International Conference: Managing Megacities 2016

In 1950 New York was the only megacity in the world, with 10 million or more inhabitants. Then Karachi’s population was only one million. In 1970 Karachi was not even among the 30 largest cities in the world. Currently, with an estimated population of over 22 million, Karachi is ranked as the 7th largest megacity in the world and its population has now exceeded that of New York. Today, most megacities are located in developing countries and beyond their size, many of these megacities share a constellation of challenges, including transportation shortages and congestion, water scarcity, environmental degradation, lack of health and education facilities and, extremely large proportions of young people, many of whom are trapped in poverty, violence and crime. These urban challenges take on a qualitatively new face at the scale of a megacity.

Over the last three years, the Schar School of Policy and Government, and the Center for Social Science Research at George Mason University have collaborated with the Department of Public Administration at the University of Karachi in social science research capacity building, through the University Partnership Program funded by the U.S. Department of State. The focal point of this partnership has been studying Karachi, with a special emphasis on the use of social science data for planning, programming and evaluation purposes. As the initial phase of this partnership is drawing to a close, an international conference on “Managing Megacities” will be held at the University of Karachi on September 21-22, 2016. The purpose of the conference is to highlight insights gained through the partnership, with an eye to improving the management, and ultimately the quality of life in Karachi, drawing on the experiences of other megacities.