| Karachi Towns | |||
| nowrap width="130px" | Population (1998 census) (2006 estimate) | nowrap width="130px" | 9,339,023 11,969,284 |
| Area | 3,528 km2 | ||
| City Nazim (Mayor) | Murtuza Wahab | ||
| Naib Nazim | Salman Murad | ||
| District Coordination Officer | Fazal-ur-Rehman | ||
| Towns | 18 | ||
| Union Councils | 178 | ||
| Website | karachicity.gov.pk | ||
Karachi, Pakistan was a federation of eighteen autonomous boroughs, called "Towns," that made up the City District of Karachi from 2001 until 2011. Under this now-defunct system, Karachi had a local government system, with a mayor empowered to make decisions in regards to city-planning and administration of local services. The system was abolished in 2011, and Karachi was divided into 5 City District Municipal Corporations, with a 6th formed in 2013. Each Municipal Corporation now has its own Chairman and Deputy Chairman. The Karachi Development Authority, which controls city-planning and administration of services in Karachi, is no longer controlled at the local level, but is instead administered by the province directly.[1]
The history of the administration of Karachi begins in 1846, when a cholera epidemic threatened the 9,000 citizens of the city. The efforts to combat this infectious disease were coordinated by a Conservancy Board. In 1852, the Conservancy Board became a Municipal Commission and in 1853, it was upgraded to Municipal Committee. In 1878, the city was empowered to collect taxes at a local level.
The City of Karachi Municipal Act was promulgated in 1933, and the Municipal Committee became a multi-ethnic 57-member Municipal Corporation with a President and a Vice-President in place of the former Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The first President was Jamshed Naserwanji, who had previously served as Mayor for twenty years.
| Karachi Population | ||
| 1961 census | 1,912,598 | |
| 1972 census | 3,498,634 | |
| 1981 census | 5,208,132 | |
| 1998 census | 9,339,023 | |
| 2006 estimate | 13,969,284 | |
| 2006 estimate | 17,969,284 | |
| Source | World Gazetteer | |
After independence in 1947, Karachi became the capital of the newly independent state of Pakistan and Mayor Hakim Ehsan received the Governor-General, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, at Karachi International Airport. 1948 saw the city boundaries fixed within the new Federal Capital Territory, which covered 2,103 km2 but also included several small towns and villages separate from Karachi.
During the period from 1961 to 1970 the former Federal Capital Territory was merged with the neighbouring princely state of Las Bela to form the Karachi-Bela Division of West Pakistan. During the 1970s this merger was reversed and Karachi became a division in its own right, covering 3,528 km2.
The Karachi Municipal Corporation was upgraded to a Metropolitan Corporation in 1976, followed by Zonal Municipal Committees operating from 1987 to 1994. The system of government changed again in 1996, when the Division of Karachi was subdivided into five districts, each with its own Municipal Corporation.
In 1999, President Pervez Musharraf committed itself to an overhaul of the entire administrative structure of the country. In the year 2000, the entire third tier of government (administrative divisions) was abolished in favour of the fourth tier (districts). In Karachi, the division of Karachi and the five districts were merged to form a new City-District which was subdivided in August 2001 into eighteen autonomous towns comprising 178 local union councils.
The town system was abolished in 2011, and the Karachi Development Authority is run at the provincial, rather than local, level.
Karachi is divided into 7 districts:[2] [3]
Each of the eighteen towns were governed by an elected Town Council, and led by an elected Town Nazim (Mayor) assisted by a number of officials.
