A Planned Dhaka City: Dream and Reality

A Planned Dhaka City: Dream and Reality
FORWARDING LETTER
November 23, 2011 Mr. Murshikul Alam Mr. Mizanur Rahman Department of Humanities, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka. Dear Sir, It is an honor and pleasure to submit our report entitled A Planned Dhaka CityDream and Reality to your supremacy. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude for your kind support and encouragement. We would also like to thank our classmates for their co-operation. In this report, we tried our level best to point out the present situation of Dhaka city. We also tried to find out some necessary steps that are required for building a planned Dhaka city. With necessary illustrations, figures and statistics, we hope that you will find this report purposeful. We believe, this report will provide basic thinking about planning of Dhaka. We apologize for any unintentional mistake in this report due to time constraint. We hope you will kindly consider those. Your sincerely, Md. Al-Adib Sarker (1004188) Md. Abu Naser (10047189) Utsa Rashique (1004190) Shofiq Ahmed (1004191) Bushra Tasnim (1004192) Fahim Zubayer (1004193) Level-1, Term- 2 Section C-2 Department of Civil Engineering
Contents List Of Illustrations ................................................................................................ 3 Summary ............................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 5 Planned Dhaka City: A Historical Overview .......................................................... 6 Major assumptions of the 1960 Master Plan: ...................................................... 7 Megacity Dhaka ..................................................................................................... 8 A Quick Glance at Housing and Habitation ..........................................................10 Slums: A Burning Issue .....................................................................................10 Health & Sanitation ..............................................................................................12 Disaster Management............................................................................................13 Transportation: A Major Problem .........................................................................15 Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for DMDP by RAJUK.................................................17 Recommendations:................................................................................................18 Questionnaire ........................................................................................................20 Abbreviations........................................................................................................21
List Of Illustrations
Map Of Dhaka City.6 Dhaka City Map of 1917.7 Dhaka city map showing existing and proposed DIT boundary of 1960.8 Population of Major Megacities.10 Problems in Slum Areas.12 Earthquake-prone regions..15 Flood prone regions of Dhaka15 Traffic Congested Dhaka City.16 Problems Identified during Travelling..17 Map of DAP Region 10..18
Summary
Cities are always developed and transformed through the interaction between different social, political, economical, and technological forces. Dhaka represents a composite urban form developed through ages. Within its framework, some parts of the city have been deliberately planned as residential areas to provide the citizen with civic facilities. In contrast, major part of the city has been developed organically without any master plan. As a result, various problems have arisen due to lack of planning. There are problems in case of habitation, transportation, health facilities, waste management, disaster management etc. But people of Dhaka have always dreamed of a modern city with all the required facilities. In this report, some major problems that have evolved due to lack of planning, are pointed out. Besides, some basic steps are also mentioned to solve those problems.
Introduction
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is the centre of political, cultural and economic life in Bangladesh. Though this city has the most developed infrastructure in the country, it suffers from various urban problems like pollution and overpopulation. Here in the city of Dhaka, two urban patterns have arisen with the course of time: they are the historical core Old Dhaka and the later development towards the northern side known as New Dhaka. Besides a few planned additions are also featured in this city. The old Dhaka nurtures the old history of this region whereas the new Dhaka has become the administrative and economic core of Bangladesh. But unfortunately, the entire Old Dhaka and earlier parts of the New Dhaka are not planned. Today Dhaka is growing without any master plan. The master plan today and its contents remain constrained in theoretical structural plan and area plan. The need of the day is to find an effective process so that the city can derive benefits from the execution of current development plans.
