy Bahria Town plots, The News, 24 Affordability,' Shaheen, Possession Ahead of Time: Bahria Town Offers Excellence, Express Tribune, 1 April 2016.

KARACH'S LAND AND HOUSING ISSUES

53

Schemne The Goth Abad 2.8: Box is dotted by 2.173 listed goths (small yillaroe BoR land in Karachi s) therm The of thern fforn part of what was Most ot tigure is disputed. Most previously the figure although the rural district of Karachi. In 1987, the government launched the t known as the Goth Abad (Gotn Developrment) Scnemes under which land title nas giyen gotns. Dnder tne Sindh Local Government Ordinance he residents ofoftheKarachi district became urban' and as a result. the o01. the goths of owners 'urban land'. However, the orocess of became ragularization of a gom is not easy. ony golhs that existed before March The burden of proof that the villages ezisted before Can be regularized. lhat date falls on the residents themselves. This requires coillective action and in case of the rural areas the elders of the traditional clan leadership oraanize the whole process. Very often, they are unable to organize it fectively. In addition, intormal payments to the officials in government aaencies are also required to initiate and/or complete the process. Sometimes, these payments are so hign that a village cannct afford them. constraints, intermediaries, backed by formal and informal Due to these developers step in and torm a joint venture with the goth elders. They make tor the process and the goth leadership. the payments, take responsibility certain land parceis) transfer the land. protecting (while against payments including community pastureland, to the developers. The deveiopers then subdivide the land and sell it formally andlor informally. The Goth Abad enougn lots of land to Scheme and related developments have produced satisty the needs of Karachi's low-income groups (at least for those who can afford them) for the next five years. The lower middle-income groups are also attracted to these schemes and have made purchases both for building and in feei that for speculation. Formal sector developers working the city proper, these housing schemes on the periphery have lowered the cost and demand for formal sector housing.

a

a

agers R5

Sources: Hasan et al., Karachi: The Land Issue (2013); OPP's website; Express Tnbune 2012.

54

THE SEARCH FOR SHELTER

Box 2.9: Karachi Heat Wave and Climate Change

Over 1,200 deaths and 40,000 people suffering from heatstroke and heat exhaustion were officially reported in 2015. Power outages leading to wala shortages especially during the fasting hours of Ramadan made it much moro difficult to bear the heat. Karachi in the past has experienced far higher temperatures than it did during the heat wave of 2015. However, the number of deaths and people suffering from heatstroke were never reported. The reason for the deaths and heatstroke is related to the creation of what is known as the urban heat island effect. Karachi, of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s was largely a low-density and low-rise city. Today, it is a high-density high-rise concrete jungle. To maximize on profits and space, the new housin does not have cross ventilation, which is a requirement in a city that is humid and receives a sea breeze for nine months of the year. The streets in the informal high-rise settlements are narrow. There are thousands of kilometres of black tarmac roads and insufficient green cover. The external walls of the buildings and homes are not insulated and nor are the roofs,. Air conditioning is common to most commercial buildings and elite and middle-class homes This is why most of the victims of the heat wave came from inner city low. income areas. To tackle the heat island effect, it is essential to research and develop cheap materials that can be used for insulating external walls and roofs, and introducing them to the contractors and builders in the low-income settlements. This could easily be a programme for an NGO working in Karachi's katchi abadis. Sources: Zofeen Ebrahim, Karachi, an Urban Heat Island,' Dawn, and lead author comments, 25 June 2015.

The Changing Nature of the Housing Sector in Faisalabad derived irom a report prepared for the IIED,. UK. This chapter has been report was co-authored by architects Arif Hasan, Salim in 1999. The Aleemuddin, and Asiya Sadiq. Since the report was written in 2013, when Faisalabad (iormerly Lyallpur), the socio, macro, and the author last visited sector have changed considerably. Where micro conditions in the housing are mentioned in the notes and covered in changes have taken place, they the postscript.

INTRODUCTION

Faisalabad (formerly Lyallpur) is the largest industrial city of Pakistan after Karachi. It was established between 1895 and 1905 as a mandi (market) town. Before its establishment, the area was the flood plain of the River Chenab, a tributary of the Indus, and was used as pastureland. In 1902, the lower Chenab canal was built by the British and it converted the flood plains of the Chenab into perennially irigated areas. As a result, the local pasturelands rebelled against the British. The rebellion was ruthlessly crushed, and the local clans were declared 'criminal tribes and were excluded from government service and educational institutions. 1he function of the market towns in the newly established canal colonies in the Indus Valley was to serve as centres for grain and cotton storage and its dispatch by train to Karachi for export. Agricultural support services were also located in the mandi towns. Around the city, the agricultural area was developed on a grid-iron plan in squares of 25 acres; each square, known as a mrabba, was given a number. Certain

murabbas were set aside as villages known as chaks. Land was allocated again in murabbas around each chak for future expansion. amenities, ousing, storage purposes, and agricultural infrastructure. The revenue

55