Plight of Megacities

[Panther 57]

Megacities of the world are source of tourist and business attraction. People all around the world frequent it not only for business purposes but also for leisure. There are 35 megacities in the world out of these two are in Pakistan, namely Karachi and Lahore. Karachi being 11th and Lahore at 29th position. Though this is an accepted list for 2015 as per Wikipedia, but fact cannot be ignored that Pakistan had last reliable census in 1998. Therefore, it can be safely assumed that population considered for megacities of 2015 is an assumption. As per general perspective Karachi has a population of more than 25million and Lahore is touching 17.5 million. In consideration with these figures Karachi should be within first 5 of the world and Lahore would stand above 20th position.


What is a megacity? As per the dictionary a metropolitan having a population of 10 million. Is population the only factor which qualifies a city to be megacity? Most of the people would certainly respond in negative. In today’s world a megacity is the city which not only has population of more than 10 million but also has the infrastructure to support this population. A look at Karachi and Lahore from perspective of infrastructure among the top 35 megacities of world would certainly depict these in last five of the world.

Globally infrastructure of megacities are reinforced and upgraded continuously to support population; their need to commute and right to healthy living conditions. When a city becomes unmanageable, new city is developed and connected to the megacity through high speed mass transits. Islam also advocates development of new cities with increase in population.

Both these megacities are facing constantly increasing population which in turn is increasing burden on limited resources and infrastructure. Unfortunately, government is charging large amounts under the name of commercialization fee, which in fact should be spent on boosting underground infrastructure of the city. Instead of addressing these issues ruling parties take care of their political objectives of plundering.

Everyday hundreds of people move to these two cities, never to return back. This influx of internal migration should be stopped to save these cities. Not by force but by choice and to activate this option it is essential that smaller cities are developed. Development in smaller cities and towns will attract these people back to their hometowns. A developed city will automatically generate job opportunities, which will in turn help to improve GDP.

@Azlan Haider @Rashid Mahmood @Imran Khan @air marshal @Zarvan @Spring Onion @fatman17 @Farah Sohail @Irfan Baloch @F.O.X @ISI.

 

[Zarvan]

Pakistan needs to develop at least 3 to 4 major cities on Baluchistan coast. Also resolve energy crisis and other issues and start industrial areas specially around smaller cities like BahawalPur and Rahim Yaar Khan and Quetta and Sibi and Chaman and in KPK and interior Sindh so instead of population coming to big cities these cities grow more. Finally we need to resolve water issue also.

 

[LA se Karachi]

Nice write-up. I'm very interested in topic of mega-cities myself.

Lahore is touching 17.5 million

The higher estimates that I've seen for Lahore peg its current population at roughly 10 million.

 

[Panther 57]

Nice write-up. I'm very interested in topic of mega-cities myself.




The higher estimates that I've seen for Lahore peg its current population at roughly 10 million.

This is a general perspective and nothing can be said as to accuracy of figure, because there has been no census since 1998, Between last two census 1981 and 1998 population of Karachi increased by 79% and Lahore 84%. If trend considered same, population in 2006 for Karachi & Lahore can be estimated at 16.716 M and 10.025 M respectively and for 2014 it can be estimated at 29.921M and 18.427M
http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/pocket_book2006/2.pdf

 

[Imran Khan]

we need new cities with full of fun and joy free trade and 24/7 power on our Baluchistan cost . open cities with international standards then we can attract some people to live work invest and enjoy .

 

[Syed1.]

If we are to be a $3-5 trillion economy by 2050 then we need to have atleast 5 major port cities. There is no other way about it. That is a trait common in all other countries that have spectacular economies.

Karachi with its two ports is already there, but we have only realized about 10% of the city's potential. Karachi could be in the league of Tokyo, Shanghai and Mumbai. We need to take her there with concentrated effort and development, not just concentrate on converting one city into 'Paris'.

Gwadar is in initial stage of development and if we work hard Gwadar could replace Dubai in the world economy.

Pasni and Sonmiani on the Baluchistan coast have the same landscape as Gwadar and a natural hammer-head that facilitates the development of port cities. However, these two locations do not provide any specific benefit geographically at the moment since they lie between Karachi and Gwadar. I'm hoping that our economy and trade volume grows to the point that these two ports become feasible.

Keti Bandar east of Karachi is another location which is conducive for development of a port city. It is close to the border with India and if relations between the two nations improve then Keti Bandar might be the ideal location for sea-based trade between the two countries. This location also reduces distance from the sea to the Thar desert (which is going to be a hub of coal-fired power plants) hence imported coal can be easily transported there.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

Megacities can be a good thing. Provided there is an infrastructure of transportation, education, employment, housing affordability, and environmental sustainability (energy efficiency).

All of these requirements are concentrated to a, what comes out to be a big, city. It's easy to concentrate efforts and observe the results. Cities like Tokyo are recognized for their ability to conserve water, while Paris boasts of using less resources than new York. Toyko's efficient redesign after the WW2 firebombings allows for a comprehensive public transportation, which in turn reduces consumption demands.

Germany's Morgenstadt or South Korea's Songdo are envisioned as "Cities of the Future" based on their environmentally friendly "green" initiatives. After a while the press tacked on "World's Smartest City", and "Germany's/South Korea's Hightech Centers" in a psychological example of nature vs nurture. Where being surrounded by high tech allows for 'envisioned entrepreneurs'.

There isn't a Mauritian fear of overpopulation, humans only inhabit ~10-12% of the total land mass, but by 2050 3/4 of the world's population will be urban. And there needs to be a complete understanding of where to promote development. Rich fertile lands should not be plastered over with concrete and asphalt. That said Cities are the future and as already stated the requirements to sustain, develop, and promote them should be handled now. In 1970's maybe 3 cities fit the requirements of 'megacities' now the number is closer to 33.

 

[Rashid Mahmood]

There should be a new city developed between Karachi and Hyderabad.
It's but natural as Karachi is automatically towards Super highway. Now after the commencement of M9, a city after Nooriabad is a dire need.

Gwadar & Turbat should be developed for the future.