THE RATIONAL BEHIND
THE URBAN RESOURCE
CENTRE CONCEPT
BY ARIF HASAN
May 1998
1.
PREAMBLE
1.1 A
lot of information regarding urban conditions and processes is developed
by NGOs, CBOs, professional institutions and academia. This information
is scattered; it is very different in nature from official information;
it does not get publicised and nor is it easily available; and it does
not feed into the official planning process or for awareness-raising.
1.2
The print media carries a lot of reports on various subjects related to
urban issues and official plans from different points of view. Since
these reports are spread over years and are on different topics they
cannot be related subject-wise or time-wise with each other. Thus, by
reading the press a larger picture regarding issues and plans does not
emerge.
1.3
Government plans are made by a powerful nexus between politicians,
bureaucrats, formal sector developers and international agencies and
their consultants. Development is viewed entirely from the point of view
of this nexus and the people and informal interest lobbies, who are more
often than not the victims of these plans, are never consulted about
them. Thus corruption, in the absence of transparency, is an essential
part of the planning process.
1.4
CBOs, informal interest groups (also weaker formal ones) and communities
who are often the victims of formal sector planning, constantly
petition, demonstrate, and seek legal redress against insensitive
projects. They are usually told that there is no option to the proposed
plans and that these plans are in the larger interests of the city. The
CBOs, weaker interest groups and communities get to know to these plans
only after physical work begins on them and even if they get to know of
them earlier, they do not have the expertise to analyse them, present
their concerns in the right vocabulary or to present viable
alternatives. Thus, the lobbying process becomes an exercise in
"requesting" or in "demanding" through political
agitation. Both seldom succeed because the "requests" and
"demands" do not relate to larger planning issues.
1.5
It has been noticed that where planning is the result of consultation
between various interest groups who also supervise its implementation,
plans are more sensitive, appropriate and in keeping with ground
realities. Again, where community or interest groups requests and or
protests are backed by professional advice, alternatives and costs, they
are taken seriously and their recommendations are more early
accommodated.
2. WHAT IS
REQUIRED
2.1
Keeping the above in view, what is required is the gathering and
cataloguing of all scattered information so that it is available to
journalists, interest groups, communities and NGOs / CBOs.
2.2
What is also required is the collection of all government plans and
their analysis on how they will effect the city and the communities they
are impacting on. The results of this analysis should be taken to the
communities, government officials, interest groups and to the press.
2.3
All newspaper information should be catalogued subject-wise over time
and analysed. This knowledge should be shared with interest groups, the
press and the public at large.
2.4
Alternatives to government plans, along with costs, should be developed
and made public.
2.5.
A space should be created for interaction between all relevant interest
groups, people and government agencies. Also support organisations in
different disciplines must be identified to help communities in
preparing their requests and/or protests.
3. A URC CAN DO
ALL THIS
3.1
A URC can undertake all that is mentioned in section 2 and it can lead
to the creation of a movement for more
appropriate-people-friendly-planning of which transparency and
accountability is an integral part.
3.2
Karachi’s URC consist of a 3 member staff. An architect, a social
organizer and an administrator. The URC is supported by voluntary
professionals as and when required.
3.3
Considerable strength is provided to the URC because of its association
with the Department of Architecture and Planning at the Dawood College
(whose students studio work is often on subjects of relevance to the
URC) and the OPP (who has strong links with residents of over 100
informal settlements in Karachi and knows how to mobilise people).
3.4 The Karachi URC
Keeps subject-wise news clippings (so that each
subject reads like a story) and publishes a monthly "Facts and
Figures" sheet derived from these clippings.
It carries out an analysis of all major urban
projects and analysis them with the help of stakeholders. Then it
presents them to a forum of interest groups and relevant government
agencies.
It carries out research on topics that emerge
from the press clippings from a people’s point of view and gets them
published (or tries to) in the press.
It holds forums on different issues of
relevance to poor communities where communities can interact with each
other and form links with each other. It puts communities in touch with
NGOs or resource persons who can be a help to them professionally. All
forums are documented and a synopsis is made available to the press.
The URC, based on its work, also proposes
changes in laws, rules and regulations for Karachi’s planning and
conservation issues and presents them to its forums.
3.5
The URC Concept is expressed figuratively
There
are 3 groups in the planning process
Politicians Planners
People
The
present City planning process:
People
are divorced from the planning process
A
more realistic and practical process:
The
aim of the URC is to create, nurture and institutionalize this common
space
URC Part 2
More at the URC web site HERE