| No.1 Saddar Town | Bhim Pura - Ghanchi Para | |
| No.2 Saddar Town | Hassan Lashkari Village | |
| No.3 Saddar Town | Garden | |
| No.4 Saddar Town | Miiiat Nagar | |
| No.5 Saddar Town | Ranchore Line - Ghazdarabad | |
| No.6 Saddar Town | Nanakwara | |
| No.7 Saddar Town | Old Town Kharadar | |
| No.8 Saddar Town | City Railway Colony | |
| No.9 Saddar Town | Saddar | |
| No.10 Saddar Town | Hijrat Colony | |
| No.11 Saddar Town | Frere Town | |
| No.12 Saddar Town | Boat Basin | |
| No.13 Saddar Town | Clifton - Kehkshan | |
| No.1 Lyari Town | Agra Taj Colony | |
| No.2 Lyari Town | Bihar Colony | |
| No.3 Lyari Town | Gulistan Colony | |
| No.4 Lyari Town | Singo Lane | |
| No.5 Lyari Town | Nawa Lane | |
| No.6 Lyari Town | Kalakot - Rexer Lane | |
| No.7 Lyari Town | Ghulam Muhammad Lane - Rangiwara | |
| No.8 Lyari Town | Kalri - Shah Baig Lane | |
| No.9 l_yari Town | Daryabad - Hingorabad | |
| No.10 Lyari Town | Khadda Memon Society | |
| No.11 Lyari Town | Nayabad | |
| No.12 Lyari Town | Baghdadi | |
| No.13 Lyari Town | Jinnahabad -Ghulam Shah Lane |
| Sohrab Goth Town | Union Committee No.1 | Al Asif Square | |
| Union Committee No.2 | New Quetta Town | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Sukhiya Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Ayub Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Khadim Hussain Solangi Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Ahsanabad | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Yousuf Sahab Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | New Sabzi Mandi | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Safoora | Union Committee No.1 | Abbas Town | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Gulzar-e-Hijri | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Sachal Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Al Azhar Garden | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Johar Complex | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Pahlwan Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Gulistan-e-Jauhar | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Safari Park | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Gulshan-e-lobal | Union Committee No.1 | Essa Nagri | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Hassan Square | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Jamali Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Zia ul Haq Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | New Dhoraji | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Metrovil-Ill | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Shanti Nagar | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | National Stadium | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Jinnah | Union Committee No.1 | Pakistan Quarter | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Soldier Bazar | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Patal Para | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Jamshed Quarter | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Martian Quarter | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Fatima Jinnah | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Bahadurabad | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Dehli Mercantile Society | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Tunisia Line | ||
| Union Committee No.10 | Jacobline | ||
| Union Committee No.11 | Behind Jacobline | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Chanesar | Union Committee No.1 | PECHS-I | |
| Union Committee No.2 | PECHS-II | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Mehmoodabad | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Manzoor Colony-I | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Manzoor Colony-II | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Akhtar Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Azam Basti | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Chanesar Goth | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, New Karachi | Union Committee No.1 | Shahnawaz Bhutto Colony | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Gulshan-e-Saeed | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Khawaia Ajmeer Nagri | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Mustafa Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Kala School | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Khamiso Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Madina Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Faisal | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Abuzar Ghaffari | ||
| Union Committee No.10 | Godhran | ||
| Union Committee No.11 | Hakeem Ahsan | ||
| Union Committee No.12 | Ka!liana | ||
| Union Committee No.13 | Muhammazi Shah | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Liaquatabad | Union Committee No.1 | Moosa Colony | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Sharifabad | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Bundhani Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | lbn-e-Seena | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Commercial Area | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Dakhana | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | C-Area | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, North Nazimabad | Union Committee No.1 | Sir Syed | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Farooq-e-Azam | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Siddiq-e-Akbar | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Buffer Zone | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Taimooria | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Sakhi Hassan | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Hyderi | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Al-Falha | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Pahar Gunj | ||
| Union Committee No.10 | Mustafaabad | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Gulberg | Union Committee No.1 | Shafiq Colony | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Samanabad | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Water Puump | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Naseerabad | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Yaseenabad | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Azizabad | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Karimabad | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Gulberg | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Nazimabad | Union Committee No.1 | Paposh Nagar | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Abbasi Shaheed | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Hadi Market | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Nazimabad | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Razvia Society | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Firdous Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Gulbahar | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Malir | Union Committee No.1 | Ghareebabad | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Ghazi Dawood Brohi | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Jaffar-e-Tayyar | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Khuldabad | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Quaidabad | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Dawood Chowrangi | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Future Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Sharafi Goth | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Bakhtawar | ||
| Union Committee No.10 | Bhittaiabad | ||
| Town Municipal Corpolation, Gedep | Union Committee No.1 | Gadap | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Ghaahar | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Pipri | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Gulshan-e-Hadeed | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Steel Town | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Saleh Muhammad | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Murad Memon | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Darsano Channo | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Shah Mureed | ||
| Town Municipal Corporation, Ibrahim Hyderi | Union Committee No.1 | Chowkandi | |
| Union Committee No.2 | Shah Latif | ||
| Union Committee No.3 | Cattle Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.4 | Majeed Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.5 | Muzafarabad | ||
| Union Committee No.6 | Muslimabad | ||
| Union Committee No.7 | Sher Pao Colony | ||
| Union Committee No.8 | Ibrahim Hyderi | ||
| Union Committee No.9 | Chashma | ||
| Union Committee No.10 | Rehri | ||
| Union Committee No.11 | Ali Akbar Shah | ||