Greater Karachi Regional Plan 2047 گریٹرکراچی ریجنل پلان, Karachi (2026)

31/07/2026

Cleaner air. Healthier lives. A better Karachi.

According to the Air Quality Life Index, reducing particulate pollution to the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline could increase the average life expectancy of a Karachi resident by approximately 2.7 years.
Measurements from the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) monitoring network show that Karachi’s air quality consistently exceeds the Sindh Environmental Quality Standards (SEQS) for ambient air.
Over the past eight years, the city's annual average level of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), one of the most harmful forms of air pollution, exceeded the SEQS limit of 40 μg/m³ in six years and remained 7 to 11 times higher than the WHO guideline of 5 μg/m³. In 2024, Karachi met the WHO's recommended daily air quality guideline on only three days of the year, while pollution levels exceeded the SEQS daily limit of 75 μg/m³ on 70 days.
Karachi's air pollution comes mainly from a few key sources. Industry produces nearly half (49%) of the city's harmful fine particle pollution (PM₂.₅), while transport contributes another 33%. Vehicles are also responsible for most nitrogen oxide (80%) and carbon monoxide (90%) emissions. Power plants and port activities are the largest sources of sulphur dioxide, contributing 30% and 26%, respectively.
While existing data identifies the main sources of air pollution, seasonal air quality monitoring carried out as part of GKRP 2047 shows how these emissions affect the air people breathe across Greater Karachi. Of the 145 locations monitored, more than 8 in every 10 recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) above 100 in both seasons, including 120 locations in summer and 118 locations in winter.
All monitored traffic congestion hotspots, bus terminals, dry ports, landfill sites and ports recorded air quality above the threshold in both summer and winter. Residential areas were also heavily affected, with 59 of the 62 monitored locations exceeding the threshold in summer and 58 in winter. Industrial areas showed a similar pattern, with 11 of the 12 monitored locations exceeding the threshold in summer and 10 in winter.

31/07/2026

Cleaner air. Healthier lives. A better Karachi.

According to the Air Quality Life Index, reducing particulate pollution to the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline could increase the average life expectancy of a Karachi resident by approximately 2.7 years.

Measurements from the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) monitoring network show that Karachi’s air quality consistently exceeds the Sindh Environmental Quality Standards (SEQS) for ambient air.

Over the past eight years, the city's annual average level of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), one of the most harmful forms of air pollution, exceeded the SEQS limit of 40 μg/m³ in six years and remained 7 to 11 times higher than the WHO guideline of 5 μg/m³. In 2024, Karachi met the WHO's recommended daily air quality guideline on only three days of the year, while pollution levels exceeded the SEQS daily limit of 75 μg/m³ on 70 days.

Karachi's air pollution comes mainly from a few key sources. Industry produces nearly half (49%) of the city's harmful fine particle pollution (PM₂.₅), while transport contributes another 33%. Vehicles are also responsible for most nitrogen oxide (80%) and carbon monoxide (90%) emissions. Power plants and port activities are the largest sources of sulphur dioxide, contributing 30% and 26%, respectively.

While existing data identifies the main sources of air pollution, seasonal air quality monitoring carried out as part of GKRP 2047 shows how these emissions affect the air people breathe across Greater Karachi. Of the 145 locations monitored, more than 8 in every 10 recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) above 100 in both seasons, including 120 locations in summer and 118 locations in winter.

All monitored traffic congestion hotspots, bus terminals, dry ports, landfill sites and ports recorded air quality above the threshold in both summer and winter. Residential areas were also heavily affected, with 59 of the 62 monitored locations exceeding the threshold in summer and 58 in winter. Industrial areas showed a similar pattern, with 11 of the 12 monitored locations exceeding the threshold in summer and 10 in winter.

Together, these findings show that poor air quality is a widespread and ongoing problem across Karachi. Although pollution can build up more easily during winter, the consistently high levels in both seasons indicate that air pollution is primarily driven by where people live, work and travel, and by the concentration of major pollution sources such as industry, transport and port activities.

If there's one thing to take away from all these numbers, it's this: cleaner air means healthier people, longer lives and a more liveable Karachi. Reducing pollution isn't just about the environment, it's about improving everyday life for everyone.

This is why GKRP 2047 recognises improving air quality as a key priority. Follow us to find out more as GKRP 2047 is developed over the next few months.

