Urban development most neglected sector in Karachi

Urban development continues to be the most neglected sector in Karachi, the largest cities of Pakistan. Many cities in other parts of the world, even much smaller in size and population than Karachi, have already become 'smart cities'; however, Karachi is still a big, haphazard center of stinky slums and poorly managed downtown localities. This city is also notorious for becoming a Chingchi City of world due to its pathetically poor urban public transport system.
Even in the neighboring country of India there is a separate department named Ministry of Urban Development to take care of speedy urban uplift of Indian cities. In Delhi, there is an urban development department with an objective to plan for various infrastructure facilities and essential services being implemented by various agencies for works such as Water Supply, Sewage Disposal & Sanitation, Urban Poverty Alleviation and various municipal services. This department formulates policy, provides funds, monitors and co-ordinates the activities, of the urban local bodies of the region.
According to the World Bank, globally, 54 percent of the population lives in urban areas today, and this trend is expected to continue. By 2045, the number of people living in cities will increase by 1.5 times to 6 billion, adding 2 billion more to urban residents.
With more than 80 percent of global GDP generated in cities, urbanisation can contribute to sustainable growth if managed well by increasing productivity, allowing innovation and new ideas to emerge.
However, the speed and scale of urbanisation brings challenges, including meeting accelerated demand for affordable housing, well-connected transport systems and other infrastructure, basic services as well as jobs, particularly for the nearly one billion urban poor who live in informal settlements to be near opportunities.
Cities also play an important role in tackling climate change, as they consume close to two-thirds of the world's energy and account for more than 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. As cities develop, their exposure to climate and disaster risk also increases. Almost half a billion urban residents live in coastal areas, increasing their vulnerability to storm surges and sea level rise.
Building cities that work - inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable- requires intensive policy co-ordination and investment choices. Once a city is built, its physical form and land use patterns can be locked in for generations, leading to unsustainable sprawl.
The concept of 'Smart Cities' is becoming popular with every passing day. A smart city uses digital technologies or information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance quality and performance of urban services, to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively and actively with its citizens. Sectors that have been developing smart city technology include government services, transport and traffic management, energy, health care,[water and waste. Smart city applications are developed with the goal of improving the management of urban flows and allowing for real time responses to challenges.
A smart city may therefore be more prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple 'transactional' relationship with its citizens. The European Union (EU) has devoted constant efforts to devising a strategy for achieving 'smart' urban growth for its metropolitan city-regions. The EU has developed a range of programmes under 'Europe's Digital Agenda". Examples of Smart City technologies and programs have been implemented in Southampton, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Stockholm.
In Asia, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore are main examples of smart cities. In India, Bangalore, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmadabad, Jaipur and Goa are considered 10 top most well managed cities. In Pakistan, Lahore is considered the city that in on way to be the best managed city of the country.
However; Karachi lags behind in the race of becoming a developed and well-governed city despite its immense potential of being a major port city of not only Pakistan but the whole region. This is because the provincial government lacks vision how to transform its economy and way of living by making Karachi a modern urban city. This needs not only provision of more funds, but basically it needs a radical shift in vision and priorities of the provincial government of Sindh that now possesses better financial resources after the eighteenth constitution amendment. Sadly, as the political base of power in Sindh is rural area and urban votes do not play a make and break role in setting up of provincial government, Karachi continues to go neglected in development. However, if ` provincial government understands the basic concept that a rapid urban development of Karachi would not only benefit the residents of this port city but also provide millions of new jobs to resident of the rural areas of Sindh and greatly contribute in rapid socioeconomic development of the whole province, it may divert badly needed resources and attention to this neglected mega city of the province and the country.