Karachi

Noted architect and town planner Arif Hasan said on Saturday that building regulations in Karachi were anti-pedestrian, anti-street and anti-culture.

He made the observation at s seminar held on the city campus of the NED University of Engineering and Technology at a special event organised by conservation architects Christophe Polak and Asiya Polak under the umbrella of the Mohatta Palace Museum and the NED University as a continuation to the “Rising Tide” exhibition.

“Building regulations are anti-pedestrian, anti-street, anti-mixed space and anti-culture,” Hasan who is also Chairman Orangi Pilot Project (OTI) and has written extensively on environment, said.

Speaking on the topic of “The history and heritage of Karachi”, he said in pre-British Karachi there were two gates namely Mithadar and Kharadar around which the foundation stone of the city was laid.

“Around this area there were groups of Hindu and Muslim pilgrimages that have now been absorbed,” Hasan pointed out. He said the city comprised “Quarters” and “there was beautiful water supply system”.

In 1947 when the country was created, he said, one could divide Karachi in three parts: Saddar Quarters, in-between was a fast-growing administrative area and cantonments.

“In Old Town’ you had Hindu festivals and Muslim festivals that were worth seeing.”

Referring to the demography of Karachi, Hasan said that at the time of Partition, the population of Karachi was 450,000 that increased to 1,137,000 in 1951 due to the influx of immigrants from India.

The languages spoken were Sindhi (61.2 percent), Balochi (8.6 percent), Urdu/Hindi 6.30 percent (it increased to 50 percent in 1951), Punjabi 4.3 percent, and Gujarati 3.5 percent. The Hindu population at the time of Partition was 51 per cent, he said.

After Partition, he said, offices for bureaucracy were created in the Artillery Maidan area, while refugee colonies were created in Lines Area that were multi-class and eminent poets such as Joan Elia and maestro Sadequain lived there along with the working classes.

“Karachi became a multi-ethnic, multi-class and high-density city” after Partition, the architect noted. Then it was decided to shift these people to satellite colonies, such as Landhi and Korangi, which changed the composition of these lower-middle class areas.

“Thus began the process of degradation,” Hasan said. In 1960 Saddar became a transit area for movement between Landhi-Korangi and northern areas and during 1965-75 “culture” had already moved. Names of old roads were changed. “Just by changing the names we lost history,” he lamented.

“This is a very big loss, very big change,” he said. Cinemas also disappeared and were replaced by commercial outlets and industries.

Hasan said there was considerable heritage in Saddar. The old city was lined with the port, he said.

“Space is fast disappearing but it is still there” in the old city, he said. Referring to issues in the 18-million metropolis, he said one option was “you keep the things as they are”. Relocating the existing wholesale markets and manufacturing activity as advocated in the Strategic Plan 2011 is the other option. “We have experience of shifting Sabzi Mandi and as a result the welfare societies have disappeared,” Hasan cautioned. Then there is something that is called “urban acupuncture” and that means improved infrastructure and transport system, he said.

Hasan said it depended on one’s vision for safeguarding the city’s heritage. One is “nostalgia” that is “a good sign of preservation” and “another is “pragmatism,” he said adding the city nazim wanted Karachi to be a “world class city”. Politicians, civil society and ideology also play a role, he said.

“The names of Karachi in themselves are a heritage,” he said. The city’s heritage includes pre-British Muslim shrines and pre-British Hindu temples. The Mahadev temple in Clifton is said to belong to 800BC, he said. The culture also includes Surghate (the legend of Moro), Mai Kolachi, animal performances and musical groups, he said.

Dr Noman Ahmed, Chairman, Department of Architecture and Planning, NED University of Engineering and Technology, in his eloquent presentation on “Public spaces-some perspectives from Karachi”, said spaces could be studied through various classifications, including private, semi-private, semi-public and public. Private space was managed and controlled by individuals, semi-private space was basically a “spillover” shared jointly, he said.

“With the passage of time the city is becoming devoid of such spaces,” he said.

“Gali” is a special anatomy of Karachi, he said, its literal translation is lane but it is much more than that; it is a cluster of houses. “People know each other, live together and it used to be the platform of social interaction,” he said.

“Gali does not permit fast traffic; therefore, it provides interaction,” he said.

“Chabotra” offers a place of interaction and is an extended platform of a dwelling or commercial structure, he said. “A sitting space secured by chaos,” he said, adding it is multi-gender space with day time use by womenfolk and is utilised in the evenings by men.

Dr Anila Naim, eminent conservation architect, dwelt at length on “Historical perspective and the urban heritage”. She pointed out that in 2006 a “heritage cell” was established at the city campus of the NED University a total of 571 buildings in 19 historic towns have been surveyed. In addition to 571 listed properties, another 1135 buildings and 29 open spaces have been identified.

“Listing has been given to the government of Sindh and we have requested them to notify them but it is now one year and the buildings have not been identified officially,” she regretted.

She said 63 (11 percent) of the listed buildings had already been demolished and another 104 (18 percent) were under a “high degree threat” due to abandonment and neglect.

“There is such a big variety of a detail,” she said. “We need to think what we need to do with our environment,” she said.

Students, architects, other professionals also enjoyed a ride on “Baghi” from the NED University to the Sindh Wildlife building where Polak is involved in the conservation of ex-Freemason Lodge in collaboration with the Antiquities Department, government of Sindh.