Fig 1: Map of Dhaka city
Planned Dhaka City: A Historical Overview

The first formal plan for Dhaka was made in 1917 by Professor Patrick Geddes, the much respected British town planner, in the concept of a Garden City. It is evident from the romantic areas of Ramna Garden. Dhaka city was divided into zones as shown in Fig. 2 in this plan, which offered an outline for development of the old town area with colonial offices and residential buildings around Ramna Green. The East Pakistan Government created the Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) in 1956. The Master Plan for Dhaka 1960 was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations in August 1957 and DIT was recipient of the plan. The area of the plan was approximately 220 sq.miles and included the port town of Narayanganj. The plan area with its existing and proposed boundaries is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2: Dhaka city map of 1917
Major assumptions of the 1960 Master Plan:

Both Dhaka and Narayanganj suffer from shortages of suitably located high land, free from annual flooding. The 1960 Master Plan provided for population to be displaced from the old city by slum clearance to relieve existing overcrowding. The plan predicted that expansion was possible only the North. Proposal for additional housing areas and removal of Dhaka University were also made. Mirpur at that time was seven miles away from the main city area and seen as a residential satellite town for the working population of Dhaka.
Fig. 3: Dhaka city map showing existing and proposed DIT boundary of 1960
Concerning local planning, the plan stated that control over the use of land and buildings, whether for development by government departments or private
individuals, should vest in a single planning authority, in this case the DIT which continued to execute the plan of 1960 without any revision till the nineties.
Megacity Dhaka
A megacity is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. Some definitions also set a minimum level for population density (at least 2,000 persons/square km). As of 2011, there are 21 megacities in existence, which is the official figure despite the list below containing 27 megacities with cities such as Mumbai, Tokyo, New York City, Dhaka, and Mexico City having populations in excess of 20 million inhabitants each. New Megacities like Johannesburg have population of over 10 million. In 2008 more than 50 percent of the world population of nearly seven billion became urban. This marked an important milestone in history. In 1800 only 3 percent, in 1900 14 percent and in 1950 30 percent of the world population lived in urban centers. Asia is home to the growing urbanization with a concentration of megacities or cities over 10 million people. By 2000 of the top ten megacities 5 (Tokyo, Bombay, Shanghai, Kolkata, and Delhi ranked number 1,5,6,7, and 8 respectively) were in Asia. In fact, seven of the 10 such cities were in the developing world. As one of the top 11 megacities, Dhaka is probably the fastest growing in the world. Between 1990 and 2005, the population of Dhaka swelled from 6 million to 12 million. It is projected that by 2025 eight of the ten megacities will be in Asia with Dhaka ranked fourth following closely on the heels of Tokyo, Bombay and Delhi.
Historically, urbanization was the result of industrialization. In the developing world urbanization without employment-generatingindustrialization or even informal work is often the norm, resulting in a concentration of the poor. Of Dhakas estimated population of 15 million, 28% are poor and live in the slums. It is slumization rather than urbanization. Slums in Dhaka signal the growth of the informal sector of the economy. Majority of the slum-dwellers are actively engaged in the urban economy; some are rickshaw drivers, others mostly women work as part-time domestics for the middle class households. The recent growth of
35000000 30000000 25000000 20000000 15000000 10000000 Population
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apparel industries located in Dhaka has also attracted a huge number of rural women who have found employment, thereby further adding to the city population. The zoning laws of the city are rarely enforced. The urban landscape is a mish mash of smart residential areas woven with commercial districts. Urban problems are most visible on the street with snarled up traffic that makes Dhaka one of most anarchic cities in the world.
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A Quick Glance at Housing and Habitation

Dhaka City is noted for a serious shortage of housing facilities. The private sector provides 90% of the housing in the city while the government provides 10% of the housing for government employees. Land is a scarce commodity in the city. More than 70% of the citys population has no access to land. The distribution of land among the remaining 30% is also highly unequal. Wilcox (1979) shows that due to physiographic factors such as low-lying agricultural lands and natural barriers such as rivers, canals, depressions, the expansion of Dhaka City has been seriously contained. There is thus a scarcity of land for development in the city, and the price of land is increasing at a very rapid rate. This explains why the common people are unable to purchase land and build homes in the city. It is observed that the housing problem has been made particularly acute by the alarming rise in the value of land, the high cost and shortage of modern building materials as well as indigenous construction materials, such as bamboo and timber to name a few, complicated land acquisition procedures (for government housing schemes), disorganized and inadequate housing finance and so on. Dhaka City faces serious problems in almost all areas of its infrastructure, in its electricity supply, gas and fuel supply, water supply, sewerage and excreta management, solid waste management. Among all of these facilities electricity is possibly the best provided, yet there are areas of the city experiencing problems of inadequate supply, and most areas experience frequent breakdowns. Overall, the electricity system of the city is very poorly managed and there is a systematic loss of up to 30% mainly through illegal connections. The higher and middle income groups of the city have access to gas but except for a few, most of the poor people (90%) do not have access to the urban gas supply. They use electricity and various traditional forms of fuel like kerosene, wood, straw, cow-dung and waste-paper for cooking.
