Final master plan model of DHA City Karachi presented

The final master plan model of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) City Karachi was presented at a meeting on Monday.
The meeting of the DHA City Karachi’s steering committee was chaired by the authority’s administrator Brig Aamer Raza Qureshi, according to a DHA statement.
The DHA City Karachi’s lead concept planner, Prof Spiro Pollalis, presented the main features of the master plan model including topography, residential sectors, business district, road networks and amenity areas.
The complete DHA City Karachi site is spread over an area of 11,640 acres that has been divided into 16 sectors; each sector has further four sub-sectors interspersed with residential and commercial plots of varying sizes.
Sector, street, road and plot numbering have been done logically in a systematic manner for easy understanding.
DHA City Karachi consultants’ team leader, Arif Osmani, gave the details of different infrastructure and specialised reports with the master plan. They include detailed sector reports on transport planning, water supply, sewerage and drainage system, solid waste management system, landscape planning, business development strategy, renewable energy development, sports and recreational facilities and sociology.
The sustainable features of the master plan design include introduction of ekistics-based pedestrian concept with emphasis on promotion of the culture of walking, cycling and maximum use of public (metro) transport in the city duly supported by a comprehensive roadway network.
Other sustainable features included renewable energy usage, reduction in electrical demand by incorporation of passive cooling features in houses design, natural cooling of streets through proper street orientation in planning, provision of adequate parking spaces, preservation of natural habitats and preservation of natural creeks through open and green spaces.
An international sustainability rating system had also being used in the development of master plan.
The features of gateway and downtown district were also presented by the planning team with details of the key components/areas of the district including city gateway, central business district, cultural park, education district all planned as per the international standards.
The physical execution of the DHA City Karachi is expected to start in next three months for which details of the immediate action plan were presented which includes construction of a security wall, beautifully designed security towers, DHA City Karachi composite building complex that has offices and a comprehensively designed seven-lane entrance gate.
The projects under the short-term development plan (2012-15) include arterial roads, major theme parks, lakeside parks, DHA City Karachi International University, DHA City Karachi Healthcare City and two residential sectors. Most of these projects would commence next year with varying completion time.
The administrator said that the DHA City Karachi’s master plan is a complete roadmap to modern living and a unique residential estate of the country. He commended the international and national experts for innovatively producing a versatile plan.