Large infrastructure projects are often presented as symbols of progress. New transport corridors promise faster mobility, greater regional connectivity and economic growth. Yet, the success of such projects depends not only on engineering but also on the way they transform the lives of the people who occupy the spaces through which they pass.

In Karachi, the proposed modernisation of Pakistan Railways’ Main Line-1 (ML-1) and the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) illustrate this contradiction.

Both projects promise substantial improvements to the country’s transport network, but both also require extensive clearance of settlements that have existed for decades along the railway corridors. The discussion surrounding these demolitions has largely focused on removing what are considered ‘encroachments’ and reclaiming public land. Far less attention has been paid to the rehabilitation of the displaced population, despite the fact that it is rehabilitation, not demolition, that ultimately determines the fabric of urban life.

The much-needed ‘modernisation’ of Karachi's railway infrastructure may transform the city's and region’s future, but also involves displacing thousands of residents and informal communities currently living along its corridors. Too often, large projects are planned solely around efficiency and not keeping in mind the lives of those most affected. The question is not whether such infrastructure should be built, but how projects are envisioned and those facing dislocation and disrupted lives are rehabilitated…

The much-needed ‘modernisation’ of Karachi's railway infrastructure may transform the city's and region’s future, but also involves displacing thousands of residents and informal communities currently living along its corridors. Too often, large projects are planned solely around efficiency and not keeping in mind the lives of those most affected. The question is not whether such infrastructure should be built, but how projects are envisioned and those facing dislocation and disrupted lives are rehabilitated…

A CITY OF INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS

The scale of ML-1 displacement is expected to be significant. The railway corridor passes through some of Karachi’s most densely populated low-income settlements, including Ghareebabad-PIDC, Kashmir Colony, Kala Pul, Moria Khan Goth and several adjoining neighbourhoods. The defunct Karachi Circular Railway corridor, left unused for decades, gradually became home to thousands of households who settled there because formal housing remained inaccessible.

Current estimates suggest that Karachi formally contains approximately 582 katchi abadis [informal settlements]. However, unofficially, the number is much larger. In total, they contain nearly 62 percent of the city’s population. Most of these settlements have developed informally and exist because successive governments have failed to provide affordable housing despite rapid urban growth. Informality, therefore, is not an isolated legal issue but a structural outcome of the city’s housing system.

The official justification for demolition is straightforward: these settlements occupy railway land and, therefore, constitute illegal encroachments. Legally, this argument appears simple. In practice, however, it ignores the institutional failures that produced these settlements in the first place. It is also selective in its application.

Across Karachi, land reserved for public purposes has frequently been occupied by commercial enterprises, influential institutions, and politically protected developments, without attracting comparable enforcement. The removal of low-income settlements, while other forms of encroachment persist, raises important questions about consistency, equity and the public interest.

Urban planning cannot be reduced to determining whether an occupation is technically legal or illegal. It must also examine why certain forms of informality emerge, why they persist for decades, and why enforcement is often directed at those with the least capacity to negotiate with the state — as has been obvious in the recent demolitions in Orangi, Mehmoodabad and Gujjar Nullah in Karachi, and in Islamabad as well.

Perhaps the greatest misconception among planners and academia surrounding informal settlements is that demolition resolves the problem of urban informality. In reality, demolition addresses only its physical manifestation. The conditions that produce informal settlements — rapid urbanisation, inadequate public housing, inaccessible land markets, limited household incomes and weak planning institutions — remain unchanged.

Perhaps the greatest misconception among planners and academia surrounding informal settlements is that demolition resolves the problem of urban informality. In reality, demolition addresses only its physical manifestation. The conditions that produce informal settlements — rapid urbanisation, inadequate public housing, inaccessible land markets, limited household incomes and weak planning institutions — remain unchanged.

THE POLITICS OF INFORMALITY AND DISPLACEMENT

The Constitution of Pakistan places responsibility on the state to facilitate housing for its citizens. Yet, every public housing policy (whenever there has been one) has consistently failed to meet housing demand.

As formal housing became increasingly unaffordable, low-income households relied on informal land markets and incremental construction to secure shelter. The settlements now facing demolition are therefore not temporary camps established in anticipation of compensation. Many have evolved over several decades into functioning neighbourhoods, with an extensive social network. They represent long-term processes of urbanisation rather than isolated cases of illegal........

© Dawn (Magazines)