Karachi, not Mumbai or Delhi, is the largest Metropolitan city of S.Asia

[AUz]

I don't know how many people realized this, but according to the latest data, Karachi, with approximately 24 million people, is the largest city and also the largest Urban Metropolitan center in South Asia. Infact, Karachi is the second largest city in entire world and will soon become the largest city proper on planet! I was under the impression that indian cities--such as Mumbai and Delhi etc--are larger than Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi (Although Pakistani cities to be obviously much cleaner and better organized etc)

List of world's largest cities, metropolitan areas, and urban agglomerations: 2015-2016

This is very interesting. Karachi had a population of mere 400,000 people at the time of Independence. After gaining freedom and establishment of the Islamic Republic, Muslims of Pakistan constructed a humongous metropolitan urban hub at the shores of Arabian sea, surpassing any other city in South Asia in terms of sustaining the Urban human population.

Quite admirable...

Just imagine 50 years ago, none of it was here...and today this sprawling 21st century metropolis is oozing with full of life and culture overlooking the magnificent Arabian sea

In a sense, Karachi is a microcosm of Pakistan with it's ethnic and cultural diversity integrated together by Islamic homogeneity.

Approximately 97% of Karachi's population is Muslim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karachi

 

[Deadpool]

I don't know how many people realized this, but according to the latest data, Karachi, with approximately 24 million people, is the largest city and also the largest Urban Metropolitan center in South Asia. Infact, Karachi is the second largest city in entire world and will soon become the largest city proper on planet! I was under the impression that indian cities--such as Mumbai and Delhi etc--are larger than Pakistani cities of Lahore and Karachi (Although Pakistani cities to be obviously much cleaner and better organized etc)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_agglomerations_by_population#List

Actually, world has moved beyond Largest Cities debate because defining cities is just a jurisdictional issue. In many countries when the cities run out of space they have to expand...there are additional districts developed right adjacent to the main city which become part of the city but remain jurisdictionally different. That means artificial limitation. This is happening all over the world as cities run out of space.

Therefore, the concept of Urban Agglomeration has been brought up. It is now the standard of measurement. Not city population but UA population.

Guangzhou is the largest UA. Delhi is the second largest.
Karachi is 5th. Mumbai is 9th.

 

[Smiling Buddha]

Congrats to all pakistanis

 

[Gregor Clegane]

In terms of population, yes
But not in terms of GDP.

 

[AUz]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_agglomerations_by_population#List

Actually, world has moved beyond Largest Cities debate because defining cities is just a jurisdictional issue. In many countries when the cities run out of space they have to expand...there are additional districts developed right adjacent to the main city which become part of the city but remain jurisdictionally different. That means artificial limitation. This is happening all over the world as cities run out of space.

Therefore, the concept of Urban Agglomeration has been brought up. It is now the standard of measurement. Not city population but UA population.

Guangzhou is the largest UA. Delhi is the second largest.
Karachi is 5th. Mumbai is 9th.

Urban Agglomeration isn't "standard of measurement." Most standard measurement of cities is "metropolitan center"

For example, take Delhi Urban Agglomeration. It is no way near a measurement of New Delhi as a city. It has numbers of various urban settlements and cities from multiple, different states clumped together under one title of National Capital Region.National Capital Region is a federal province and not a city. That is why it has a population of almost 50 million. No indian metropolitan city is capable of supporting 50 million people, but a federally-administrated "province" composed of multiple various cities in different indian states can have such population.

So as a "city" or metropolitan area--Delhi is no way near close to being larger than the clossal metropolis that is Karachi.

In terms of population, yes
But not in terms of GDP.

Offcourse.

india is a much bigger economy due to its sheer size. GDP wise Pakistani and indian cities won't be similar in overall terms. However, we should look at per capita GDP.

According to a 2015 Brooking institution's report on Metropolitan Areas, Mumbai had a GDP per capita of $1990 per person.

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bmpp_GMM_final.pdf

Karachi's GDP per capita is higher at $2300

But then again, there would be other sources giving different numbers by doing different calculations.

Overall, anybody with enough brain cells will realize that South Asian cities are pretty much in similar league of development. It's not like Mumbai is Lagos and Lahore as Los Angeles (or vice versa). Our cities still have a long way to go before becoming "fully developed" cities of modern era.

Anyways, the thread isn't about GDP or rape, slums, poverty or sanitation for that matter. It'll get out of control if we get into these areas--especially poverty and sanitation etc.

