Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan and the capital of Sind Province is located on the coastal exposed bedrock plain along the Arabian Sea, just to the west of the Indus delta. Developed in a period coinciding with the advent of the industrial and commercial era, Karachi is essentially a modern city with no tradition of royal forts and gardens like the historical towns of Multan, Peshawar or Lahore. The growth of this city during the last four decades has been phenomenal in as much as the city has grown 18 times in mereiy 40 years from a population of about 0.43 million at Independence in 1947 to about 8.0 million at present. Areawise, it has expanded from a mere 233 sq. km in 1947 to 1300 sq. km in 1988.

A study conducted recently on the settlement system in Pakistan has shown that Karachi has enough demographic, economic and infrastructural potentials for an accelerated future growth, The population projections made for the city indicate that by the year 2000, its population may reach a mark of 11-15 million, thus doubling its present size in the next 14 years. The growth rate of population of Karachi is about 5% per annum. The population structure is dominated by high proportions of young persons. About 41.5% of people are below 15 years of age. The potential impact on population growth and the requirements for education and employment in coming years are indeed immense.

Karachi’s role in the National Economy is both pivotal and prodigious. Possessing the port (now twin ports, of Karachi Port and Port Mohammed Bin Qasim) with a vast hinterland covering the entire country and also Afghanistan, a vibrant high order commercial centre, a foremost centre of transport, the concentration of industry to the extent of one-third of Pakistan’s major industrial units and pre-eminently the role of the capital of Sind Province, metropolitan Karachi contributes significantly to the development of Pakistan’s economy. Karachi’s share in the national gross domestic product in 1985 came to 19.44%, large scale manufacturing comprising about 31.44%) banking and insurance 41.03% and wholesale retail trade about 18.87%.

The average household income is also about three times the national average. The contribution of Karachi to both Federal and Provincial budget revenues remains exceedingly high. The impact and the role performed by the city in the national economy is well shown by a high rate of growth of the services sector which increased from 40.09% in 1972 to 44% in 1985. Karachi has also exercised a strong pull on thousands of job searches from all over the country. At least about 40% of population is drawn from people with origins from outside the city. The Karachi Development Authority is responsible for overall planning, implementation of plans and environmental control. All KDA schemes are self-financing, operating on a no-profit no-loss basis. In response to the challenge of Karachi’s unprecedented growth, the KDA has planned and developed 42 huge settlement schemes over an area of 44,000 hectares. Today the Authority has planned and developed about 600,000 serviced plots, constructed 100.000 dwelling units, laid a network of 2600 miles of water pipes, 2140 sewerage mains, built two sewage treatment plants, launched four water supply schemes with a total capacity of 324 million gallons of potable water. laid a network of 4500 miles of roads, three metropolitan parks and a number of commercial and industrial centres and estates.