Thread by @gulraizkhan

Clifton’s Emerald Necklace.

Clifton, & District South, have the largest concentration of designated parks in the city. From Nehr-e-Khayyam to the beach & back up along the Boat Basin, they form a chain, which, if connected, can provide the city a valuable recreation space.

Nehr-e-Khayyam is right now a dumpster & dumping ground. Several attempts have been made to encroach along its banks. Few attempts made to restore the drain & develop it as a linear park. Say hello to these excited neighborhood pups.

The first park along its banks is the Urban Forest, which is visibly struggling. Entrance along the Nehr is closed, but the one in the street behind open. The place is overgrown, but promising as a space for engagement. This experiment of stewardship should not fail.

Next, across the street from Urban Forest, is the desolate Nadeem bin Wali Muhammad Park. Windswept, surrounded by houses that have turned their backs on it. A small strip connects it to the Family Park next door.

The Family Park is an unremarkable plot that hosts the Metro Library. Cookie cutter, with few grown up trees.

Across the street is the Aunty Park. One of the better used spaces, it’s also one of the few that has restrooms (that require desperate help). The guard was kind enough to let me walk my bicycle through to the other side, which is closed. Left from a small exit to the right.

To the left is the Moin Akhtar park, which is basically just a Conocarpus forest. The vegetation is so thick that it doesn’t feel safe to be inside.

Across from Aunty Park is the marbled Bagh-e-Mucca, renamed Shaheed Hosh Muhammad Sheedi Park. It used to be closed until @MahimMaher made some noise. Mostly serving as a nursery right now. It said Family Park but the warden let me in. Most interesting of all parks so far.

The one across, also gifted by Cowasjee, is the shuttered Bagh-e-Rustom. Gorgeous, overgrown vegetation, strewn with garbage. Nearby Afghan consulate holds sway to not let people in.

Across Bagh-e-Rustom, but entirely disconnected from it, is the sprawling Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim. The warden at the front gate didn’t let me in - Families Only - but the one on Gate 3 on Sea View road not just let me in for a walk, but also let me park my bicycle inside.

Ibn-e-Qasim is Karachi. Wasted potential. A monoculture of Conocarpus shrubs. Unremarkable for anything except its size. Dominated by Malik Riaz’s middle finger, a mosque & remnants of Zardari’s land grab. Site for past glory. Abandoned sculpture from Karachi Biennale.

Clifton, in its original plan, was supposed to have a 300m promenade at the beach, running the entire length from Block 1 to 4. The sea is pushed back so far, that we could have a km wide promenade. The Beach View Park across Ibn-e-Qasim is a sample of that original promenade.

Desolate, unkempt, falling apart. The startled white dinosaur, with a broken tail, felt like a commentary on the Pakistan Peoples Party, whose founder, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, planned all these decaying parks in Clifton.

I also visited the recently reopened, New Clifton Garden and the Shah Rasool Terrace. Nearby consulates, like other parks in Clifton, had all but shuttered them on security concerns. Where else in the world do consulates behave like thugs? Both had reluctant visitors.

Lastly, the most exciting park in Clifton Block 2 is an innovation. Built on the oil pipeline reservation, which was mostly a parking lot & dumping ground, this almost km-long rectilinear series of parks is full of people from surrounding apartment buildings.

The same should now be extended through Block 1, all the way to Ziauddin Hospital, providing vast new public space for Block 1, but more importantly, for Shireen Jinnah Colony. This can be transformative for the neighborhood.

Apologies for this boring thread. But that’s because these parks are fucking boring. No diversity in design, use or plantation. If you must redesign them, do it as a connected system. These are not neighborhood parks. They should be accessible to all of Karachi’s residents.

Hire a landscape designer who understands the city’s ecology. Fill them up with native grasses, shrubs and trees. It’s rare for city’s wealthiest neighborhood to have so much open space. It’s a shame for all it to be a total wasteland, ready for grabs. 🥺😞