Displacement in urban South Asia.

Byline: Javeria Vaqar

KARACHI -- How do people get displaced as cities develop into sprawling conurbations - especially against the backdrop of climate change and a global pandemic?

The Karachi Urban Lab (KUL) at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, launched the Climate Change and Urban Violence Network (CCUVN) through a three-day digital workshop titled 'Climate Change, Cities and Violence in Time of Covid-19: Perspectives from South Asia.'

Aiming to bring forth research on urbanisation, displacement, violence and climate change from across Latin America, Africa and South Asia, the workshop was hosted By: IBA professor and KUL director Dr Nausheen Anwar, along with Dr Gulnaz Anjum, another professor at the varsity.

The first day of the workshop centred around 'Gender, Climate Change and Violence', and flowed into a discussion on 'Cities, Climate Change, Displacement and Development' on Thursday, which covered case studies from Lahore, Colombo and New Delhi.

On the panel was Centre for Migration Research and Development chairperson Dr Danesh Jayatilaka, who discussed his research on underserved communities in Colombo and the issues of relocating and resettling them in the city.

As one of the fastest developing cities in South Asia, the city houses a large population of migrants who have relocated for work, education or marriage and face various issues including violence against women and girls. Due to developmental projects, many have been resettled and compensated as the government and developers work to minimise the effects of displacement.

In contrast, Fatima Tassadiq, a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke of urbicide or 'urban destruction that occurs through the confluence of capitalist development...