27/07/2026

Karachi’s textile industry: a major driver to the city’s economic wellbeing

Accounting for 59.5% in national exports, Pakistan is now the 8th largest exporter of textile products in Asia. The sector contributes 8.5% to the national GDP and provides employment for about 15 million people, or roughly 30% of the country’s workforce.
Home to as much as 38% of Pakistan's textile businesses, Karachi's position as a textile hub was fundamentally rooted in its natural harbour. Its role as the country's principal port city facilitates not only the export of finished textiles but also the import of auxiliary raw materials and machinery.

The textile supply chain is strongly supported by Pakistan’s domestic supply of raw materials, with its position as one of the world’s top producers of cotton being a significant benefit.
Despite this, the sector is held back from developing further as Karachi lacks the supply in infrastructure to sustainably scale. Its well-connected ports, which should help to streamline logistics and enable efficient distribution channels for international textile markets, lack critical infrastructure that could strengthen the ability to handle increasing volumes.

Pakistan must also adapt to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which will come into force from 2027. Its aim is to tax products that use carbon-intensive mechanisms to produce goods. Costs will increase progressively from 2034: Pakistan's manufacturers of textiles need to rapidly begin their pathway to adaptation.
Understanding and addressing the deficiencies in supporting manufacturing will form a key element in the emerging draft Karachi Regional Plan 2047. Follow us to learn more about how the plan develops.

Photo Credit: ILO Asia-Pacific under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

20/07/2026

Karachi’s first line of defence is not concrete. It is Nature!

Karachi sits on the western edge of the Indus Delta, the fifth largest delta system in the world. This vast landscape is home to one of the region's most extensive mangrove forests, made up mainly of Avicennia mangroves. These remarkable trees can survive in salty water thanks to special salt-filtering mechanisms that allow them to thrive where most plants cannot. Karachi’s long-term climate resilience is closely linked to the health of the River Indus Delta. Protecting and restoring its mangrove forests is essential to safeguarding the city’s future.

Here's why mangroves matter:
🌪️ They protect from coastal flooding and storm surges: their dense, interlocking roots act like a natural shield, absorbing wave energy during cyclones and storm surges from the Arabian Sea. This helps reduce coastal flooding and erosion before the waves reach Karachi.
🌱 They naturally slow coastal erosion: less freshwater and sediment flowing into the delta has led to faster coastal erosion and more seawater moving inland, affecting farmland and groundwater. Mangroves help stabilise the shoreline, trap sediment and slow the sea's advance.
🐟 They support marine life and local livelihoods: mangroves provide a safe nursery for commercially important fish, shrimp and crab species. Healthy mangroves support biodiversity, strengthen fisheries and contribute to food security for coastal communities.
💧 They improve water quality: mangrove forests trap sediment and filter pollutants carried by rivers and surface runoff, helping to keep coastal waters clean while supporting healthy estuarine and marine ecosystems.
🌍 They store carbon: mangrove tidal forests capture and store up to four times more carbon per acre than tropical rainforests, making the River Indus Delta one of the region's most valuable natural climate assets.

10/07/2026

From Feedback to Insights: Using AI to Understand Community Voices
Public engagement doesn’t just generate feedback—it generates data.
Inputs collected through the GKRP2047 website and social media pages are being analysed using AI and advanced data analytics. Instead of reviewing responses individually, these tools help identify patterns across large volumes of comments, ideas, and feedback.
Techniques such as text analysis, clustering and theme detection make it possible to surface recurring topics, understand sentiment across discussions, and track how public priorities evolve throughout the engagement process.
AI can transform digital participation from a collection of individual responses into a structured understanding of community perspectives. Protecting people’s anonymity in handling this data is a critical element to using AI responsibly.
The result is not just more engagement—but deeper insight into what matters most to the people participating in the conversation.

This is exactly why your voice matters. Every piece of feedback contributes to the evidence informing the GKRP 2047 masterplan. Keep participating, keep sharing your ideas, and help shape a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future for Karachi.

03/07/2026

Karachi’s Solid Waste Reality: A Major Health Issue

Karachi generates an estimated 14,000–16,000 tonnes of waste every single day - more than any other city in Pakistan. 2,200 tonnes of this waste – 19% – goes uncollected. It ends up in drains, streets, public spaces, cemeteries and waterways. It is a major health issue, which can also increase the potential for flooding.

