Agents of change - The case of Karachi City's waste management

The effective management of solid waste greatly challenges the cities of th e developing world. This paper analyses the different approaches used to br ing about changes in managing waste in Karachi between 1990 and 1996, focus ing on the process, agents and triggers of change. The main agents of chang e are politicians, the federal government and international donors (top-dow n) and grassroots groups and local leaders (bottom-up). The middle, municip al layer initiates and sustains change ineffectively. The paper recommends that there should be an understanding of the current process and agents of change before new solid-waste management systems are planned.