Why do we need it?
WHAT is a Regional Plan &
WHY do we need it?
A Regional Plan sets out a long-term sustainable plan for the management of land. It provides a vision for the future development and physical change.
As with any city in the world, Karachi is continually evolving; this is the inevitable result of changing demographics, patterns of living, aspirations, but also of societal demands and needs.
A Regional Plan addresses these needs and provides an agreed framework for how they can be managed. This is essential to establishing a prosperous and sustainable economy, and society.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, with an official Pakistan Bureau of Statistics population of 20.4 million in 2023.
With population growing on average by 2.5% every year (as measured over the 2017-2023 period), this increase will continue to add pressure to address the needs of its residents.
Added to this are the emerging and growing problems inflicted by the rapidly changing climate, which is having important impacts on Pakistan, and on Karachi in particular.
An up-to-date spatial development plan for Karachi and its wider region to guide not only the city’s development, but also ensure its resilience and preparedness over the period to 2047, is today essential.
How will a new Regional Plan benefit Karachi?
The 2024 Global Live ability Index Report ranked Karachi as 112th out of 117 indexed cities across the world in terms of quality of life. This means that living and working in Karachi is shown to be particularly challenging.
The new Plan will therefore identify both solutions and mechanisms on how to provide solutions to resolving these challenges.
They will take the form of physical recommendations, approaches, or policies, that are to be adopted by all decision-makers in Karachi.
What will the new plan include?
The now expired and former Karachi Strategic Development Plan (KSDP) 2020 will form the baseline for the new Plan.
It will identify solutions to a variety of issues that span social, economic and environmental considerations, including:
The Plan will be designed to be implementable, but will also need to be adaptable, flexible and responsive to future change.