Slums: A Burning Issue

The ever growing number of slum areas in Dhaka city is a major hindrance to the development of this city. There are several reasons behind the increase of slums. And without any doubt, the inhabitants of these areas are the most deprived lot in this city. In 2010, the population of the city of Dhaka has been projected at 17.6 million people, with 60% living in the slums. Everyday we observe the influx of hundreds of new people to the city of Dhaka. There are two factors behind it: a) pull factor and b) push factor. The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) is a
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periodic study of the population and urban areas are surveyed including the slum areas. Some findings of the survey can be mentioned here. Slum land was owned by a land owner or Bosti(slum) owner for 83%, and rent collected for permission to build a bamboo shelter to use as a home. Land owners and Bosti owners are not thought to pay government taxes and are not accountable for the conditions or safety of the slums. All families lived in one-room dwellings, with construction usually of bamboo frame, fencing and roof. An average of five people lived in each room, and some families had over eight individuals in one room. Female, adults and children tended to work as housekeepers, laborers or in the garment piecework, while male adults and children tended to work as rickshaw pullers, laborers, brick breakers, drivers or carpenters. The average income per family was 3725 Taka per month and the average expenditure was 3218 Taka per month. However many families reported that expenses greater than income and dependence on loans for survival. Expenditures included rent, food, education, cloths, electricity, water, wood and health care. The situation of these slums is not very satisfactory. Most respondents(89%) did not feel that they lived in a hygienic environment, and 93% felt that the slum had led to disease or ill health in their families. The most desirable place to live was felt to be in their village of origin (57%), while others dreamed of living in higherclass places in the city(14%), a place more quiet(14%) or free of mosquitoes(5%). Only 6% were happy in their current location. Evils described were unclean latrine facilities(30%), harassment by slum owners and need to pay bribes(10%), lack of employment(32%), mosquitoes(86%), extremes of heat(5%), lacking roof(11%), harassment of women(7%), lack of available fuel/gas(17%) and lack of food(3%). Barriers preventing to a move to a more desirable location were stated as a lack of funds(91%), lack of land(11%), inability to find work(10%), lack of government assistance(14%), illiteracy(2%) and large family size(1%).
Unclean Latrine Facilities Harassment by slum owners Lack of Employment Mosquitoes Extremes of heat Lack of roof Harrasment to women
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A fifth of slum households are missing at least 3 of their basic needs. According to an UNESCO report, education figures for slums in Bangladeshs capital Dhaka are among the worst in the South-Asian countries. The report entitled, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010, Reaching And Marginalized, which was launched in January from the UN Headquarters in New York, revealed schools run by non-governmental organizations play and important function in slums in Dhaka.
Health & Sanitation

As this megalopolis Dhaka grows, clean water supplies and effective sewage removal will be critical to the health and success of Dhaka. Today, some 4 million squatters who live in slums do not have legal access to basic services, such as safe water and toilets. These people often are forced to rely on unsafe well water provided by slum lords or buy water from "water sharks" who peddle bottled water from small vans. The sanitation situation is equally severe. Almost two-thirds of the Dhaka's sewage is untreated and left to seep into waterways and the ground. Hanging latrines, which dump waste directly into waterways, and neglected public toilets, are common here and are extremely unhygienic. The results of life in these filthy and sub-human environments are not surprising: each year thousands of people in Bangladesh, including 50,000 children, die of cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and other waterborne diseases. Here some important statistics about current health & sanitation situation of Dhaka city are given:
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Access to sanitation Children Underweight Rate Drug access Infant mortality rate Life expectancy at birth, total > years Physicians > per 1,000 people
54% 13% 54% 64.32 63.9 years
0.46 per 1000 people
Disaster Management
Natural disasters are common phenomenon in Bangladesh. Its capital Dhaka is exposed to the risk of hazards like earthquake and flood. The earthquake disaster index has placed Dhaka amongst the 20 most earthquake prone cities. Geographically the city is placed near two active plates: the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. There are many challenges in mitigation of earthquake. They are: - Non-engineering and self-engineering building construction. - Densely built up area and unplanned region. - Violation of building code.
