![]() Through this process interest groups are identified and contacted and so are government plans, their authors and financing agencies. This newsletter is called “Facts & Figures”. On the basis of these folios it publishes a monthly newsletter, both in English and Urdu. The URC keeps subject wise news clippings on various social and physical issues related to Karachi and prepares folios on them. The URC feels that this space needs to be nurtured and institutionalized and this is its main objective. Through this process the URC has managed to create a space for interaction between poor communities, NGOs, private (formal and informal) sector interest groups, academic institutions and government agencies. Almost all the questions on the appropriateness, environmental issues, costs (social and economic) and alternatives that are taking place in Karachi today are the result of the work of the URC. ![]() This interaction has generated debate and discussion in the press about subjects not discussed before, and brought about substantial changes in how problems and planning are viewed by government agencies and different stakeholders. These forums are documented and their results disseminated. This research and its documentation is developed through case studies profiles of formal and informal organizations and individuals and by holding forums on different subjects in which the various interest groups (communities, informal service providers, government agencies, political parties) participate. In addition, it carries out research on all proposed major urban development projects and analyses them from the point of view of communities and interest groups. To promote its objectives the URC identifies the actors and factors that are involved in shaping Karachi’s development along with their relationships with each other and with relevant state agencies. They further felt that workable alternatives were required and these were possible only with the involvement of informed communities and interest groups. The new members felt that Karachi’s official development plans ignored the larger socio-economic reality of the city and as such were unworkable and environmentally disastrous. The direction of the Centre also changed. ![]() After a few months of its setting up, the URC became an independent registered organization and its governing body expanded to include urban planning related professionals, representatives of NGOs and community organizations from low and lower income areas, and activists from the Orangi Pilot Project-Research & Training Institute (OPP-RTI). The objective of the Centre was to collect all available material on Karachi and update it through newspaper clipping and analysis. ![]() The Urban Resource Centre (URC) was set up in early 1989 at the Department of Architecture and Planning of the Dawood College in Karachi. ![]()
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