The Lahore–Karachi Comparison: Power Explains Performance
“Cities grow. Lahore has. Karachi should learn.” The comparison is instructive only if we compare powers, not personalities. Lahore benefitted from administrative continuity, fiscal authority, and enforceable bylaws. Karachi generates revenue without autonomy; Lahore exercises autonomy with revenue. Outcomes follow incentives.
Islamabad’s serenity—often contrasted unfavorably with Karachi’s chaos—likewise stems from planning authority, enforcement capacity, and institutional presence, not moral superiority.
Demography Is Data, Not a Slur
A South Asia–wide map of cousin-marriage prevalence is often weaponized in online arguments. Used responsibly, it is a public-health and social-policy dataset, not a civilizational verdict. Governance failures are not inherited traits. They are policy choices.
A Practical Fix: Reorganize Sindh, Empower Cities
Administrative overload is real. The answer is functional reorganization, not federal seizure. A workable Sindh framework would create seven administrative units, each with elected local governments and clear mandates:
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Karachi Region – Urban economic hub; metropolitan authority with policing, zoning, transport, and building control.
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Lower Sindh (Thatta–Banbhore) – Coastal/delta governance; fisheries, ports, climate resilience.
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Hyderabad Region – Mixed urban-rural; irrigation, agro-processing.
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Mirpur Khas (Thar) – Desert economy; mining, livestock, water security.
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Shaheed Benazirabad – Agricultural heartland; value chains and logistics.
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Sukkur Region – Barrage management; riverine agriculture.
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Larkana Region – Heritage and rural development.
This model reduces load, sharpens accountability, and ends the farce where Karachi’s revenue cannot fix Karachi’s roads.
