We talk about sustainable development as academics and planners without accepting the ground reality that 58.7 million people in Pakistan dwell below the poverty line. That’s according to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad.

Poverty is considered to be non-compatible with sustainable development, as the poor have limited resources and, in order to survive, may end up exploiting natural resources. To make matters worse, when there is a prevalent ‘culture of poverty’ in a community, people are content with the status quo and may not be willing to work towards upward mobility.

But what is a ‘culture of poverty’? Principles of sustainability promote a balance between development, environment, social, cultural and economic resources in a way that exploitation does not happen and enough resources are left for future generations. But the culture of poverty stops people from taking advantage of economic opportunities — they remain in poverty as it becomes an ingrained culture and a way of life that people are used to.

I plan to explore two concepts of sustainability and poverty in this article: why these two concepts might be non-complementary, and how one becomes a deterrent for the marginalised poor in attaining upward mobility.

To implement sustainable development policies, especially in neglected localities like Machhar Colony, one has to eradicate the biggest hindrance first— poverty

THE CASE OF MACHHAR COLONY

Machhar Colony (named after the Sindhi word for fishermen) is located in the western district of Keamari, within Karachi. Its location is strategic, as it is right next to the country’s main port, and is being eyed for future developments related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

According to a 2017 paper by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the area is roughly spread over 352 acres, with approximately 88.6 acres encroaching upon the city’s mangroves forests. The Machhar Colony land is government-owned and belongs to the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), and it has a very high real estate value today. Machhar Colony is also amongst the biggest of Karachi’s over 550 unregulated neighbourhoods, with an estimated population between 700,000 to 1.2 million.

Karachi’s fisheries and the harbour are binding forces for the majority of the residents here. Although it is an old settlement, land use and housing is still evolving. The initial residents of Machhar Colony were port labourers. Much of the land of the colony was created by reclaiming it from the sea by dumping garbage, debris and stone into the sea. Since it was built with debris, the zigzagging streets are bumpy and there are heaps of garbage burning everywhere.

Officially, the colony is considered an ‘illegal slum’. Hence, authorities do not provide basic facilities such as sanitation, infrastructure and water, due to which residents face major health issues. A large number of the residents of Machhar Colony are of Bengali origin and have been denied citizenship rights in Pakistan. They are also denied access to formal schooling and any healthcare facilities.

This situation traps them in a culture of poverty, which has become ingrained in their mindset. In such a scenario, when an economic opportunity arises, sustainable development options are the least of their concerns and often lead to unsustainable living choices in the face of limited access to resources.

THE EVEN MORE MARGINALISED

This calls for a review of the three pillars of sustainable development: economy, culture and environment. There is a need to reflect upon these, with respect to patterns of governance, political standing and policies that are not part of the sustainable development framework.

Machhar Colony is a unique informal settlement in its own way. The difference of this community from the rest of the informal settlements in Karachi is the ethnic mix, where the majority of residents are Bengali speaking and Rohingya. They come from an extremely poor, rural background.

They have never accessed formal welfare programmes at the city and state level because they are often not recognised as citizens. Thus, it is difficult for them to get education and jobs, and access formal businesses. As a result, their new generation has been stunted. They have become isolated and do not have a relationship with the outside world.

This is very different from other low-income settlements in the rest of the city. For example, Afghan refugees, who are also migrants, have entered commerce, trade and businesses, simply because of their connections with the rest of Pakistan. The residents of Machhar Colony, however, are completely dependent on fishing. Therefore, in the months when there is no fishing, they have no income.

Their houses are built on in-filled land that keeps sinking. They have to pay loads of money to infill the land. Sanitation cannot be made simply because of the lay of the land and the absence of a disposal point. There is a continuous water crisis in their locality since they are not on the priority list to get water.

Thus, they are amongst the few communities in Pakistan who have a prevalent culture of poverty. Even if they have the money, they are not able to access resources and implement infrastructure upgradation because of a lack of accessibility or because they lack trust in formal sector organisations.

Hence, they live in a culture of poverty, and the implementation of concepts or theories related to sustainable development is not a priority for them. The question arises if this state of inertia results in promoting negative impacts of development explicitly.

The residents of Machhar Colony also face social exclusion, especially the Bengalis and Rohingya. They are excluded from any decision taken with regards to their settlement or by the other residents of the colony. As they do not have any national identity cards and face great trouble in obtaining them, they have difficulty accessing basic facilities such as healthcare and education. This social gap was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, where the government was only administering the vaccine to CNIC-holders.

These marginalised groups constantly face the threat of eviction, as they are sitting on informally reclaimed land. This leads to a general mistrust on their part towards the rest of the city and towards people belonging to other ethnic groups, leaving them in a state of despair and hopelessness.

THE CULTURE OF POVERTY

Culture has the power to change and transform which, when put in practice, can help achieve sustainability, or at least lead towards development and an acknowledgement of sustainable practices. The culture of poverty, as argued in literature on the topic, does not have a transformative power and is conceptualised as a subculture rather than a leading force.

In the case of Machhar Colony, it has long been evident that residents were stuck in the vicious circle of poverty and either did not feel obliged to take any actions to improve their living conditions or did not know how to go about doing this. Their trust in local governance and formal sector organisations was minimal and they had no sense of commitment towards institutions.

This sense of disempowerment forces people to survive on a day-to-day basis, rather than think about long-term plans. If cutting down mangroves can result in them building a house on reclaimed land, they will opt for this instead of thinking of long-term sustainable development.

Can concepts of sustainability help realign the notions of power and can these ideas help generate empowerment amongst communities experiencing a culture of poverty? Also, can sustainable ideas transform the impact of neoliberal development, especially in cases where neoliberalism as a theory has negative impacts on people living in poverty?

One does see some community-driven initiatives and approaches from residents of Machhar Colony, but upward mobility is hindered by their lack of accessibility in the larger public realm, mainly because they are denied rights to citizenship.

In other words, the social exclusion they face has a negative impact on the development of the neighbourhood, as economics, environment and society are part of culture and are all pillars of the larger concept of sustainability.

A sustainable environment can lead to economic opportunities and an enhancement of cultural norms. For example, a clean street that has adequate solid waste collection and disposal can lead to a general sense of wellbeing, thus resulting in economic opportunities, upward mobility and a sense of empowerment.

Conclusively, a culture of poverty may hinder development and does not pave the path for sustainable livelihood either.

If sustainable development is to be achieved, poverty needs to be addressed and curtailed.

The writer is an academic, architect and urban researcher based in Karachi. She can be reached at suneela_mail@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, January 7th, 2024