 

[Kambojaric]

Things seem to be stabilizing in Karachi now politically, and in the coming years the city should claim its place as a major globally known metropolis. Best of luck, from a Lahori

 

[Gregor Clegane]

Urban Agglomeration isn't "standard of measurement." Most standard measurement of cities is "metropolitan center"

For example, take Delhi Urban Agglomeration. It is no way near a measurement of New Delhi as a city. It has numbers of various urban settlements and cities from multiple, different states clumped together under one title of National Capital Region.National Capital Region is a federal province and not a city. That is why it has a population of almost 50 million. No indian metropolitan city is capable of supporting 50 million people, but a federally-administrated "province" composed of multiple various cities in different indian states can have such population.

So as a "city" or metropolitan area--Delhi is no way near close to being larger than the clossal metropolis that is Karachi.



Offcourse.

india is a much bigger economy due to its sheer size. GDP wise Pakistani and indian cities won't be similar in overall terms. However, we should look at per capita GDP.

According to a 2015 Brooking institution's report on Metropolitan Areas, Mumbai had a GDP per capita of $1990 per person.

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bmpp_GMM_final.pdf

Karachi's GDP per capita is higher at $2300

But then again, there would be other sources giving different numbers by doing different calculations.

Overall, anybody with enough brain cells will realize that South Asian cities are pretty much in similar league of development. It's not like Mumbai is Lagos and Lahore as Los Angeles (or vice versa). Our cities still have a long way to go before becoming "fully developed" cities of modern era.

Anyways, the thread isn't about GDP or rape, slums, poverty or sanitation for that matter. It'll get out of control if we get into these areas--especially poverty and sanitation etc.

Karachi is nowhere mentioned in Brookings report.

 

[AUz]

Karachi is nowhere mentioned in Brookings report.

I know that. However, it's not hard to find per capita income for Karachi via googling.

I am not interesting in dick measuring little GDP contests btw. If I was, I would've mentioned toilets, poverty, rape, uncleanliness, sanitation, and many other factors in my OP and compared Karachi to Mumbai to show how much better Karachi is. I didn't do that. I hope you won't start that either...

Things seem to be stabilizing in Karachi now politically, and in the coming years the city should claim its place as a major globally known metropolis. Best of luck, from a Lahori

Karachi haven't had an actual population and economic census since almost 20 years!!! Waiting 1 and half years, update numbers will reveal TRUE extent of Karachi's economic and cultural clout

Pakistan's GDP calculation is severely outdated. Hopefully, we make 2010 as our base year (similar to what india did) and publish true figures of Pakistan's actual GDP. This will give us a better picture of where our cities stand currently.

Right now our base year is 2000

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Therefore, the concept of Urban Agglomeration has been brought up. It is now the standard of measurement. Not city population but UA population.

Very well noted. It all boils down to where you place the city boundaries or how wide the net is. Karachi has indeed very large population but I doubt it can match some of the larger Indian cities. The reason is simple. Karachi is built in the desert. Therefore beyond it's suburbs or the outer rim the population density plummets to almost sparse. However in India and China the population agglomeration or built up area just keeps on going on and there is no real physical end point. This is where the boundaries come into it which create artifical administrative units on which the population numbers are based.

Delhi has no defined outer limit.

 

[AUz]

Very well noted. It all boils down to where you place the city boundaries or how wide the net is. Karachi has indeed very large population but I doubt it can match some of the larger Indian cities. The reason is simple. Karachi is built in the desert. Therefore beyond it's suburbs or the outer rim the population density plummets to almost sparse. However in India and China the population agglomeration or built up area just keeps on going on and there is no real physical end point. This is where the boundaries come into it which create artifical administrative units on which the population numbers are based.

Delhi has no defined outer limit.

He isn't talking about Delhi, but National Capital Territory. India has multiple federally administrated terrorities which are akin to states/province--but under federal government.

This "urban agglomeration" thing applies to China, yes--but no way does it apply to Delhi as an Urban center.

Read my post number 5 to better get the jist of the issue.

 

[Deadpool]

He isn't talking about Delhi, but National Capital Territory. India has multiple federally administrated terrorities which are akin to states/province--but under federal government.

This "urban agglomeration" thing applies to China, yes--but no way does it apply to Delhi as an Urban center.

Read my post number 5 to better get the jist of the issue.

You still don't get it do you?
UA's are contiguous areas of settled population which are dependent on each other.

So regardless of whether they are administratively divided in multiple districts, multiple towns, multiple cities or multiple provinces is irrelevant. What is relevant is that their populations are contiguously settled and they are interdependent.

Very well noted. It all boils down to where you place the city boundaries or how wide the net is. Karachi has indeed very large population but I doubt it can match some of the larger Indian cities. The reason is simple. Karachi is built in the desert. Therefore beyond it's suburbs or the outer rim the population density plummets to almost sparse. However in India and China the population agglomeration or built up area just keeps on going on and there is no real physical end point. This is where the boundaries come into it which create artifical administrative units on which the population numbers are based.

