Young and old ask encroachers to free public places

In a bid to revive the long-lost cultural activities of Karachi, the Sindh government is looking to convert the area surrounding the Governor House into a cultural and educational hub.

For this purpose a walk under the title ‘Walk Karachi’ was arranged from MR Kiyani Road at the historic Hindu Gymkhana to the Karachi Arts Council on Sunday morning on the subject of ‘Reclaiming Public Spaces’. Students and old-timers held up placards asking encroachers to free public spaces.

An elderly woman named Sumbul Shahid lauded the idea of reclaiming public spaces and said that for women with knee problems, empty and pedestrian-friendly footpaths are no less than a blessing. “We can’t hop over carts and other hurdles placed on the footpaths in Karachi,” she said smiling.

A young early-riser named Ali said that when they travel around the world they see huge pedestrian zones where cultural activities take place. “Unfortunately, we don’t have that here. We simply don’t have the concept of sidewalks and footpaths in Karachi,” he said, adding that footpaths are for pedestrians, not for commercial activities.

The placards read: ‘Maan lo hamari baat, chalo on the footpath’ (Listen to us, walk on the footpath) and ‘Plant trees and save footpaths’. The walk was co-arranged by the Sindh Planning & Development Department, the Thespianz Foundation and the Karachi Neighbourhood Improvement Project (KNIP), which is a World Bank-supported initiative of the provincial government to enhance public spaces, urban roads infrastructure, mobility, inclusion and access to market in targeted neighbourhoods in Saddar, Malir and Korangi.

According to a press statement from KNIP, the project aims to improve the city’s capacity to provide selected administrative services. The Arts Council, the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), the Faizi Rahimeen Art Gallery, the National Museum, the Hindu Gymkhana, the Sindh Muslim Law College and the DJ Sindh Government Science College will be among the institutions that will be part of the cultural and educational hubs.

At MR Kiyani Road, the sidewalks have already been designed as universal access footpaths, according to the project’s WB consultant and urban planner Farhan Anwar. “These footpaths have benches, shades, lights which are all street furniture,” he told The News.

He said they also have the option to pedestrianise this street on weekends. “There’s a possibility on Saturdays or Sundays for the activities of the Arts Council or Napa to spill out onto this street.”

Footpaths, greenbelts and parks are spaces for citizens, said KNIP’s project director. These spaces should be provided with facilities such as benches, streetlights or shades, he said. He added that the traffic woes and the lack of parking spaces are the two major hurdles in reclamation of public spaces. Talking on the cultural and educational hub project, he said that at MR Kiyani Road, street lights will be installed soon.

“The Shaheen Complex intersection will be improved, along with the intersection in front of the Arts Council. Work on Din Muhammad Wafai Road, Ziauddin Road and on both sides of Pakistan Chowk has already been initiated, which is actually a triangle.”

In the entire world the city centres have cultural spaces, Arts Council Karachi President Ahmed Shah told The News. “This entire area [surrounding the Arts Council] was a cultural area before the forming of Pakistan.”

He added that now we have here the National Museum, the Arts Council, Napa, the Karachi Press Club and the Young Men’s Christian Association — all of which make it the city’s cultural identity.

This entire project, he said, has a lot of underground work as well. “The K-Electric has all gone inside the roads,” he said, adding that this is a model project that will provide spaces for exhibitions, art performances and get-togethers.

Thespianz Foundation President Faisal Malik and Heritage Foundation CEO Yasmeen Lari were also present at the walk, which was followed by a social theatre play titled ‘Footpath Ki Dukaan’.