UPLIFTING INDIGENT COMMUNITIES THROUGH SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF BAGHDADI

Ar. Aroosa Mushtaq & Ar. Wajiha Siddiqui
(University of Karachi, Pakistan)

Abstract
Where urbanization in Pakistan has opened its doors for possibilities of better jobs, easier global communication and access for services in poverty-control areas, acts of organized criminal violence in low-income settlements have also been highly reported. The vicious cycle where a common man can hardly afford the basic necessities of food, apparel, and health, child education is a farfetched concern. This poverty-violence dilemma is an unarguable question, along with many others, for what beholds for the future generation of such deprived areas.

Lyari is one of such highly affected areas with a history of extreme violence, located in the city of Karachi. The research will take the Baghdadi neighborhood of Lyari as a case study where an NGO, Kiran Foundation established a school in 2006. It aims to instill leadership val in a child from an early age. By 2016, the foundation successfully adopted a state-owned school in Lyari and with their mother-child education program, the school became a sanctuary of wellbeing and comfort. In 2017, the NGO underwent a major build-up up-gradation of both Kiran School System and DCTO Government School which opened a new paradigm of thoughts for the community, as well as people outside Lyari. The interior to exterior spatial quality leaves a conversation for architects on community development as an urban rehabilitation project. Furthermore, the research will signify outcomes of placemaking strategy, effects of participation
of stakeholders in community development, and will highlight the possibilities of the architect’s role as a social scientist.

Keywords: Place-making, Social Construction, Urban Rehabilitation, Social Sustainability,
Community
 
Current Status: Poster presentation International Conference on ” The Role of Social Scientists in 21st Century  ” organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi (Nov 14, 2019) at the Arts and Social Sciences Auditorium, UoK, Karachi, Pakistan