light industry capable of employing some 40 percent of 

 the labor force (City of Karachi 1974 , Government of 

 Pakistan 1977). Four such "metrovilles" were scheduled 

 for the program and one has been completed. The view 

 that Karachi could limit its size by refusing to 

 provide new housing has halted the other metroville 

 projects, but metrovilles will be built in other 

 cities. 



Metroville neighborhoods are provided with a 

 primary school (two shifts) , a marketplace, a bus stop, 

 a plaza, and a storage area for firewood for cooking. 

 For all nine neighborhoods, there is a health center, 

 social center, a small industrial estate, scattered 

 small industries, and an administrative center for 

 dealing with loans, land sales, and the various 

 operational aspects of the community. Housing loans 

 are available for 15 years with a small downpayment. 



The metroville land-use plan allocates over half 

 the area to housing and one-fourth to the street 

 system. The streets may be used as extensions of the 

 house for social gatherings, play space, and meetings. 

 A main pedestrian shopping street is provided within 

 easy walking distance of all 50,000 residents. A total 

 of $10 million was spent for capital outlays for the 

 first planned community, with the government supplying 

 help for home builders through technical assistance in 

 house construction and by selling such items as 

 concrete blocks, doors, windows, and plumbing materials 

 at reasonable prices. 



The Karachi development program focused on two 

 major potentials for the city's redevelopment: 

 capturing the rising land values that would be created 

 by the planned urban areas, and creating accessible 

 jobs in order to use the large supply of unutilized 

 labor. 



The launching of a worldwide city-building program 

 would be designed to apply innovative scientific and 

 technological approaches to urban development, 

 including new home-building techniques, water supply, 

 new sources of energy, waste management, waste water 

 recycling, and resource-conserving methods of expanding 

 educational and health care facilities. Adequate 

 transportation and communications would also be 

 important. 



City-building efforts and the management of urban 

 growth through urban development corporations depend on 

 having enough capital to pay for the initial, or front- 

 end, costs that cannot earn an immediate return (i.e. , 

 for the purchase of land and the installation of basic 

 infrastructure) . What is needed by most developing 

 nations is an international fund that would provide 

 loans for community-building by urban development 

 agencies or corporations. The United States should 



189 