Organic waste makes up 55% and plastic film around 25% of waste at disposal sites, but with almost no source segregation, the city loses massive opportunities for composting and recycling. Meanwhile, as much as 15,000 informal-sector families play a crucial role in recycling the waste but work without recognition, safety, or support.

Only two waste disposal sites - Jam Chakro and Gond Pass - receive nearly all collected waste, despite the absence of engineered landfill systems. This leads to around 3.9 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent methane emissions every year.

A cleaner, safer, climate-resilient Karachi is possible - if waste is treated as a resource, not a burden. Better waste management can change the city's trajectory - with stronger recycling systems, expanded composting, modernised landfills, and real integration of informal workers.

The GKRP 2047 will outline solutions to improve how waste is managed across Karachi. This plan will emerge over the next few months and will determine the trajectory of Karachi to 2047. Follow us if you want to see what solutions will be identified and proposed.

26/06/2026

Transportation across Karachi: disparities that accentuate inequity

Karachi experiences significant disparities in public transport coverage. Underserved areas mean long travel times and costly commutes, which limits access to employment and services. The outcome is an inequitable environment for those who do not have easy access to public transport.

There is significant demand for buses in Karachi. Route R2 is the most popular, followed by R4 and R11 - with all other top routes showing high demand.

The GKRP 2047 will identify the areas that are underserved by bus and provide actions for immediate improvements. It will also provide strategies for long-term strategic planning, whether they are for new bus routes, improved pedestrian environments, or high-capacity mass-transit public transport corridors.

By integrating land use, transport networks, and demographic variables into a single analytical framework, the model that is being developed will test different scenarios, prioritise the development of public transport corridors, and evaluate the impact of proposed policy interventions.

As Karachi moves toward its 2047 vision, this model will guide the choices to be made on the development of public transport, upgrades to the road network, pedestrian and cycle mobility infrastructure, and demand management strategies.

19/06/2026

Walkability – Karachi belongs to everyone, but its streets do not show it.

Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer, which uses mobile phone data, estimates a gradual decline in the modal share of walking for Karachi, from 8.2% in 2018 to 5.2% in 2023, which is extremely low for a dense urban area. Assuming most children and probably an important part of the less wealthy population do not own a smartphone, this is likely to be a significant under-
estimate.

People do not walk in Karachi out of choice, but as a form of survival.

Many pedestrian footpaths and pavements in Karachi are broken, have been converted to unregulated parking for cars, lorries or motorbikes or even used for dumping refuse — to the detriment of pedestrian safety and public health. It is not unusual to come across encroachment from neighbouring properties, which in effect privatises the public realm.

A city that makes walking dangerous is a city that tells people who walk, whether by choice or by need, that they do not matter. It is not just about accessibility, but about who the city is built for: motor vehicles, or for all users to have a fair share of the space available.

Karachi can and must do better. Fix the footpaths, remove the clutter and encroachment, plant trees to provide shade, and make crossings safe. Walkability is about equity: give pedestrians the right to be safe.

As the draft GKRP2047 begins to emerge, the question of walkability will be at the heart of how we consider the role of Karachi’s streets, and the right to the city. What do you feel about walking? Tell us what it means to you.

12/06/2026

An intense City Fresco “serious game” co-design workshop resulted in the drafting of over 100 actions that will inform the development of the Regional Plan.

Held at ’s City Campus conference hall on 14 May 2026, the workshop involved a packed schedule of interactions and discussions on the causes and consequences of the decisions that are taken to plan for and develop our cities. It involved over 25 delegates, each of whom received a personal invitation to attend the event, and represent their specific interest group.

Using a pack of pre-prepared cards, the City Fresco game is designed to obtain a collective agreement on the triggers and consequences of decisions that affect how cities develop.

We are grateful to the time everyone who attended gave, in the quality of the debate, and the interaction between the different groups. The purpose of a co-design workshop is for those who participate have a direct say in the Regional Plan; we will ensure that the defined actions are embedded in the Plan.

A particular thanks goes to urban specialists .net for providing free use of the City Fresco cards and for the permission that is given to adapt them to reflect a particular context, in this case Karachi.

.net

Greater Karachi Regional Plan 2047 گریٹرکراچی ریجنل پلان

31/07/2026

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