Background In Pakistan

In Pakistan, as elsewhere in the developing world, the proportion of urban population living under the poverty line is rising at an alarming rate. An estimated 50% of the urban population in the country lives below the poverty line. Moreover, Pakistan’s urban population is growing at 3.5% per annum. Over 30% of the country’s urban population lives in squatter settlements on municipal/ public lands and close to 50% do so in the city of Karachi. The unchecked growth of these temporary settlements continues as a result of shortcomings in the housing delivery system and lack of access to affordable land tenure by the poor.