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- Shortage of evacuation space. - Lack of training and awareness.
Fig 4: Earthquake-prone regions
Dhaka is also frequently flooded during rainy season. In last 23 years, 4 major floods occurred in 1988, 1998, 2004 and 2007 respectively. Among them the floods of 1998 and 2007 were worst in terms of loss and duration. In 2007, about 90,000 people of Dhaka were affected by diarrhea during 1 week of flood.
Fig 5: Flood prone regions of Dhaka
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Transportation: A Major Problem

Traffic congestion has now become a very serious problem particularly in metropolitan Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Because of the rapid socioeconomic changes and increase in population, the city expanded dynamically without any planning and control. Such rapid and uncontrolled developments have created an unacceptable level of disparity in the transportation demand and supply scenario, which resulted in traffic congestion and environmental degradation through air pollution. To reach at an equilibrium level between the demand and the supply, it is required to implement traffic engineering and transport planning measures on the basis of scientific studies. Considering the grievousness of the situation, concerned authorities like Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) have taken several measures for its improvements. But these were implemented in ad-hoc and disintegrated way thereby failing to achieve the desired result. In fact to tackle the problems of increasing traffic congestion and resulting air pollution, quantitative analyses of the situations are deemed necessary and the plans should be designed on the basis of the results of analyses.
Fig. 6: Traffic congested Dhaka city
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100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Percentage
For the recent years, it is found that peak period total travel demand is 1.3 million Vehicle/km and 59.5 thousand Vehicle/hours. These demands increase exponentially with the increase in city population. At present 24% of total roadway length of the network carries peak period traffic with average speed less than 5 kilometer per hour, 62% of total roadway length carries peak period traffic with volume-capacity ratio greater than 1.25, the total travel demand exceed the total network capacity by 250 percent and 227 hours delay occurs per 1000 kilometer travel. The emissions of SOx, NOx and CO are 0.3 ton per hour, 0.8 ton per hour and 13.5 ton per hour respectively. The respondents of a survey identified, overwhelmingly, traffic jam as the # 1 problems (93 per cent) their daily travels. It was followed by pollution (62 per cent), higher fares (46 per cent), frequent accidents (26 per cent) and hijacking (26 per cent). Non-availability of enough vehicles was reported as a problem by only 16 per cent. The main reasons for these poor traffic conditions are: Narrow roads, broken roads and unplanned repairs appeared as the 3 main causes of traffic jam. This again is the result of asking the respondents to name only 3 main causes. When asked about the contribution of different road users to the traffic jam problem, the rickshaw pullers were pointed out as a major culprit: 66 per cent thought they made very high contribution, while another 5 per cent thought they made moderate contribution.
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The truck drivers were next in line with about 50 per cent considering their contribution as moderate to very high. There were no significant variations in respect of the above findings between genders, incomes and occupations.
Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for DMDP by RAJUK

On May 2010, RAJUK undertook the task of Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka Metropolitan Development Area (DMDP). It is assumed that plans for Dhaka City will provide the benefits that the population expects and wishes. This Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP) covers a range of issues including the chosen land scenario, transport and land use planning interactions, spatial planning and flood management, and the consequences of the approaches taken.
