The population of Karachi has crossed 20 million people, indicating the economic promise and the dangerous by -products of the ambition to collect it. However, in these essays of the city’s resilience is the immense potential for Karachi to become a regenerative urbanism model.
Regenerative Infrastructure Design
Metropolitan cities must actively regenerate disturbed ecosystems through the infrastructure design for long -term sustainability. For Karachi, this could mean adapting the urban environment to restore biodiversity, handle heat and mitigate floods.
The examples include the treatment of industrial runoff and the construction of wetlands in Malir and Korangi, due to their proximity to river roads. Green runners can be connected with urban public spaces, such as the University of Karachi, Safari Park and the Malir River, to form a biodiversity belt. The use of permeable pavement in all public spaces could help restore aquifers and groundwater.
Greenst mobility
A mobility system is needed that prioritizes people instead of vehicles. Currently, private vehicles and non -regulated transport govern the roads. With a poor classification in the extended air quality index and summers, sustainable transport options such as bicycles are illustrious instead of practices.
Building a greenest infrastructure focused on people in Karachi is possible through a range of micro and macro projects
We need pedestrian infrastructure in all the main markets of the city with strict monitoring to avoid invasions, already seen in Bohra Bazaar and Burns Road. These are isolated projects without parking or catwalks from parking to markets.
The shaded catwalks between the services and the market must be designed to discourage invasions, lined with green pockets, water sources and fog stations.
You can use small vehicles with solar load, such as e-jackshaws, e-scooters and mini electric trucks, to facilitate such projects. These can also be executed in Campus areas such as the University of Karachi, the University of NED or the congested areas of the ancient city.
Applications -based electric transforders with dynamic routing algorithms, which operate in cities such as Nairobi or Yakarta, can help achieve the last mile connectivity of the rapid traffic stops of a subway/bus (BRT) to households and offices, especially in low -income neighborhoods.
Transit-oriented development zones (Tod) surrounding the BRT green line and Karachi circular railroad can include affordable housing and mixed buildings by rezoning land within 500-800 meters of main stations, such as Nagan Chowrangi, Orangi, Landhi and Korangi. Low -income housing units (with social rental schemes) can be integrated into new developments to avoid gentrification.
Green public squares, instead of concrete/pavement spaces, should be used in front of shopping centers, food streets or even main stations. For example, the paved fall in front of the Dolmen Shopping Center in Seaview can become a green urban space, or the space around Numaish station can be transformed into a linear and shaded park square that benefits sellers and travelers. These places can also be used to organize social events.
For neighborhoods, tree awnings, solar roofs, nebulization fans and designed kiosks are physical interventions that create transitable green loops with community participation, linking key spaces in an area, such as schools, clinics, neighborhood markets and bus stops.
The creation of small -scale economic zones around the key industrial centers (Lyari, the site, Malir Halt) for the incubation of microenterprises, street markets and community spaces could also be an option to boost the city’s sustainability initiatives and provide employment in the bases.
Tod areas can also act as decentralized utility centers, including mini solar networks, solid waste classification centers and rainwater collection systems, which reduce load in central systems.
Claiming public space
Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has restored spaces such as Frere Hall, Jahangir Park and Nishtar Park as inclusive civic centers. The careful preservation of these spaces always improves female/family mobility, significantly addressing the need for security through monitored access. The street sale must be enabled through places designated for informal workers, encouraging street vendors.
Environmental security through policies and legislation:
The mandatory green walls and ceilings in commercial buildings, which offer tax benefits for areas with mixed businesses, especially in congested areas such as Saddar and II Chundrigarh Road, is another option that can be considered, together with pocket parks in dense neighborhoods and green sidewalks in residential neighborhoods. The idea is the cross subsidy of such developments to solve the problem of financing, and include people will help in maintenance.
While there are many ideas to make Karachi more habitable, friction between bureaucratic agencies, such as SBCA, KMC, cliff joints and federal organizations, paralyzes governance through fragmentation. In the short term, the construction promoted by profits, speculative real estate development and the hoarding of land with political support result in the loss of long -term projects that offer environmental and social benefits.
Political symbolism is evident in the great appreciation boards placed outside such projects, thanking those who have already been compensated for their work.
Karachi desperately needs transparent budget, participatory planning and gender inclusion, as well as anti -corruption mechanisms and independent vigilantes for environmental compliance laws. Without the previous premeditated within the system, even the best green design strategies will fail.
The writer is an urban architect and planner, who currently leads his own practice, “Beyond Facades”
Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 1, 2025
