Having said that, the public spaces of its hundred-plus cities have not seen much improvement. This has led to an increase in the mental and physical stress of its inhabitants, and has also deprived them of many economic activities or opportunities associated with well-developed public spaces. The World Bank Group recently came out with a report ‘The hidden wealth of cities: creating, financing, and managing public spaces’, which explores ways in which better development of public spaces, even in the most dense cities, could be achieved. The second areas of focus should be on ‘open and green spaces’ in an overall effort to improve the quality of urban public spaces. The three case studies in Karachi illustrate how declining social trust can be repaired by reclaiming public spaces through citizen mobilization.’

Source: Pakistan Today March 15, 2020 18:11 UTC