Residents of Karachi call for attention

While the concerned residents watch in silence, the city of Karachi falls from one low to another.  Karachi, once hailed as the “City of Lights” and the economic powerhouse of Pakistan, has once again been ranked among the bottom five of the world’s least liveable cities in the 2025 Global Liveability Index by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The metropolis ranked 170 on a list of 173 countries — just above Dhaka, Tripoli and Damascus — and had a score of 42.7 on the index score, with a score of 100 being the “most liveable”.

Karachi’s fall from a model metropolis to one of the least liveable cities is a story of systemic governance failures, lack of ownership, haphazard and rapid urbanization, and indifferent attitude of its residents to a greater extent.

This consistent low ranking reflects the city’s long-standing and deep-rooted challenges. The decay is on all accounts. There is not a single segment which can be rated as anywhere near to being satisfactory – be it civic amenities, local government organisations, law and order situation, environment, public health and education.

Decaying roads, insufficient public transport, and lack of urban zoning have led to traffic chaos, slums, and encroachments. Drainage and waste management systems are outdated, causing frequent urban flooding and unhygienic conditions. Chronic shortages of potable water, load-shedding, and broken sewerage systems plague most neighborhoods.

Multiple overlapping administrative authorities (KMC, provincial government, cantonments) result in inefficiency and blame-shifting. Political turf wars hinder long-term development planning and discourage investment. Although improved since the 2010s, Karachi still struggles with street crime, gang violence in pockets, and police inefficiency. Law and order issues affect residents’ quality of life and investor confidence. Severe air and water pollution, coastal erosion, unchecked industrial waste, and the loss of green spaces have made Karachi one of the most environmentally-stressed cities. Overburdened hospitals, inadequate primary health coverage, and crumbling public education infrastructure further lower liveability standards.

It is not so much a question of lack of funds availability to Karachi to set things right, but it is more of a lack of will to perform and transparency in the deployment and utilisation of the allocated funds for the right cause.

A good example to cite that things are doable in Pakistan where there’s a will to deliver is the mass transportation system of Karachi comparable to that of Lahore. A Japanese soft loan was offered for the revival of Karachi Circular Railway and Chinese financing under CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) for Karachi Mass Transit System. While Karachi is struggling since years to put on ground the Green Line Mass Transit System and revive circular railway for the mass transit of its citizens, the city of Lahore has since long provided its citizens a state-of-art mass transit ‘Orange Line’ under CPEC financing for transportation of its residents from the rural part of Lahore to urban parts and another inter-city mass transit bus system, financed by the government of Punjab for transportation. Lahore has provided its residents a decent mode of transportation. The mass transit system has also been provided to the residents of Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi. Insofar as other civic amenities are concerned, the city of Karachi is left far behind its peers in the country.

Onward solutions for a livable Karachi are many like a single governance authority, a decent mass transit system & infrastructure development, green and resilient urban planning with revival of parks and coastal zones, smart policing and community safety, public-private partnerships (PPPs) for water, sanitation, health,  education and all sectors to improve service delivery and develop Karachi’s resilience to heatwaves, floods, and sea-level rise through early warning systems and coastal defences. These are the basic expected from a city government and all are doable.

The civil society of Karachi is a committed and vibrant society and many doable plans have been provided to the provincial and local governments. There are many listeners but no doers. A number of philanthropists and private sector of Karachi have very ably taken over some of the responsibility of the city in the field of education and healthcare and have provided relief to the citizens of the city. They may have to extend their engagement in the infrastructure development of the city under public private partnerships.

With over 20 million residents and a strategic economic position, turning Karachi around is not just a local priority but a national imperative to save Karachi, a city of teeming millions.