The Unplanned Revolution: Observations on the Processes of Socio-economic Change in Pakistan - Tapa dura

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Arif Hasan is an architect/planner in private practice in Karachi. He studied architecture at the Oxford Polytechnic and on his return to Karachi in 1968, established an independent practice which slowly evolved into dealing with urban planning and development issues in general and of Asia and Pakistan in particular. He has been a consultant and advisor to many local and foreign CBOs, national and international NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral donor agencies. Since 1982, he has been involved with the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) and is the founder Chairman of the Urban Resource Centre (URC), Karachi, since its inception in 1989. Both institutions have received international recognition and are being replicated both nationally and in a number of other countries. The OPP is an informal settlement upgrading project whose development is managed and funded by local communities. The URC is a research and advocacy organization supporting communities against eviction and against gentrification and/or degradation of Karachi's inner city. Arif Hasan has taught at Pakistani and European universities, served on juries of international architectural and development competitions, and is the author of a number of books on development and planning dealing with Asian cities in general and Karachi in particular. He was a celebrity speaker at the Union of International Architects Congress in Brighton in 1987 and has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Aga Khan Award for two cycles and a member of its Master Jury. He is currently on the board of several international journals and research organizations including the Bangkok based Asian Coalition for Housing Rights. He has received a number of awards for his work (which spans many countries) including the UN Year for the Shelterless Memorial Award of the Japanese Government (1990), the Prince Claus Award of the Netherlands Government (2000), and the Hilal-i-Imtiaz of the Government of Pakistan (2001). Recently, he has been given a Life Time Achievement Award by the Institute of Architects, Pakistan (2003). The Orangi Project-Research and Training Institute, of which Arif Hasan is Chairman, received the British Housing Foundation's World Habitat Award in 2002.