Fig. 7: Map of DAP region 10
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The approach taken to planning in DAP is focused on sprawl, road-building and other facilities and advantages for cars, single-use areas and conveniences for the wealthy. The planning model chosen is that of the Growth Pole Scenario, which necessitates extensive and long-distance travel. A more people-friendly and equityfocused approach would instead emphasize tightly-knit communities where most goods and services are within a short distance of homes, and where the poor are considered valuable citizens. The car-focused approach is seen both in the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for Dhaka, which proposes to increase modal share of cars from the existing 18% to 31% while decreasing the share of public transport from 34% to 21% by the year 2024, and in DAP, which proposes to allocate only minimal land for public space and for slum dwellers, while giving generous space to the wealthy to live in even lower density than in the current wealthy areas of Dhaka.
Recommendations:
Although this report is brief and incomplete in many aspects, but we want recommend some points. We expect that they will be helpful to build a planned Dhaka city that the people of this city dream of. In a nutshell the recommendations are: New buildings and other structures must be built after detailed planning. All the construction works should be done under the supervision of experts. Non-engineered and self-engineered buildings must not be allowed. Buildings must be made maintaining the Building Code. Earthquakeresistant buildings are necessary. Proper management of water-bodies is to be ensured. The lakes and ponds are to be preserved for beautification and to reduce pollution. Strong law is to be made against building structures over water-bodies. Dhaka is situated near the river Buriganga. This river should me made pollution free. To serve this purpose, an effective waste management plan is to be implied. Large factories and industries which cause major pollution, should be moved outside the city.
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Necessary steps should be taken to eradicate traffic jam. In this context, use of modern traffic software, establishment of signals in important roads, strong implementation of traffic law etc. are necessary. Any vehicle without fitness license must not be allowed to move in the city. Decentralization of Dhaka city is necessary. This will prevent people of rural areas from migrating to Dhaka in masses. Because, this city is already burdened with excessive population, and it cannot afford more people. Rehabilitation of the people of slum areas should be done. Basic human needs like nutritious food, health facilities, pure water and education must be ensured in those areas. As every year Dhaka suffers from water-logging and flood, a better drainage system is required. For this purpose the drainage systems of other developed megacities can be taken as example. Alternative transport systems are a need of time. Elevated expressway, metro-rail and subway are good options. Separate lanes for rickshaws are to be specified. Because the large number of rickshaws is a major cause of traffic jam in Dhaka. Electricity and gas facilities should reach all citizens of Dhaka. But at the same time, misuse of these resources must be stopped. Unauthorized use of electric and gas lines should be a punishable offense. More government hospitals and health complexes should be established throughout the city; so that health facilities can be available to all kinds of people.
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Appendix-A
Questionnaire
1. Do you think Dhaka city is planned enough? (a) Yes (b) No
2. Do you think that the environment of Dhaka is hygienic? (a) Yes (b) No
3. Are there enough recreational facilities here in Dhaka? (a) Yes (b) No
4. Medical facilities are easily available in Dhaka - do you agree? (a) Yes (b) No
5. What problems do you face during travelling in Dhaka? (a) Traffic jam (b) High fare (c)Pollution (d)Hijacking
(e) Frequent accident
(f) Unavailability of transport (g) Others ____________
6. Do you think that decentralization of Dhaka is needed? (a) Yes (b) No
7. Cantonment should be moved outside the city- do you agree? (a) Yes (b) No
8. Do you think that DAP will fulfill the long nourished dream of the people of Dhaka? (a) Yes (b) No (c) No Comment
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Appendix- B
Abbreviations
DIT- Dhaka Improvement Trust BDHS- Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey BRTA- Bangladesh Road Transport Authority DMP- Dhaka Metropolitan Police DTCB- Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Board BRTC- Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation DAP- Detailed Area Planning DMDP- Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan
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References
1. Wikipedia - www.wikipedia.org 2. Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre Journal
3. Evaluation of Municipal Services of Dhaka City - Md Musleh Uddin
4. Social characteristics of a megacity: A Case of Dhaka City - Shahadat Hossain
5. Website of RAJUK - www.rajukdhaka.gov.bd
6. Website of Ministry of Health, Bangladesh -www.mohfw.gov.bd
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