Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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The strategic location of Lagos has been its greatest strength. With its extensive waterfronts, water
bodies and port facilities, Lagos has become the economic hub of West Africa. This contributes mainly
to Lagos’ rapid population growth which in turn becomes one of the weaknesses of Lagos as it creates
bigger problems for Lagos, such as housing shortage and increasing poverty rate.
Lagos’ large and diverse population can also be seen in a positive way, as it creates high demand for
public transport which is essential to provide efficient urban transit services. The existence of
LAMATA as the transport authority for Lagos Metropolitan Area is a good example for other
megacities in developing worlds as it ensures an integrated and a coordinated transport policies and
programmes for the metropolitan area. LAMATA’s willingness to extend Lagospublic transport
network, not only land but also water based, is also a strength to realise sustainable urban transport
in Lagos.
This is also supported by opportunities that Lagos has, such as harbouring a lot of economic
headquarters, which shows that Lagos is an attractive place for investments and that it has a positive
economic growth. In terms of sustainable transport, walking is a basic demand in Lagos as many
people cannot afford to pay for using public transport. As such, walking has a high mode share in
Lagos. This should be seen as an opportunity to promote more sustainable transport modes in Lagos
as the demand already exists. However, despite the high demand of walking, the policy recognition for
NMT modes is very poor. This results in a very high rate of accidents involving NMT users due to a
high level of interaction between them and motorists.
Just like many other megacities, Lagos is facing massive daily traffic congestion due to its inadequate
and overburdened, mainly road, transport infrastructure. Uncontrolled urban sprawl due to a high
rate of in-migration, which has been threatened Lagos, also creates the need for daily journey to work
on a massive scale.
5.2. Karachi Urban Background
Karachi is the largest urban and economic centre of Pakistan. According to the United Nations (2014)
the population of the urban agglomeration of Karachi is currently 16 million and it expected that it
will reach about 25 million by 2030. It is located in the south of Pakistan, on the Arabian Sea, west of
the Indus River mouth. Karachi was the capital of Pakistan from the independence of Pakistan in 1947
until 1958, when Islamabad was built in the north of the country to provide a better distribution of
functions and activity in the country. Karachi remained the capital of Sindh province and never loses
its industrial, business and financial capital character and (Qureshi and Huapu, 2007; Qureshi, 2010).
The city has experienced a rapid growth since 1947, when it had a population of 0.4 million living in
an urban area of 233 km2. By 2004, the city had seen a 35 fold increase in its population and a 16 fold
increase in its spatial expansion, reaching 14million people and 3566km2 of urban area. Urban growth
in Karachi was predominantly induced by the influx of migrants and refugees. In 1971, a huge number
of refugees migrated from East Pakistan (current Bangladesh) and similarly in the 80s from
Afghanistan. Census in 1981 revealed a total of 1.72 million refugees in Karachi with more than 2.15
million in 1998 (Qureshi and Huapu, 2007; Qureshi, 2010).
Until 2001, Karachi was considered as division and comprised of five administrative districts: Karachi
East, Karachi West, Karachi South, Karachi Central and Malir. From August 2001, it has been
subdivided into 18 towns, each having Union Councils as further subdivision. Karachi has total 178
Union Councils with a population of around 55 to 65 thousand people each. After the subdivision, the
City District Government Karachi (CDGK) acquired increased administrative power to steer and guide
the city’s growth. The current organizational structure of CDGK is detailed and complex (Qureshi,
2010).