Google Doodle honours Perween Rahman on 65th birth anniversary

KARACHI: Google Doodle on Saturday honoured Pakistani social activist, architect, and urban planner Perween Rahman on her 65th birth anniversary.

Rahman, according to a statement by Google, devoted her life to uplifting marginalised communities.

Perween Rahman was born on Jan 22, 1957 in Dhaka, Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and relocated with her family to Karachi in 1971. She studied architecture
and went on to earn her master’s in housing, building, and urban planning from the Institute of Housing Studies in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Rahman’s personal experiences of displacement inspired her to pursue a career advocating for housing security, and in 1982, she began working as an unpaid intern for the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP).

This organization focused on sanitation, housing, and healthcare in Orangi Town on the outskirts of Karachi, one of the world’s largest informal
settlements. Here, many residents could not rely on legal protection to maintain rights to their homes and were frequently evicted for construction projects.