Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has acknowledged that successive governments, including his own, have made mistakes that contributed to Karachi's present condition, and stressed the need for effective urban planning for the city's challenges. He was speaking on Saturday at the Sindh Cities Forum 2026, organised at the Golf Club's Convention Centre by the Sindh Master Planning Authority in collaboration with NED University and UN-Habitat to mark World Cities Day.

Shah said his provincial government is working on master plans for 31 cities to ensure planned, sustainable and inclusive urban development, with Karachi and Hyderabad among the cities whose plans are being prepared. According to the provincial minister for local government, housing and town planning, master plans for 17 cities have been completed, while work on the remaining 14 is in its final stages. The government has so far issued a notification for the master plans of nine cities: Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Mithi, Islamkot, Dadu, Nawabshah and Naushahro Feroze.

Karachi is the hard case

The chief minister said work on the master plans for Karachi and Hyderabad is progressing rapidly, and that international consultants have been engaged for Karachi's plan. He acknowledged that correcting Karachi's existing situation is a major challenge for consultants and urban planners, saying that preparing a master plan for a new city from scratch is relatively easier. He urged the consultants to provide recommendations not only for improving the city's condition but also for ensuring the plan's effective implementation.

Master planning, he said, is essential to address unplanned construction, traffic congestion, water shortages, inadequate drainage and the effects of climate change. The admission matters because it comes from the province's own chief minister rather than an outside critic, and because Karachi's problems, from shops built along stormwater drains to unchecked sprawl, are the product of decades of decisions, not a single administration.