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Korangi road-Karachi, originally uploaded by hassamq7.
The planning and construction of the new satellite township of Korangi (at the time 6 miles outide of Karachi) was one of the most prestigious and talked-about projects of the newly establishment military regime of Gen. Ayub Khan. Little more than two months after his take-over in October 1958, Ayub and his minister for refugee rehabilitation and housing, Gen. Azam Khan decided to resolve the problem of shelterless muhajir families in the capital city within six months. The internationally renowned Greek development entrepreneur Dr. Constantinos Doxiadis – the man who ended up planning the new capital city of Islamabad later in the 1960s – was enlisted to construct a new city for several hundred thousands of people within six months. The logic of international development funding at the time, as well as certain ideas of town planning and poverty alleviation, collided with the people’s own expectations; this collision ultimately led to the failure of the Korangi project, while still furthering the political and business careers of both Ayub, Doxiadis and his financial backers.
Dr. Markus Daechsel will be delivering a lecture on this topic at LUMS, Lahore on 30th October 2007.
Zenetic Code city, originally uploaded by purest_lies.
North Nazimabad, Karachi
In the middle of the night the monster purred and groaned slowly, breaking the stillness with its uneasy stirrings. With the first hint of light it awakened, its roads like arteries throbbed and pulsed teeming with life. Life, which is swallowed up by it in an endless unremitting cycle.
It has no color, no shade, and no distinction. A relentless gloom engulfs it. All find refuge in this haziness, requiring nothing but endless toil. All find it easy to merge into its infinite grey losing themselves in the crowd and the race.
Its sprawling, grey, concrete arms seem endless, spreading everywhere and gripping everything in their clutches. These concrete structures trap their inhabitants into small boxes not only physically but also mentally. So that they follow a continual sequence which they imagine is in their own interest.
Its momentum is addictive. It moves with a crazy self-absorbed lunacy, which forms its main doctrine. This overwhelms all that survive within it. Adrenaline can never attain the effect it has. All seem to be scrambling to fulfill its dogma to perfection. The race is on and they can’t wait to begin.
Its power is fascinating. Its charm fatally attractive. Millions live within it and yet millions seem to arrive everyday drawn in by a strange challenge. Seemingly Flamboyant and glamorous it maintains a constant humdrum of activity appealing and repellant at the same time.
The city acts like a vampire monstrosity draining all devoid of their energy. It thrives on blood, sweat and tears. All imagine to be sustained by it while it sustains itself on all. In the end beneath the carefully concealed veneer of success and extravagance all that remains is the smoke, the concrete and the endless gloom.
