Socio-Economic Aspects of Slum Dwellers in Karachi - A Case Study of 14 Slums in District Malir

Abstract

Karachi is one of most populated cities in the world. Like every other most populated cities of developing world, slums are the major part of Karachi’s population contributing almost 50 percent of the city’s population. So, for the wellbeing and development of a city like Karachi, study of slums in the city and their wellbeing is of utmost importance. Slums in Karachi are widely spread throughout the city making it really difficult for the researchers to study the slum problems. This study is an exclusive attempt to study the socio-economic aspects of slum dwellers in Karachi. 14 slums from Malir district of Karachi were considered for this study as Malir district comprises of almost 15-20 percent of the total slums in Karachi. Major factors assumed and considered for finding socio-economic aspects of slum dwellers included gender, marital status, occupation, education level of household head, monthly income of household, household size and room occupancy and duration of their residence and status in a particular locality. At the end, policy recommendations were developed to improve the overall living conditions and socio-economic well being of the slum dwellers.

Keywords: key words, orkforce sizing, job-shop production, holonic model