In the past twenty years major urban related changes have taken place in Karachi which as in other South Asian mega cities. These include the nature and scale of migration; the social and physical change in informal settlements and in the planning and location of new middle and high income ones; the increase in motorised transport; changes in academia, civil society and government thinking, structure and legislation; and the “burden” of past development. This discussion touched on these issues and suggested what the repercussions of these changes might be.
Arif Hasan is a practicing Pakistani architect-planner, writer, teacher and activist working in Karachi on planning and informal settlement related issues for the last 42 years. He is the founder chair of the Karachi Urban Resource Centre, Chair of the Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Centre and a founding member of The Asian Coalition of Housing Rights. He has been involved with planning, policy and academic issues and institutions both at the national and international level and is currently on the boards of a number of academic institutions