Museum in a park?

KARACHI’S history is replete with instances of public land being taken over by government agencies for the benefit of the ruling elite or political parties.

Gutter Baghicha is a case in point. Originally, it was 1,016 acres, but now only 480 acres are left. It contains housing for members of the political elites. More recently, land at Hill Park and Kidney Hill has been taken over to create plots for the representatives of local bodies.

The case of the beautifully designed Jahangir Park is an example of insensitive planning. It had a long association with cricket. Hanif Mohammad and Intekhab Alam, among others, played here. Liaquat Ali Khan and Shaheed Suhrawardy held political rallies here. And the park contained the offices of the Afro-Asian solidarity group, to which leftists, including I.A. Rehman and Nisar Usmani, were regular visitors. All this is not represented in the renovation theme and is lost to history.

Now the area comprising Clifton’s adjacent Beach View and Bin Qasim parks is under attack; it has been proposed that a Karachi Museum should be constructed in the precincts of Beach View Park. Combined, the parks are spread across some 150 acres while estimates of the land required for the museum is said to range between 20 and 60 acres. But before we proceed further, let us see what the parks are currently used for. I have visited them on different days, including on weekends and at different times.

There are a number of buildings in the area. Some are under construction; others are being demolished for high-rise construction; and yet others have already been built. Apartment owners use the parks for morning and evening exercise and cycling. Most of these residents belong to the middle class or lower middle class since the rent of these apartments is Rs40,000 to Rs45,000 per month.

Given these considerations and the extreme congestion and disorganisation around the parks, it is necessary that the government arrange and facilitate an urban design exercise before any decision on the land-use criteria is finalised. Also, there are better options for creating space for a museum.

The ‘Karachi Museum’ can be located elsewhere in the city.

Any major structure built there will have Jahangir Kothari Parade in the background, which is a listed monument. It will overshadow the parade, which has already been adversely affected by the bypasses constructed in front of it by Malik Riaz of Bahria Town. More damage to the visibility of the parade should be avoided.

The footprint of the proposed museum may be very small, but its area of usage will be at least six times (perhaps more) as much and will cause further congestion in the area where it is located. Any construction will pave the way for future construction as we saw in the case of McDonalds Park and the Village restaurant. Doors to construction on the seaward side of Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue were opened, although it went against the recommendations of the 2006 Karachi Strategic Plan. Beach View itself was 47 acres in 2005. It is now 21 acres.

There is a lot of informal activity in the parks because of the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, and on the road leading to the beach from there. Over the weekends, a very large number of devotees from all over Pakistan visit the shrine, relax in the parks, take photographs, and have meals that they bring with them.

This turnout increases significantly on religious days and public holidays. A number of visiting families reside under the flyover for many days and use the toilets at nearby mosques. Many of our rural visitors also cook under the flyover.

Increasingly, young boys and men play football, and now cricket as well, in the area. Teams visit from Lyari and other areas of District South and even from other districts.

However, a Karachi Museum must be created so that our future generations can understand their city, love it and embrace it as theirs. In my considered opinion, the museum should be located in the Old Town. A study carried out by Rashida Bashir and myself of the Rampart Road and Newnham Road area shows fairly large vacant areas in both.

In addition, on Rampart Road, there is an old pre-Partition market which is large enough to house a museum and is surrounded by homes and businesses in old buildings. There are a large number of buildings which house godowns in these areas. If an alternative space is found for them, this whole area could serve as a museum. Luckily, no one appears to live there, but that would need to be confirmed.

Car parking will remain a problem, but if properly planned, the problem can be very easily solved. Let citizens and citizens’ organisations get together to struggle for the creation of a ‘Karachi Museum’ for ourselves and our future generations.

The writer is an architect.

arifhasan37@gmail.com

www.arifhasan.org

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2026 ...