Issues with BRT
WHILE meeting an Asian Development Bank delegation earlier this month, Sindh’s caretaker chief minister said that 180 solar-powered buses will be introduced to support the operations of the Bus Rapid…
The BRT problem
VARIOUS Pakistani leaders have made bus rapid transit or BRT projects the centre point of their political rhetoric. Often a misleading impression is created that BRT programmes will comprehensively address…
Urban flooding
TAKING precautionary steps to minimise the damage wreaked on life and property seems high on the agenda of the various tiers of government in Karachi. The chief minister has held…
Mobility woes
SARA — not her real name — is a single mother of three who works as domestic help in three houses — a kilometre apart — in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Karachi. She…
Broke but flashy
One would think that a country like Pakistan, already teetering on the edge of an economic crisis and highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, would prioritise policies that…
IMF and provincial governments
Three provincial chief ministers from three competing political parties – Punjab (PML-N), Sindh (PPP) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PTI) — are vying with each other to deliver more to their people…
Poor livability
IN a recent assessment of urban livability, the Economist Intelligence Unit rated Karachi as one of the world’s least livable cities. The metropolis fared poorly in terms of stability, healthcare,…
A case for gendered mobility
The continuum of the present is always marred by the hues of the past. Right from the Greeks, women have been otherised by their so-called ‘stronger’ male counterparts. According to…
Ranking Karachi
THE Economist Intelligence Unit’s rating of Karachi as one of the world’s least livable cities is not surprising. Five categories were reviewed to arrive at this conclusion: stability, healthcare, education,…
Post-poll Karachi
AFTER a long wait, local government elections were finally held last month in Karachi and other locations in Sindh. The PPP, Jamaat-i-Islami and PTI emerged as the three largest parties.…
