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    Oct 16 - Housing The Poor

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    ZainabChandio
    The document discusses the issue of housing for the urban poor in Pakistan. It notes that while luxury housing schemes are abundant, there are few affordable options for the working class, forcing many to set up informal settlements on public and private land. While encroachments cannot be condoned, more housing options are needed until the poor have dignified and affordable legal shelter. The government's plan to upgrade 100 informal settlements is a step, but long-term solutions are required to address the large-scale problem of housing the urban working classes, which is growing as Pakistan urbanizes rapidly. Providing affordable public land and developing settlements with proper infrastructure could help meet needs and prevent exploitation, if local governments are also involved in planning.

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    Oct 16 - Housing The Poor

    Uploaded by

    ZainabChandio
    10 views1 page
    The document discusses the issue of housing for the urban poor in Pakistan. It notes that while luxury housing schemes are abundant, there are few affordable options for the working class, forcing many to set up informal settlements on public and private land. While encroachments cannot be condoned, more housing options are needed until the poor have dignified and affordable legal shelter. The government's plan to upgrade 100 informal settlements is a step, but long-term solutions are required to address the large-scale problem of housing the urban working classes, which is growing as Pakistan urbanizes rapidly. Providing affordable public land and developing settlements with proper infrastructure could help meet needs and prevent exploitation, if local governments are also involved in planning.

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    Housing the Poor

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    Oct 16 - Housing the Poor

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    The document discusses the issue of housing for the urban poor in Pakistan. It notes that while luxury housing schemes are abundant, there are few affordable options for the working class, forcing many to set up informal settlements on public and private land. While encroachments cannot be condoned, more housing options are needed until the poor have dignified and affordable legal shelter. The government's plan to upgrade 100 informal settlements is a step, but long-term solutions are required to address the large-scale problem of housing the urban working classes, which is growing as Pakistan urbanizes rapidly. Providing affordable public land and developing settlements with proper infrastructure could help meet needs and prevent exploitation, if local governments are also involved in planning.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    10 views1 page

    Oct 16 - Housing The Poor

    Uploaded by

    ZainabChandio
    The document discusses the issue of housing for the urban poor in Pakistan. It notes that while luxury housing schemes are abundant, there are few affordable options for the working class, forcing many to set up informal settlements on public and private land. While encroachments cannot be condoned, more housing options are needed until the poor have dignified and affordable legal shelter. The government's plan to upgrade 100 informal settlements is a step, but long-term solutions are required to address the large-scale problem of housing the urban working classes, which is growing as Pakistan urbanizes rapidly. Providing affordable public land and developing settlements with proper infrastructure could help meet needs and prevent exploitation, if local governments are also involved in planning.

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    Housing the poor

    EDITORIAL PUBLISHED Oct 16, 2016 01:54am


    THE Sindh governments recent decision to upgrade 100 katchi abadis, or informal settlements, in
    the province to the township level raises significant questions about how best to tackle the problem
    of housing the urban poor. Although luxury housing schemes for the rich are found in abundance
    across Pakistan, there are very few options for the urban poor. As a result, working-class people end
    up encroaching on public and private land; soon enough katchi abadis spring up, and with the
    passage of time, many of these are regularised by the state. While encroachments cannot be
    condoned, the fact is that until the poor have dignified and affordable options of finding shelter that
    is legal, the proliferation of urban slums and informal settlements will continue. In all, there are
    reportedly over 1,400 informal settlements in Sindh, with Karachi alone containing 564 katchi
    abadis, as per official figures. The Sindh administrations intervention, though well-intentioned,
    appears to be ad hoc; more long-term solutions are needed to address the housing problem of the
    urban working classes.
    As statistics show, Pakistan is a rapidly urbanising country. One figure says that by 2030, just over 45pc
    of Pakistans population will be living in urban centres. And because there is either no planning or
    ineffective planning to meet this large and steady influx of people towards the cities, encroachments and
    slums are found in all our urban areas. For example, around 50pc of Karachis population is said to live in
    slums; most of these are high-density settlements lacking proper civic facilities. But Karachi is not alone;
    even in a planned city like Islamabad urban slums have become a major issue. For instance, last year the
    capital witnessed rioting when the CDA moved in to demolish a slum in one of the federal capitals
    sectors. Not only is shelter a basic human right, but building sustainable cities is also part of the
    Sustainable Development Goals. What the provinces need to do is to offer affordable state land to the
    deserving poor so that land mafias and other unscrupulous elements are not able to exploit the citizens
    need for housing. If the urban working classes have dignified legal dwellings, with proper infrastructure,
    utilities and sanitation facilities provided by the state, in time, the problem of encroachments and urban
    blight in the form of slums should disappear. Moreover, to assess housing requirements on the ground, it
    is necessary that local governments are involved in the process.
    Published in Dawn October 16th, 2016

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