Delhi has no defined outer limit.

Exactly, the idea is that when National Governments and International agencies do development planning, they take ground realities of people into consideration to be able to plan better for the needs of the population instead of artificial lines which distort the inherent nature of the place.

Cities are for people. People are not for cities.

As an example, Delhi is surrounded by 4 different cities(under 2 different States apart from Delhi) which were planned and developed with the sole purpose to serve as extensions of Delhi because of space constraints.

Gurgaon in Haryana State is one of them.

Where Delhi ends and where Gurgaon (an adjacent city) begins is something that no one can can know visually. It is just one big city. It is one big contiguous population.

Now because planning was becoming difficult, they called the region NCR(National Capital Region) and one planning body for the entire region called NCRPB (which spans multiple States). This body plans development for the entire region as though it were one big city.

As an example So now Delhi Metro is built with the express thought to be able to transport people between this region as though it was one big city but in actuality transporting people across multiple cities and multiple jurisdictions.

Because that is how the people are living in this region. You can imagine what would have happened if each city planned separately while presuming that it is separate from the other city whereas it is difficult to even demarcate on ground where one ends and the other begins.

This is how it is happening globally from China to Japan to India to Brazil.

That is because the people do it to ensure that our places are better for people to live in. In hindsight it is rather sad that these highly rated planners globally are not filled with people like @AUz , those whose thoughts start and end with dick measuring and who is now trying to somehow make people understand in perverted logic that Delhi UA is not a UA but Guangzhou is, instead of learning something new and just moving on.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Where Delhi ends and where Gurgaon (an adjacent city) begins is something that no one can can know visually. It is just one big city. It is one big contiguous population.

True. Whereas beyond Karachi is miles of empty desert. And I won't even contest this point with China or India. They simply have billlions of people which can only mean one thing - humongous cities. However I would add that urbanization rate is higher in Pakistan then India.

 

[Raul_AD]

You still don't get it do you?
UA's are contiguous areas of settled population which are dependent on each other.

So regardless of whether they are administratively divided in multiple districts, multiple towns, multiple cities or multiple provinces is irrelevant. What is relevant is that their populations are contiguously settled and they are interdependent.


Exactly, the idea is that when National Governments and International agencies do development planning, they take ground realities of people into consideration to be able to plan better for the needs of the population instead of artificial lines which distort the inherent nature of the place.

Cities are for people. People are not for cities.

As an example, Delhi is surrounded by 4 different cities(under 2 different States apart from Delhi) which were planned and developed with the sole purpose to serve as extensions of Delhi because of space constraints.

Gurgaon in Haryana State is one of them.

Where Delhi ends and where Gurgaon (an adjacent city) begins is something that no one can can know visually. It is just one big city. It is one big contiguous population.

Now because planning was becoming difficult, they called the region NCR(National Capital Region) and one planning body for the entire region called NCRPB (which spans multiple States). This body plans development for the entire region as though it were one big city.

As an example So now Delhi Metro is built with the express thought to be able to transport people between this region as though it was one big city but in actuality transporting people across multiple cities and multiple jurisdictions.

Because that is how the people are living in this region. You can imagine what would have happened if each city planned separately while presuming that it is separate from the other city whereas it is difficult to even demarcate on ground where one ends and the other begins.

This is how it is happening globally from China to Japan to India to Brazil.

That is because the people do it to ensure that our places are better for people to live in. In hindsight it is rather sad that these highly rated planners globally are not filled with people like @AUz , those whose thoughts start and end with dick measuring and who is now trying to somehow make people understand in perverted logic that Delhi UA is not a UA but Guangzhou is, instead of learning something new and just moving on.

Gurgaon (Haryana) only??? Add Noida, Greater Noida, Gaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) to it. The NCR region is very vast.

 

[Deadpool]

True. Whereas beyond Karachi is miles of empty desert. And I won't even contest this point with China or India. They simply have billlions of people which can only mean one thing - humongous cities. However I would add that urbanization rate is higher in Pakistan then India.

I am not aware of India's or Pakistan's urbanization rate. That said, I will not be surprised that Pakistan would have higher urbanization rate.

Gurgaon (Haryana) only??? Add Noida, Greater Noida, Gaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) to it. The NCR region is very vast.

I gave just one example out of many. I can only type so much

 

[Stephen Cohen]

Gurgaon (Haryana) only??? Add Noida, Greater Noida, Gaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) to it. The NCR region is very vast.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region is NOT small Either

4300 square Km
20 Million People

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_Metropolitan_Region