Karachi: an ‘unethically planned’ city

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Gibran Ashraf
The lack of a mass transit system, pedestrian friendly streets and an alleged mafia-run transport system does not allow Karachi to be car-free for even a few hours, let alone a day. The primary focus of the internationally celebrated day is to highlight the problems of environmental degradation as well as to underline pedestrian rights—both crucial issues for Karachi, but which remain unaddressed.

Recent developments in the city have almost purely been aimed towards improving the condition for vehicular traffic. Wider roads, underpasses, bridges, and above all, signal-free corridors have all helped the flow of vehicular traffic. They have, however, mostly ignored the need of safe and convenient passages for pedestrians. According to data gathered by the Road Traffic Injury Research Project, pedestrians account for the highest amount of fatalities in traffic accidents which is presently 39 per cent.

City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Chief Engineer Syed Muhammad Taha said that the requirements of four feet width and nine inches height in pavements are constantly ignored by contractors, who aim to make a quick buckd.

According to a survey conducted by The News, almost all pavements in the city are without any accommodations for the handicapped and the heights of the footpaths range from four inches to up to two feet.

The plan of the City District Government to make Saddar a pedestrian-friendly area is also fundamentally flawed, since pavements in Saddar are frequently utilised as commerce points by shopkeepers and small pawn hawkers. Additionally, the re is also a lack of zebra crossings, pedestrian bridges and pedestrian signals in Saddar.

Reputed architect, Arif Hasan, said that no one in the planning departments takes ethics into consideration. He said that the ethics of planning include caring for the ecology of the city, adding that land must be utilised in accordance with the requirements of the environment and society, as well as the community’s tangible and intangible cultural and religious practices.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=199808